going back home - REVERSE culture shock || NZ to US 

Totally understand your reverse culture shock. I came to NZ from the UK 29 years ago and now each time I go back there, I genuinely feel like a foreigner in the land of my birth.

I have travelled to America, Canada from NZ and back so many times over the decades. Lived in both at various times too. Remember, its just a 13-20 hour flight from either coast. Less than driving some places over there. I am not trying to brag and make you and your family crave, since your so fresh back there... I just sent two friends in Kentucky a parcel full of Whittakers. About 8 king size bars varied, a dozen peanut slabs, various Easter egg and 8 bags of Pascall's Pineapple Lumps. OMG those girls are addicted to those! If you really want to remember NZ... go to your local Starbucks and after drinking, curl your lips back in a snarl of distaste and remember the coffee here - Coffeee with some Whittaker's and then a walk on the beach.

👍 to your honesty. I’m going to use ‘the suck fairy’ concept…😂! I was sad that you guys couldn’t stay in NZ, however I enjoyed your journey here ( It actually made me appreciate a lot of things n NZ, I took for granted). Once you are in it for awhile…you lose the ‘❤’ sight for it, whether that is insight, foresight or hindsight or a mixture of all, something or someone reminds you of what you have. Nga Mihi 😊!

After watching this I think you definitely need to find a way back here. When you went back to the US I didn't think I'd keep up but it's amazing how much NZ made an impression on you in such a short time. Best wishes to you and your whanau.

Becca, I am sorry that you had to return to the States, you and your family seemed so happy here. If you are really wanting to return to NZ you could look at the skill shortage list and train in one of those occupations - such as nursing. You and your family could be back here in five years and qualify for residency really quickly.

We miss you and your family in New Zealand already...we love you guys

Congratulations on the video, I loved it. It amazes me that being so young you are so thoughtful and have such adult opinions. It is true that we learn to desire more and more and we are not happy with our lives. I also miss New Zealand, the one you showed us. Thank you, I love your work.

Whatever you do, wherever you are, you'll always be a little bit Kiwi.

After having lived in New Zealand since March 2016 and gained permanent residency in 2018 I'm making a five week visit back to the States in the fall. October thru early November. I've friends and family in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Little Rock. So, I'll rent a car in Nashville and drive from and back to there counter clockwise. After a couple days I'll fly back to Wellington. Upon return I'll apply for citizenship and travel on a Kiwi passport. So much has changed in the States since 2016. Being from Cleveland I keep track of my family, friends, sports teams and national politics, but not much else. From over here it looks as though a national divorce is the only solution, but how would that look in the end? The USA is now, obviously a nation in decline. A victim of it's own excesses and deterioration of public trust in any of heretofore pillars of the Republic. Sending 100 billion to a proxy war when 20 billion would end homelessness? Can't even get a vote on a public healthcare option? Well, I'll leave it at that. Looking forward to seeing friends and family, but I'll very much look forward to returning permanently to Aotearoa. While on a walk I was wearing a Vanderbilt hoodie. A guy operating a counsel mower stopped and asked if I was a Yank as he was as well. He is ex-military and a security position was opening up at the US embassy. As we were saying our goodbyes I asked him what he liked best about New Zealand. He thought for a second and said, "It's so much more quiet here." Amen to that.

A fascinating insight. One of your best vids!

Consider yourself a honorary Kiwi. It was wonderful that you could experience Aotearoa and our people; you have so much in common with the Kiwi lifestyle. I have worked in SLC and love the mountains and the friendliness of the locals. But I also very much understand the differences. I wish everyone could experience other countries to the levels you experienced NZ. I wish your family all the best.

It's all good Becca. Maintain the Kiwi chill amid the noise. Just order one plate of food to share between two. Just because you're no longer sucked into the marketing and consumerism doesn't make you a hippy although, being a hippy is no bad thing. You know where we are and can return whenever. Lots of Americans choose to return after going home for a while. Even the billionaires that enjoy anonymity choose Aotearoa to roost. Money is nice to have but can't guarantee happiness. It's easier to live in a country although expensive can rely on a greater community where quality of life supercedes quantity of stuff.

Speeding: NZ road traffic mortality rates are about 7 - 8 per 100,000 population. The national goal is to have none by 2040. The overall US rate is about 12 per 100,000 population. I suspect there would be enormous variation between the states and urban and rural. I remember in American history at school learning about Franklin Roosevelt’s Four freedoms speech. I think his order was , Freedom of 1. Speech, 2. Religion; Freedom from 3. Fear, 4. Want. I cannot remember if 3 and 4 are in the correct order. We were told to rearrange the list into our order of priority. The number one for everyone in my class (NZ) was Want, number two was Fear. Most of us had Speech third and religion fourth. I have often wondered if American children would have had the same order. The second exercise was to write as a group some “Freedom from …” statements. The groups wrote a lot of obvious ones; war, poverty, starvation, illness, accidents etc. However we were directed to go into more specific ones and what we might have to give up to achieve it. My group wrote something about traffic accidents. Over the years I have had occasion to hear people talk about the trauma of going to the morgue to identify the mutilated body of a much-loved family member. A long time ago, I worked in public health research and for a while I worked on NZ road crashes. Now, whenever I hear people talking about driving speed a “freedom-from” comes to mind. I would like all people to be free from having to go to the morgue to identify someone they love. I am happy to give up the joy of driving fast to achieve this. I fear that Americans may love their freedoms too much to give up the speed that is largely causal. But I could be wrong. One of the things I do wonder about Americans is if they talk about these things in their schools. Becca you talk so kindly about NZ but I do wonder if your American “soul” chafed at the greater restrictions on your freedom in NZ. I am very sorry that we in NZ have lost such a sweet family as yours. Hmmm, I seem to have wandered all over the place. I hope what I wrote makes sense.

I'm based in NZ but have US rellies & have travelled extensively in the US. Ignoring the Imperial units such as bolt sizes, miles per hour etc which is all based upon the inch, foot & yard... one of the weirdest things that I encountered was liquid being measured by weight. If you look at the printing on soft drink cans (soda) etc, its measured in Fluid Ounces... although liters are usually printed alongside.

Thanks once again for reminding us (kiwis) how fortunate we mostly have it here however, OMG!! What a beautiful place you live in. That mountain range looks just as, if not more stunningly beautiful than our southern alps especially, “The Remarkable’s”.

Utah has a very beautiful and interesting landscape. I will certainly make an effort to see it when I visit the USA.

I loved "the suck fairy" theory, l must have a garden full of them 🤪. Hearing you on the meal portions, lm all about quality, not quantity, and if presented with a huge meal l just can't eat any of it as l get overwhelmed. Restaurant leftovers are never as good re heated. Thanks for sharing 👍

New Zealand misses you guys x

I am so sorry you couldn't stay and live here. You definitely get the Kiwi vibe and you seem so Kiwi to me. You and your family would have been a real asset to our little country. Maybe, one day, it will happen.

Going back to the USA for visits from NZ after several years, the traffic and fast driving is a shock. It must be a gradual build up in traffic and speed that y'all adjust to gradually, but being away and experience the change suddenly is scary for sure.

Im looking forward to seeing you going shopping and eating out. What foods that you eat out. How your son adjusts to his new environments…

✨🙏✨🍃🌷🍃your doing amazing adjusting to your new life 🤞each of you stay well 😀🍃🌷🍃

I'm here in NZ - around 4 years ago before covid, I travelled a month or so in the South Island...I cross over on the Interislander ferry and after a few hours and one night I couldn't cope with the Wellington traffic and people. I lived normally in Auckland...but it was such a strange feeling that day...

The rudeness thing made me laugh. Whenever I visit Welly or Auckland, from Dunedin, I find the people there too self centered, always in a rush of self-importance, and rude.

I have to agree with one other poster who made a comment here: I also miss New Zealand- the one you showed us ❤

No Billboards......Yeah, Right (For non Kiwis, a popular Billboard in NZ is the Tui Billboard. Always a statement on one half & Yeah, Right on the other. Definetly not huge or flashy but get the point across) Great video by the way ☺

I think it shows all countries have pros and cons 😀

The first time I went to the US, I went to Chicago. My friend and I would go out for a meal and realise that there is no way that we could finish it. So we would get doggy bags and eat it for breakfast and lunch and then throw some away. We would then go out to a restaurant again.

This sounds so much like my experience returning to the UK after living in Germany for 3 years. I think it's sometimes better to move on, rather than back. In our case we chose to move on to New Zealand. In your case, perhaps there's some other place for your soul. Canada or Hawaii, for instance?

Oh my god you speak my mind we moved from NZ back to UK most things you said that’s how i feel about the price, how fast people driving , food and clothing etc😂

Reverse culture shock on not -- we are glad to have you back here!

I feel that i was 10-20grew up in brazil moved back to usa in 2012 was crazy now im moving back to the farm.

I never posted much while you were in New Zealand, but I enjoyed your content and hope you van go back. This year I'm returnung to New Zealand to live after 50 years of living in other countries. I watched another American couple who decided to stay in America because of drink refills and they muched preferred American franchised coffee shops than New Zealands small cafes I hope you settle

And with the roads ...in NZ you never know what beauty awaits around the next corner ...while in the US you know there's just more 6 lane tarmac.

In regards to the snow, mountains and hiking, if you ventured out of the north island, you would have that to..................

It‘s a bad comparison, but I spent a year as an exchange student in the US and a year as a backpacker in NZ. The initial and reverse culture shock between Germany (my home) and the US were soooo much more intense than between Germany and NZ. If I could chose one out of the three to settle in, I would chose NZ, too, while I do also agree that each has their own perks. It just seems nothing can compete with that chill Kiwi attitude (and the landscape anyway). 🥲

I’m sorry you had to leave, but in reality we don’t have the population base (numbers) for a good musical performance culture.

Glad there's something you still love about home. You can go faster bcuz gas is cheaper.

I get it totally I came back to the states after 25 years to the United States and discovered how unfree, corrupt, and so overly complicated the United States are/is; taxes, health care, guns, food and they still use checks here and people are really fat

Tbf, you'd get snow and mountains in the South Island.... I've only paused the video to comment, but I'd be surprised if the ubiquity of arms and shootings isn't jarring. If NZ resonates, come back, it's nice to have residents who aren't blind to all the blessings and beauty that is Aotearoa

The more I find out about America the more grateful I am that I live in Australia

😊👍

Re billboards: NZ law separates “signage” from “billboards”. Signage is an advertisement for your business that is on the land that the business is on. There is a size limit. Billboards advertise a business that is somewhere else. You are allowed to have signage. You are not allowed to have billboards without local council permission. A billboard would have to pass the requirements in the Resource Management Act such as not spoiling a view, advertising something bad for the environment , it must be below a certain size etc. The kinds of billboards that are permitted are things like fire risk warnings e.g. today the fire risk is …, things that keep you safe. I cannot remember seeing big billboards in the UK or Europe so suspect our laws follow the UK law.

365 million v 5 ...and a long way from the manufacturer makes a big difference to the price.

Extra culture shock moment for you: Kmart exists in NZ and is good - and in the US ..... not so much really. :)

Are you missing Feijoa's? Planning to plant some?

Were you too far from the mountains and snow in NZ?

Hi Becca, sitting here in Auckland NZ, and we could do with people like you and your family --- I do hope you try again to permanently relocate here. Maybe look at a good immigration consultant.

😢 come back

I get the impression if you had to opportunity to move back to NZ on a permanent basis you guys would be on the next plane to AKL 8)

I enjoy your videos, hopefully you and your family will find a way to return. For good next time. Unfortunately one can not compare a country of 330 million people to a country of only 5 million. America like other countries with big populations are very cookie cutter. Australia is like that, one doesn’t see original small ma and pa stores unless it’s very small town Australia. I love living back in New Zealand, and unfortunately I can’t see myself ever travelling through the States again. I personally found Americans very approachable helpful and friendly.

Yes. Renting a car in the US and no one wants to be the driver

120km/h for 40mins ... that's like driving to Hamilton for the day out.

I’m so thankful that here in New Zealand that you can’t just walk into a shop and buy a gun.

Yep no bill boards here in NZ

Becca you are such a kiwi 🤣🤣🤣😊😉

After watching some of the videos on RU-vid about the decaying social issues in America in terms of homelessness and drug abuse and poverty in the cities I don't blame you for wanting to bail out of your country

"go buy a gun.." 😲 I don't think I'd ever feel okay about that kind of thing being so socially acceptable.

Okay than why live here? 😅 I mean if I could move to another country than the US I wouldn't come back lol

Did I really hear you say that you could go to Walmart to buy a gun?

It didn’t sound “Cheesy” at all……..NZ is a very special place. Every American I met in NZ, before I moved to the US - all of them, were fighting tooth & nail to stay there. I kid you not… So funny eh…that you now “notice” how sweet, or should I say - how much sugar is in American Foods. It’s what kills Americans……sad. Milk is cheaper in the US - yes. But guess what…it comes from Grain fed Cows - and Grain that is “Genetically Modified” muck. The old adage - “You are what you eat”…..and in America, you eat GMO Products that our Bodies are not meant to try and break down. GMO is banned in NZ - NZ Cows eat just Grass ( like - HELLO - isn’t that what Cows should be eating? ) and Chooks eat grubs and insects and aren’t eating Grain that is GMO……thats why our Food tastes “different”…..or, perhaps we should say…”It tastes how real Food should taste”. Before I moved to the US, I had an American friend ask me..”Do they put Red dye in the meat here - it’s really red” ( She meant Beef ) “Ahhhhhh…no, thats just how natural Grass fed Beef is…” Several Months ago a friend of mine went Tramping down in NZ - when she came back, the first thing she said to me was…”What the ( explicit ) are you doing here??????” Good question…. Find your way back…..I’m sure you will. Happy Trails Becca…

I would be the same if I went back to my home country where I live canada ! I never went to school there or work there so would be foreign ever though I still am Canadian !

Sounds horrible