Michael Houghton: 'My grocery bill during a recent trip to New Zealand was far more expensive than in Ireland'

"Talking with locals and friends along the way, the cost of living in New Zealand came up a lot in conversation It had been eight years since I was last in New Zealand, the country where I grew up and lived until 2010, when I met my now wife and moved to Ireland the following year. When I was last in New Zealand, I recall the cost of living being significantly higher than in Ireland."

"Talking with locals and friends along the way, the cost of living in New Zealand came up a lot in conversation It had been eight years since I was last in New Zealand, the country where I grew up and lived until 2010, when I met my now wife and moved to Ireland the following year. When I was last in New Zealand, I recall the cost of living being significantly higher than in Ireland."

Returning to New Zealand after an eight-year absence triggered frequent conversations about the cost of living with locals and friends. The visit followed a 2011 move to Ireland after meeting a now-wife, after having lived in New Zealand until 2010. The narrator notes that when last in New Zealand, the cost of living felt significantly higher than in Ireland. The cost of everyday goods and housing emerged repeatedly as a salient topic among acquaintances. The impressions combine recent local conversations with memory of prior comparisons between living expenses in New Zealand and Ireland.

Read at Independent