Coirtall
5mo ago
Can I ask why you chose New Zealand? For context, I'm a local here and I'm in the process of doing the reverse; getting a working holiday visa for Canada, trying to make significant changes to my life, even bulking (84kg myself!).
Coirtall
5mo ago
I can't deny the country is beautiful! It's largely peaceful here too, which is great for that environment of trust and friendliness. I'd be interested in reading a follow up post from you on how you feel your mental state evolves throughout your trip. I'm not going to leave the country til mid-2024, so hearing your perspective as someone who's figurative footsteps I'll be following on in could have some valuable insights.
You're here for two years so you have a lot of time to explore! I'm not sure what you would like to do for work, so I'm not sure what to recommend there. If you want to live in a proper city you only really have one option, Auckland. It's a less friendly place than the other cities but it's the business hub of the country and the infrastructure reflects that. Wellington has an arty vibe and prides itself on being kind of quirky, a bit like Portland in the US. It's very very windy though, and can be a bit insular, making it hard to break into a social scene. Christchurch is a great city right now, it's finally recovering from a devastating earthquake a bit over a decade ago. It seems to be the best place to go for your bars, clubs, and restaurant style social scene. Lots of friendly people there who have just come out of some terrible times together. There are loads of smaller places to live, but I have always seen them as kind of sad myself so couldn't really give you an earnest recommendation there.
Apart from that there's a lot of natural beauty so if you like hiking you could be on a different trail every weekend. Your more touristy spots would be Queenstown, Rotorua, Taupo, Waiheke Island, Marlborough. Honestly it's too much to cover in one post. A lot of people show up, get a self contained van or camper and then go on a months long road trip to see as much as possible.
Coirtall
5mo ago
Not sure if shithole is the word I would use, but I wouldn't really want to live there. It's kind of a student city; Otago University is infamously known for being a year long party. There's a movie set in the city, Scarfies. Well known locally, but getting a bit outdated these days.
Coirtall
5mo ago
Auckland gets a bad rap, and is actually pretty nice if you're used to city living. You do need a car to live there, public transport is a mess the entire country over. Wellington and Christchurch would both accommodate you well enough without a car as they're small places. In any city you wouldn't have much trouble finding work in hospitality or other service industries. There's a bit of film/television work around that often requires short term contract workers. In my opinion, farm work is probably going to be a big challenge. They're quite far from civilisation and without a car you'll feel that isolation. If you can manage to get a license you can easily run around the country living in a van doing seasonal labour - mostly picking fruit, or working in meat/seafood processing. Otherwise, if you're open to doing tourist work there's a lot of that available in tourist towns, but you'll need good luck to find affordable accommodation there!
I managed to improve mine with a combination of changing my seated habits, physiotherapy, and personal training. The single biggest difference for me was learning to be comfortable sitting up straight driving or typing. A lot of people have started saying 'wow you're actually really tall' since it improved, so it's well worth the effort. If you, like me, have trouble remembering; put post it notes up everywhere that remind you to push your neck back to 'overcorrect' -- it's unlikely you're actually going too far backwards and it all trains the neck muscles to sit where they should. If you're self concious, they also don't all have to say 'fix your neck you big nerd' so everyone around you can read them. A blank post it in a certain position can carry meaning for you when you see it and just look like a blank note to everyone else.
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