Going to vist Auntie Helen

In less than a week, the family and I are heading off on our first family “OE”. We’ll be spending four months in NYC, living in Brooklyn.
For me, this is a working holiday. As it happens, I was contacted by the UN to help redesign their intranet, so I’ll be taking a short sabbatical from Xero. The funny thing is, I’ll be working under former Prime Minister Helen Clark, aka Auntie Helen. Aotearoa represent!
Our kids have never been to the US, so this will be the first time they’ll experience a proper Halloween, Thanksgiving, and fingers crossed, a white Christmas. Plus, it’s the first time they’ll see some of their grandparents, who live in nearby Philadelphia.
Thanks to Google maps, planning this trip online has been awesome. We literally hit the streets and could walk around the neighborhoods with Street View to see which areas were kid friendly. That made a huge difference in our final decision to choose a place in Fort Greene. We could also map out the commute for me to the UN and for the kids to school – with multiple subway routes and commute times. We could also pinpoint nearby restaurants and grocery stores.
Even though I work with this technology all day, every day, that still blows my mind.
Just a few more sleeps until we’re in the Big Apple.
Then, before we know it, right when it’s getting painfully cold, we’ll be back home – just in time for summer.



