London calling to the faraway towns…

With the floods of people that walk the hectic streets of London every day, it would come as no surprise to brush shoulders with an enthralled Kiwi. New Zealanders have been crossing the oceans for decades, all in search of the utter excitement travelling abroad has to offer. 

Applying for a Youth Mobility visa might just be the most popular way to go overseas, giving those aged between 18 and 31 the opportunity to “do as the ‘Londoners do’” on a two-year ‘working holiday.’ 

According to a 2016 study conducted by Statistica, New Zealand had one of the highest percentages of the native-born population living overseas, at 14.1%. It is clear that the temptation of living abroad is just too hard to resist for some New Zealanders, who are more than ready to grasp the next available adventure beyond the Pacific. 

Someone who experienced the great Kiwi O.E (Overseas Experience) first-hand was Laura Dixon.

Feeling as though her life had become a little too mundane, she knew she had to gain some life experience and break away from small-town living. “I went straight into working full-time, so I hit adulthood quickly.”

London was the obvious choice for Laura because of the number of New Zealanders and Australians that were already there. To make the transition even smoother, there are several Facebook pages to join. Kiwis in London, maybe the most popular, also have a website loaded with helpful information to make the set up as smooth as possible. Others are dedicated to questions, flatmates and more recently, Kiwis in the Pandemic. There is no shortage of a helping hand. 

“It made it easier to make friends and establish myself,” says Laura, who also commented on how Kiwis would jump at any opportunity to dress up and make London feel a little more like home.

“All Blacks games, Waitangi Day, there’d be thousands of us in the streets!”

Laura says that they’d generally just get ‘shooed’ along by police, who were always prepared for the patriotic Kiwis taking their love for their home country to the bustling streets of London.

It’s the England capital that Laura has to thank for life-long friendships she’d formed in her two years abroad. “I’ve formed some really strong relationships with people from Australia and New Zealand, and I’ll definitely see them again.”

The travelling doesn’t end here for Laura. When the borders reopen, she’d love to complete a ski-season in Canada. In the mean-time, she is steadily readjusting to life back in Te Awamutu. She says that it’s taken a while to settle in after living such a fast-paced life in London.

Laura notes that walking down Regent Street and seeing the array of lights set up at Christmas time are among her fondest memories.

While waiting to board her flight back home to New Zealand, Laura couldn’t help but wonder why everyone wasn’t doing this and whole-heartedly recommends having an O.E.

“You just met so many new people, and the Aussies and Kiwis were so friendly.” She says that people you’d only met once wouldn’t think twice about inviting you to a picnic “It’s the more the merrier, as everyone was in the same boat.”

Back breathing the bittersweet Auckland air, she arrived home more perceptive and with a greater sense of maturity. London has worked wonders for Laura and her new outlook on life. When the opportunity arises again, the art of overseas travel will be back changing lives and working its magic, just like it did for Laura.

From a different perspective, Sophie Meredith was so close to departing for her O.E that she could almost taste it.

Unfortunately for her, she joined a huge number of fellow aspiring travellers who were all stopped dead in their tracks by the Coronavirus pandemic. 

So when Sophie bid farewell to the rural Waikato farm she’d called home for the past three months, she was almost certain it’d be her last time setting foot on that soil for the next two years. Reflecting on that memory now, she laughs.

Ironically enough, she is still there, back donning her blue overalls. Sophie, who had always dreamt of travel, was inspired by films, books, and ultimately, her Grandma.

“I’d seen photos and heard stories of her adventures,” she said, “it’s the thing I’ve always wanted to do, it’s a kiwi tradition!” After a three-month stint in the United States, the travel bug was officially caught in the hands of a bright-eyed and eager Sophie, who now had her sights set on a two-year trip to London, England. 

Becoming a barista by day and barmaid by night, Sophie juggled two jobs in the lead up to her departure. “All summer long I had worked so hard for my trip,” she says. Somehow finding time to send away her visa application and apply for London-based jobs in-between her 80 hour weeks.

She says that every aspect of her life was revolving around her trip, physically, mentally and emotionally. So as one could imagine, the announcement of New Zealand entering lock-down level four on the 23rd of March left Sophie devastated.

Watching the pandemic unfold around the globe, Sophie says she was a little naive in thinking her long-awaited trip to London would still go ahead. “When my travel agent emailed to say my flights had been cancelled and there was no postponing, it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.”

Sophie says the blow wouldn’t have been as hard to handle if it had been her own doing, but having no control over its cancellation hit hard. For Sophie, 2020 has showered her in some soul-wrenching disappointment, but hidden amongst it all, were some quintessential life-lessons.

“I felt like I was always running to something,” she says. This pandemic has forced her to slow down. She is making big moves towards working on her personal well-being and has put an extended rain check on her London travels.

She laughs as she makes her final comment “I won’t believe I’m going, or even there until my feet are firmly on the ground at Heathrow airport.”