Well, New Zealand specifically, as opposed to some other location that is also unlikely to be attacked, I think the reason to move there would be to protect against a nuclear winter. But the value I came up with in the post for how valuable that is to protect against was only $1,000. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think post-nuclear-winter life wouldn’t even be worth living.
As for why I prefer where I currently am in Portland to New Zealand, I think a lot of it is practical reasons. I just looked into what living is like in New Zealand and it seems like a great place that has a lot of the things I want! Walkable, moderate/cool temperature, somewhat affordable, and somewhat fun are the main things, and it seems like New Zealand checks all of those boxes.
But it would mean having to find a new job. And from what I understand, programmer salaries are a lot less outside of the US, so that would be a pretty big and easily quantifiable downside, worth somewhere around tens of thousands of dollars a year. It’d also be quite hard to see friends and family in the US in person, due to the travel. If we ignore the inconvenience, it looks like it’d be an extra, maybe $5k/year or something. The time difference I initially figured would be a problem, but it’s actually only a three hour difference, so that’d be good!
My girlfriend also wants to be somewhere where weed is legal. I see that it isn’t legal recreationally there, and while it is medically legal, this article says “while doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicines in New Zealand, the program has been criticized as having some of the strictest regulations in the world.”
There’s also the fact that my girlfriend and I have grown somewhat attached to Portland. We’ve been excited to move here for a while and finally did it, so having to pick up and leave now would feel like a bummer.
Well, New Zealand specifically, as opposed to some other location that is also unlikely to be attacked, I think the reason to move there would be to protect against a nuclear winter. But the value I came up with in the post for how valuable that is to protect against was only $1,000. And honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think post-nuclear-winter life wouldn’t even be worth living.
As for why I prefer where I currently am in Portland to New Zealand, I think a lot of it is practical reasons. I just looked into what living is like in New Zealand and it seems like a great place that has a lot of the things I want! Walkable, moderate/cool temperature, somewhat affordable, and somewhat fun are the main things, and it seems like New Zealand checks all of those boxes.
But it would mean having to find a new job. And from what I understand, programmer salaries are a lot less outside of the US, so that would be a pretty big and easily quantifiable downside, worth somewhere around tens of thousands of dollars a year. It’d also be quite hard to see friends and family in the US in person, due to the travel. If we ignore the inconvenience, it looks like it’d be an extra, maybe $5k/year or something. The time difference I initially figured would be a problem, but it’s actually only a three hour difference, so that’d be good!
My girlfriend also wants to be somewhere where weed is legal. I see that it isn’t legal recreationally there, and while it is medically legal, this article says “while doctors can prescribe cannabis-based medicines in New Zealand, the program has been criticized as having some of the strictest regulations in the world.”
There’s also the fact that my girlfriend and I have grown somewhat attached to Portland. We’ve been excited to move here for a while and finally did it, so having to pick up and leave now would feel like a bummer.