I lived in Europe and the States (New York mainly) for over 20 years. And while I could have remained there I always knew I would return to Aotearoa.

Why? Difficult to define. In the States there is pressure to achieve; the high paying job, the big house, the perfect family, the new car, the great vacation, while here none of that matters. Here spending time with your family on a day to day basis is more important than your ability to take them on an exotic holiday. Here spending time on a local volunteer project is more important than what car you drive.

There is the feeling here that people matter and the community matters. Probably due to the lower population base but here it is easy to see that yes, we are all connected.

And of course, there is the landscape, a huge factor for me. The mountains, the bush, the lakes, the tussock, the braided rivers, the birds. Paradise on earth :)

Great answer Wanakalakes.

Cheers T :)

It was quite hard to keep it brief lol

Comfort and the fact that it is home are probably the two main reasons I have for staying here. Having travelled a lot in my younger years I always seemed to compare where I was with life at home and quite frankly life on holiday is quite different from living in a place. During my comparisons I found nowhere that met my lifestyle requirements as much as the do here in NZ.

In the past years we have become more cosmopolitan which has plusses and minuses and through instant TV and the Internet have become closer to the outside world such that for many occupations, business can be done anywhere. I feel safe in our country for myself and my family. In my younger years I spent over 20 years in the Royal NZ Navy and travelled extensively and I can say without a shadow of doubt the best sight we ever saw was early in the morning of our arrival home cruising up the Auckland channel with Rangitoto on our left hand side. The sight of Rangitoto was a symbol of home and family. I still travel exensively and have yet to find someplace I could call home apart from NZ. Sure I get attracted to warm climate and the lack of our Wellington breezes but its home and I'm proud to call it so. I feel proud to be a Kiwi and proud to relate to fellow Kiwis overseas because with each kiwi we meet they bring with them a piece of GODZOWN.

We have our problems here as does any other country. We have a stable government, a stable economy, fresh clean air and for the most part an unpollutted landscape. If we want a change we are only 3 hours from a land of poisonous snakes, crocodiles, deadly spiders and stinging jelly fish.

Lifes pretty good.

All great reasons for living here. What is aparent though is that so far all the respondants have, I think, been born here, so didn't really "Choose to make it home". Probbly a recent immigrant could give a better response to your would be 'new New Zealanders."

Moving to another country is a huge step, and should only be undertaken after a great deal of research, including, definitely, a visit to the country.

THey should start by defining what it is they don't like about the USA, and then looking to see if they can't improve on it by shifting, perhaps, to another state. Don't underestimate the ties and benefits of friends and family. This should be number one on their list, and do they realize just how far NZ is from the USA?

My daughter and her family moved to Australia early this year. This is after visiting Aust every year on holiday since she was 4 years old. It's like a second home, but she still had huge adjustments to make, and not having the support of family was one of the greatest. I don't think they will be back, unfortunately, but the point I am making is that NZ and Australia are far more alike than NZ and USA, and a darn site closer, so the adjustment will be far greater for your young couple.

Just my two bobs worth, and please don't think I am trying to talk them out of it. Just making sure they go into it with eyes wide open, and without the rose tinted glasses.

Similar to VBC, I fail to see how anyone could simply decide to move to NZ with out having fundamental knowledge of what make NZ tick, what we do have to ofer andwhat are the draw backs.

Following 9 /11, a lot of people around the world were loking for 'safe' destinations to holiday or t live.

some people find the lack of people has a huge appeal, it also has a lot of disadvantages to in terms of costs as 4 million people is less in size to many of the majour cities of the world.

politics has often been cited a reason why people will emigrate, especialy from place like Sth africa.

Enjoying the outdoors has a huge appeal for some people.

The reasons why people want to came here are many, but at the end of the day it must be for the right reason for which they are comfortable with, as not all dreams come to fruitition, so must be able to take the good with the bad.

NZ is not to country to come to if making lots of money is your only reason, there are many other places around the world that that can be achieved a lot more easily.

All in all, it is 'The kiwi way of life' that seems to have the greatest appeal, but never come here with your eyes closed

that's my views anyway

I never lived in the US, I came to NZ from Israel.

NZ is beautiful, we love going out whenever we can, for a walk, a drive, a day trip, we take whatever we can.

We also feel we have more possibilities here. It is very easy to own your own business, and to develop in new direction with less bureaucracy.

We do find it, how ever, more expensive.

I will suggest for anyone how wants to live here to first travel here, see different places (as NZ is very diverse), and the weather can be a big issue as well.

I travelled around the world looking for the best place to live, and New Zealand for me has it all.

There are not many countries in the world that can boast tropical rainforest, glaciers and snow capped mountains, volcanos, surfing beaches, ski resorts, great fishing and diving, and unique species of flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world.

Kiwis are amazing people and will go out of their way to help everyone and anyone. There is still honesty and sincerity here, which has been lost in a number of countries. The community spirit of towns is strong and welcoming.

But most of all, here you work to live and enjoy, rather than living to work.

My experience of people emigrating are they are either fleeing from something or looking for something lacking in their life. The fleeing maybe political or it maybe just the weather, the something lacking maybe family, peace of mind or job opportunities.

Whatever the reason it is a big decision to make and should not be taken likely. Home is a long way away from NZ and any new New Zealander should come here for the right reasons.

The biggest turn off for a local is a new kiwi complaining about something in NZ by comparing it to where they have come from. In this instance they should go back to where they came from.

Most of us welcome new New Zealanders but ...

...... We arent perfect just pretty close.