For Tony Whitehead it meant moving almost as far away as was possible.
The 22-year-old arrived in Dunedin in September — his first steps away from the comforts of his parents’ house in Charleville, Ireland.
While there he turned out for Limerick FC in Ireland’s top league, the city being just a 30-minute drive away.
It was a "big step to take", but it is one he is not regretting.
Indeed it took just a 20-minute conversation with Southern United coach Paul O’Reilly to convince the midfielder to make the move.
"I think it was just the chat I had with Paul," he said when asked what convinced him so quickly.
"Obviously he told me once I performed he had plans for me and the team.
"Once he told me the plans for this season and how they’d improved every year, it was something I wanted to be part of.
"Hopefully I can be part of something special this year."
There was a familiar face to greet him on arrival.
Striker Garbhan Coughlan — who arrived a year earlier — was a friend of Whitehead’s and the pair had played together at Limerick.
They had kept in touch last year, although the thought of coming over had not entered Whitehead’s mind at that point.
The club’s Irish connection — which this season also includes O’Reilly, Connor O’Keeffe, Danny Ledwith and Stephen Last — had not influenced his decision to come.
However, it had made settling in a little easier and he was looking forward to his first Christmas away from home.
"It’s been a help to me that there’s four or five guys in the same position as me, coming from Ireland.
"Obviously, the boys have been in the same position as me and they’re a bit older than me as well, so they’ve been very helpful in that sense.
"It didn’t make up my mind, the Irish connection, but it’s definitely helped me since I’ve been here."
It was not just the Irish that had made him feel welcome, though.
He had found New Zealanders friendly and was enjoying exploring the sights in and around Dunedin.
That had to fit around football, though, which kept him busy between playing and working with Football South.
A centre midfielder, Whitehead has had a strong start to the season.
He hopes to continue that against Canterbury United on tomorrow at the Caledonian Ground.
The side had performed well at times, although he felt it needed to do so more regularly to kick on and make the top four.
"It’s not good enough to do it once very two or three weeks.
"We need to get more consistency after Christmas — hopefully that can start this weekend."
Meanwhile the Southern United youth side plays Canterbury in its final game at 1pm today at Tahuna Park.
The side is one point off the top of the table, but it needs results from Auckland City and Waitakere United to go its way to capture the title.
National premiership
Southern Utd v Canterbury Utd
Caledonian Ground, Tomorrow, 2pm
