Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Find Jessica Drucker online:
Website: www.jessicadrucker.com
Coaching: www.jessicadrucker.com/coaching
How To Move Abroad Book: www.jessicadrucker.com/book
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainbowrelo
Find Elissa online:
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Find Jessica Drucker online:
Website: www.jessicadrucker.com
Coaching: www.jessicadrucker.com/coaching
How To Move Abroad Book: www.jessicadrucker.com/book
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainbowrelo
Find Elissa online:
Jess Drucker [00:00:00]:
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Adventure Calls. I'm your host, Jess Drucker. This week, we're doing something a little different. We're talking to an American expat, Alyssa Johnson, who's moved abroad to New Zealand. She posts on TikTok under the handle Kiwifroyo, and she came across my algorithm maybe 6 months or a year ago, and I've been consuming her content ever since. And it's really fun to listen to Alyssa tell her story about relocating to New Zealand during COVID. She's a nurse.
Jess Drucker [00:00:29]:
She was an emergency room nurse. And so, we've got her telling her story in her own words about how she relocated to New Zealand with her family in tow, her husband, as well as her 3 kids, one of whom was just 1 month old when they relocated. Now, this edition is a little different. It's not an interview so much as hearing Alyssa tell her story in her own words about what she considers to be the best decision she could have made, not only for herself, her career, but also for her kids and their future. So this is a month of New Zealand content coming out of Adventure Calls. If if you haven't listened to our first show on New Zealand, we interviewed Brigitte Romain from mobile relocation in New Zealand talking about how to relocate to New Zealand and this time you're hearing from an American expat who's done it herself. I truly believe that you can't be what you can't see. And if you're at all interested in moving to New Zealand at this point, I hope that listening to Bridget talk about how to relocate and then listening to Alyssa tell her story about relocating, getting a job, and moving with 3 little kids will help to inspire you and show you that if this is something that you really wanna do, it's absolutely there for you to do.
Jess Drucker [00:01:37]:
Alyssa starts off by talking about how she and her family first decided to relocate to New Zealand.
Elissa Johnson [00:01:51]:
So, hi. I moved to New Zealand with my family 2 years ago. We just hit our 2 year anniversary, and we moved over. It was myself, my husband, and we have 3 kids. And at the time, they were really little, so we moved with a almost 11 month old, a 2 year old, and a 7 year old. And we moved from Maryland in the United States to New Zealand. And we originally settled a little south of Auckland in a city called Tauranga. And then recently, 6 months ago, we relocated down to Wellington, New Zealand, and we moved through me.
Elissa Johnson [00:02:22]:
We got a visa through me. I'm I'm a nurse with a background in emergency room medicine. And so, we actually came in when the country was closed during COVID, which is a little bit of a a tricky process, but it was rewarding, you know, because they there's a lot of help for bringing in medical professionals during that time just because they were really needed here. And so we were originally just planning on coming for a couple years as kind of just like an adventure for our family. There were a lot of reasons we wanted to come, but we absolutely fell in love with it. And so then my husband was able to find a job here, which is why we ultimately relocated to the capital of New Zealand. And we are now hoping to stay for as long as we can. We always had the desire, like, as young 20 something year olds to move abroad.
Elissa Johnson [00:03:07]:
And so initially before children, we had tried to move overseas a couple times. Like, my husband works in the American government, and he tried to join the foreign service. And he, like, missed out on the last step, but it was, like, a long process, and we were really disappointed. But then we started having children. Once you have the children enter the equation, everything it's just so much more complicated, and it just feels overwhelming and, you know, it's it's hard to do anything. So we kind of thought that that was it. We didn't really think we'd be going anywhere. But there was just a lot of stuff going on in our life at that time in United States of America where we are just growing more and more dissatisfied with the way things were.
Elissa Johnson [00:03:49]:
And especially during COVID, I became pregnant with our 3rd really, really unexpectedly. We were hearing these news articles about New Zealand, and their, like, COVID zero policy. And just, like, on kind of a whim, we just started looking up things about New Zealand and what they were doing with COVID, and then that led us to just New Zealand as a whole and their history and their society and their governments. And we we didn't really think it was a possibility still, but it became one of those little daydreams, you know, of like, oh, we should move to New Zealand. Like, maybe someday we could move to New Zealand. And I actually joined a little Facebook group called Moving to New Zealand. I'm not little. It's, you know, I think, like, a 100 of thousands of people join that group.
Elissa Johnson [00:04:32]:
Early 2022, I or early 2021, excuse me, I got an email and I think the headline was like, oh, you wanna move to New Zealand. And it was from a medical recruiter saying that they would, like, do all of their paperwork. They would pay for the move. They needed nurses so badly. And at that point, I was, like, 7 months pregnant. I had 2 little kids at home, and I'm just staring at that and I'm like, oh, I wanna do this. And so we, like, we set up a call with the recruiter. We talked it over.
Elissa Johnson [00:05:00]:
We did all of these different things. We ultimately decided to go with it when, our new little baby was 1 month old. We just jumped in. The reason that we initially thought it was a possibility was that my husband, like so many people in the states, went remote March of 2020, and so he was working from home. We didn't he was working for the American government, and so we didn't think that they would let him go overseas. So initially, he was planning on taking, I can't remember. There's, like, a a special word for it, like, a sabbatical or furlough, for a year or 2 just so we could go and see how it would work. And we're just gonna live off of my salary and just be there for the adventure and everything and then probably come back, if he couldn't find a job.
Elissa Johnson [00:05:48]:
But they were actually they let him work abroad, and they gave him a contract that was renewable every year. So that 1st year that we lived here in New Zealand, he did have to work America hours. So he would get up at 2 AM and work 2 AM until 10:30 AM, which was kind of crazy. But then, unfortunately, after a year of that, they said, oh, you know what? We're having everyone come back to the office. We won't be renewing this contract. And that that was kind of the the push we needed where we were like, we just don't wanna go back. We definitely don't wanna go back. So he started seriously looking for work here, which did take a little bit of time.
Elissa Johnson [00:06:25]:
I actually made some contacts on my, like, little social media TikTok thing, and so we were able to get him connected to different people, and then he found a job. And the nice thing about being a nurse or really anyone in the medical profession, and not just the medical profession, New Zealand has a list of jobs. They're called the green list roles, and it's on immigration, nzed or n z. I had to come in on a special visa during COVID. But nowadays, if you're a nurse, if you're a doctor, if you're I think even like a CNA, a physical therapist, like anything medical, and then also these other roles like engineer or construction workers. There's, like, a really wide variety of, different roles. It's pretty much a straight to residency visa now, which is so great. And when you as the worker come in, it also lets your spouse and your children or your partner doesn't you don't have to be married, as long as you I think you have to be together for 5 years, I think.
Elissa Johnson [00:07:18]:
Well, they get the same visa as you. So when I came in, my children were granted, like, student visas. My husband had the same, like, work visa as I did, and then when I became a resident, that pulled them all with me. I worked in the emergency department up in Saranda, and then when we moved, as my husband is now full time in person, which is new for us, I am working at an urgent care center, which is a first for me, but it's an evening position. So I work 5 to 11 PM at night, and I do that 4 or 5 times a week. And so it really is a nice fit for our family. Yeah. So it's like it's a step down from the emergency room, but I am really enjoying it because it's more of like a community based position.
Elissa Johnson [00:07:55]:
A lot of counseling, a lot of wound care, and then just a lot of a lot of just, like, thick children. I actually I did start my little TikTok Kiwi Froyo back in the states. I started it, I think, a couple weeks before we left, but it wasn't really with the intention of, like, becoming an influencer. I don't know if I can really call myself that. But it was more of just, like, a way to document the journey for myself. Like, my kids really like to watch the videos. We would do, like, those, you know, back in the beginning, those fun little dancing videos. And it was I really enjoyed taking videos and, like, setting them to music and stuff.
Elissa Johnson [00:08:34]:
It just it it was like a nice photo album almost but, like, video form. And then it was a year ago, I made, like, just like a funny off the cuff video about getting out of America. And it went, like, mega viral. Like, it got 2,000,000 views in a couple weeks. And I got a lot I got this massive influx of American followers, who had questions. And so all of a sudden, I had, you know, like, 20 people direct message me every day for a while, like, asking for help. And I I actually I found that really so selling, like, helping people, giving answers. There's a couple nurses who are now here who saw that video and, like, we connected.
Elissa Johnson [00:09:11]:
And it's just like that that was, like, such an amazing feeling to be able to, like, actually help someone in a way that changed their life for the better. And I'm not a super creative person, but it, like, scratches, like, a creative itch that I had. Like, it's really fun to do. And then, unfortunately, like, 6 months ago, I was my TikTok was hacked, and most of my videos were deleted. And so at that point, I was like, oh, should I, like, continue this? Is this a good time to give up? And then I kinda decided to, like, no. I'm actually I'm gonna do this. And so I started making, like, a schedule and so I put out videos, like, 5 a week usually and it's, you know, it's been fun. I know it sounds weird, but anytime I criticize America, it seems that that those videos get a lot more views.
Elissa Johnson [00:09:53]:
And I'm not I'm my social media platform is definitely not to, like, bash America. I have a lot of issues, if you've seen my TikTok, with America. But it's more about just I I grew up really in a bubble of thinking that America was, like, the absolute bomb. And so I know a lot of people like that, and I know that you just don't believe that it could be any different. And I also know that it's really hard to live in America at this this time, you know, in our life. And it's been getting worse, and it's so hard, and so many people are struggling. And I don't think a lot of people know that it's possible for it not to be like that, that it really can be so much better than it than it is in America. And so I'm trying to to show, like, to point out something and to be like, this is horrible.
Elissa Johnson [00:10:37]:
And this is what it is here over here in New Zealand, and it's amazing and it's, you know and we could maybe if we worked on this in America, maybe we could have it as good as they have it in New Zealand. And I think a lot of Americans don't realize that other countries have things that they, like, hadn't even dreamed of. They didn't think it was a possibility. We really have a, a lot less stress and anxiety living over here. And I think one of the big reasons for that is that the society in America is a really stressful and, like, anxious provoking society to be in. And when you're out in public, you're assuming that everyone around you has negative impacts, basically. If strangers approach you, it's almost always, like, a bad thing. Like, when I was at parks in the States with my children, usually, if a stranger's coming up to me, it's, like, it's not a good thing.
Elissa Johnson [00:11:27]:
It's a bad thing. And, like, you know kidnap your kids. Exactly. And so you you have to approach the world in a really stressful and, like, anxiety. Like, you're always on high alert. You're looking for exits. You're examining people. You you almost have to, like, be aggressive in certain situations.
Elissa Johnson [00:11:43]:
And so that's like this vicious cycle because people then are becoming more anxious and stressful and so they're adding to an anxious and stressful environment which then makes people more anxious and stressful which that, you know, it's just a vicious cycle. And so here, you've just removed that. After 2 years here, I have lost that. I now people who approach me, I assume they have positive intents because I haven't yet met anyone with negative intents here. It's always, like, a nice thing when a stranger approaches you. Like, I've had people, randomly come up and, like, pick up my children in parks. They put them in swings and, like, lean down and talk to them. And it's all, like, really nice and positive.
Elissa Johnson [00:12:18]:
And, yeah, you know you know that that would never you could never let that fly in the states and you would probably get into a fight over it. And so because everyone has, like, positive intent, you start seeing the world differently and you start relaxing and you start approaching society with positive intent and not stressed out and not anxious, with positive intent and not stressed out and not anxious. And it's the whatever the opposite of vicious cycle is, that's what we have here. I I don't think I could ever work in health care again in the States after working in health care here. It's there's a lot that goes with that negative intent thing. But it is so stressful to work in health care in the United States. Just there's a lot of different attitudes that are a problem. The for profit model of hospitals, just the over the overworking, the understaffing, really not great pay for what you do either, and insurance, like, dominating everything.
Elissa Johnson [00:13:10]:
It's just a disaster. And then when you leave all of that behind and you come somewhere where none of that exists, and you're actually able to do what you were trained to do and what you wanted to do like, I've wanted to be a nurse since forever. And actually getting to do my job for basically the first time, to be able to, like, sit with people and do what I'm supposed to do and have the time to take care of people. It's I mean, it's been amazing. I mean, of course, in the emergency department here as well, we did have issues. And, you know, I've made videos about that on my little thing, that we were still there were times where we were overrated understaffed and it was a really busy emergency department. And there was a lack of equipment because it was more of like a rural hospital, what we would consider rural back in the states. But there was just a different attitude.
Elissa Johnson [00:13:51]:
Everyone who came in, they were they were really grateful that we were there to help take care of them. There wasn't there were were no, aggressive angry people, like, back in the states. And I don't think there's a shift that went by that I wasn't assaulted in some way in the emergency department, whether that was just verbally, but often physically, unfortunately. And that that never ever happened, and it would have been crazy. Like, when I was being precepted in the emergency department here, I had a patient's I was moving their broken leg, and they screamed really loudly a couple of thumb expletives, which I would have as well. Like, I was, you know, I was helping straighten their leg for a procedure, and my preceptor made me put down the leg and told the patient that if he ever cursed at me again, we would put him outside and he would not be welcome in here. And the patient was so apologetic and he didn't mean it. I was like, oh, no.
Elissa Johnson [00:14:39]:
It's fine. It's definitely fine. My, youngest is actually just about to turn 3, and he has never had a birthday, not like, not in New Zealand. He turned 1 here, and he turned 2 here. He's about to turn 3 here. And so that's crazy, but my younger 2 don't remember the states at all because I also have a 4 year old. And that that has been fabulous. The it was a little stressful, the move.
Elissa Johnson [00:15:01]:
I'm just gonna be real. It's really hard to travel with children. It's hard to pack with children. We had really little children when we did that. But we were most of the reasons for moving were for the children. We really wanted a safe, peaceful environment. We wanted them to have a good future. We just weren't seeing that in the states.
Elissa Johnson [00:15:17]:
And so when we moved here, it was really 4 of them. But then, you know, we put them in, the little childcare and then they got sick a lot because they were COVID babies. And so, there were definitely initially in that first 6 months, we were like, did we make a mistake doing this? Should we have just stayed in our little bubble back in the, you know, in the United States? But I have seen them flourish in ways I don't think they would have back home. They they offer 20 hours of free childcare here for everyone over the age of 3, but then there's also different, centers that offer it for over the age of 2, for over the age of 18 months, and then it's really subsidized after that. So it's in reach. It's affordable. The ratios are amazing. The little child care center we looked at back in the states, it was a 1 to 12 ratio of 1 teacher to 12 children.
Elissa Johnson [00:16:04]:
And here it's a 1 to 3 for the little ones and it's 1 to 6 for the, ones that are a bit older. And it's such like a family environment. My kids love going there. It's all play based. It's I mean, they're just they're doing so well, and it's every time I, like, see how how much they enjoy life here, it makes me feel like I, of course, I made the right decision. I do think in today's world, it's we're going towards more of a global, you know, economy and things like that. And if you wanna make it happen, I do think if you're able to make it happen for a lot of people. I know that some people, it just it's not going to.
Elissa Johnson [00:16:46]:
But if you really have that drive and you want to, I I would say go for it. Something that I wish that we had done earlier was starting to downsize a little bit in in the states because we went from a 4 bedroom house to, you know, 3 levels in the states, and we ended up moving with just 10 suitcases. And we left it a bit late, and that was extraordinarily stressful at the end of just getting rid of everything. But I think purging everything and kind of starting from scratch, everyone should do it. Like, you know, once every 10 years. It's really good. It's very freeing. You just get rid of all of your stuff.
Elissa Johnson [00:17:18]:
But if you're serious about moving abroad, there are people all over the country who have done that. The expat community, is such like a close community because we we all have that in common that we've left our home and we've lived somewhere else. And those are the friendships that I found are really deep and meaningful because, we we don't necessarily have families nearby, but we so we have each other and so we're always willing to help each other out. And if you're able to find people in the countries or the places that you're you wanna go to, like, those are the people who really will help you. And so reaching out to them for, like, specific advice about your field or, like, what country or town you wanna go to, Like, those are the ones who will actually make the difference and help get you where you wanna go. I knew several people in our specific city, like, before we moved there. I had used Google Maps. I had walked down all the streets.
Elissa Johnson [00:18:06]:
Like, I knew where we'd be going to parks. I knew where we'd be going grocery shopping. I had gone to those grocery shops. I had done, like, pretend online orders. Like, in today's world, you can just you can be so prepared to move abroad before you've been there. You don't even have to visit nowadays with the power of the Internet. So we haven't, been home yet, and we don't have that, like, on the books yet. I I one, I can't imagine doing that trip again with my kids as little as they were because that was it was daunting.
Elissa Johnson [00:18:33]:
But anyone with little children, the flights will will end. Like, it's only let's hope we kept telling ourselves, you know, in the midst of several different breakdowns. Like, it will be over, and then it's over, and you're there, and it's done. You know? And it's not it's not But it's a long flight from New Zealand because, you know, we have to fly up to Auckland and then it's Auckland all the way to LA usually, which is like 14 hours. And then we have to fly to the East Coast which is another 5 hours. And so it's extraordinarily expensive, especially with 5 of us. And so we are probably not going to do that until the children are much older and could really be a part of it and enjoy it. And so at the moment, my mom comes out every January and so she's hoping to continue that.
Elissa Johnson [00:19:15]:
Well, I am on TikTok and my, little username is kiwifroyo, like frozen yogurt. So kiwifroyo, and that's where I just do little videos about our life here and leaving America and the process and stuff like that. And anyone who's interested, they definitely can feel free to DM me because I always like talking to people back home and just answering specific questions, of course. Alright.
Jess Drucker [00:19:43]:
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Adventure Calls podcast where we empower queer folks and their families to move, live, and thrive abroad. If you liked what you heard, please head over to Apple Podcasts or anywhere you're listening to this show and give us a follow so you catch our next episodes as well. If you really liked what you heard, then we'd love if you could take the time to leave a review or even share this with a friend. And if you want more queer content about moving abroad or your own international relocation strategy, head over to rainbowrelo.com. That's rainbowrel0.com and you can join our free Facebook group, Queer Expats. That's all for now and until next time. I'm Jess Drucker pushing you to listen to your gut and follow your own personal call to adventure.