But since moving to London, I’ve stopped waiting to see if someone will be around long enough to be worth the effort. For example, a couple of weeks ago, a friend, Zoe, sat me down and told me she’d booked her flight home. In the almost two years I’ve lived in London, I’ve said goodbye, usually disguised as “See you soon”, more times than I can count. Lillie Rohan's friend Zoe (left) is leaving London to return to New Zealand. A friend told me recently that, in the past three months, six of her closest friends have packed up and gone home.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 16, 2026 22:38 UTC