My last view yesterday of the US; one-way ticket.

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Good luck man!
As someone that left the US a decade and a half ago, here's some things to go ahead and start getting answers to so you don't have to figure it out when the time comes:
Figure out how to get a bank account (hopefully you've already worked this one out before arriving)
Where to buy toiletries and medicine. Specifically deodorant. The UK is mostly spray deodorant where as I'm a stick deodorant person. At one point I was just bringing 4 sticks of deodorant back with me after every trip home. I'm not sure which way NZ leans but it was definitely something I hadn't considered before
Where to buy socks and underwear you're comfortable with
Figure out how the health service/insurance works. Go ahead and book dentist and doctors appointments 6 months in advance if possible so you get in the habit.
Figure out how paying taxes works
If you're a US citizen, remember you're still required to file taxes with the IRS every year.
Learn how to make friends. I still haven't figured this one out. Let me know if you do.
- Call or go to a Kiwibank, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac bank branch in any mall in which ever city you land at (probably Auckland but could be Christchurch)
  Supermarket for toiletries. Pharmacy for medicine. Some larger supermarkets have pharmacies in them. Supermarkets are Pac'n'Save, New World, Woolworths, Freash Choice, 4Square. Pharmacies are Unichem, Chemist's Warehouse, Random mum and pop one off pharmacy
  Both types of deoderant (stick or spray) are readily available. Lynx is typically known as Axe in other parts of the world.
  The Warehouse or Kmart for cheap socks and undies. Farmers for midrange stuff. Boutique stores for high range
  Public health care for emergancy and accute need. GPs are roughly $35 to $70 for a checkup or general appointment
  get an IRD number from the IRD, work out your tax code (its probably 'M') then tax is mostly automatically deducted and paid by your employeer
  really!? Sounds like a double tax whamy... Ouch
  join clubs, hiking club, cricket club, soccer club, rugby club. Pubs and drinking are popular too. Most pubs run a quiz once a week ask the announcer about joining a random team
  
  Excellent list, I hope OP see's it!
  Also, I should have added a caveat to that last bullet: learn how to make friends without becoming an alcoholic. Meetup.com is usually the answer for finding readily available like minded people interested in the same physical activity as you, but meeting a whole bunch of new people at once can be overwhelming.
- The deodorant availability trauma is real and brings untold migrant suffering every year.

228 comments