Sweet As Tees › Blog › Gifts for Kiwis Living Overseas ? 20 Ideas They'll Love
By The Sweet As Crew · · Updated — Sweet As Tees Blog
The best gifts for Kiwis living overseas ? NZ slang t-shirts, Kiwi food hampers, and care packages from $20-$100. Ideas that actually feel like home, wherever you are.
The Best Gifts for Kiwis Living Abroad β What They Actually Want | Sweet As Teesπ₯ The Gift That Hits Different When You're Far From Home
Our Sweet As New Zealand tee and Aotearoa Down Under tee were made for the homesick Kiwi. See all expat-ready designs β
Sweet As Tees π₯The Best Gifts for Kiwis Living AbroadGot a Kiwi friend or family member living overseas? Here's what they actually want β from taste of home care packages to wearable NZ pride. No fridge magnets.
π₯There are approximately one million New Zealanders living overseas. That's nearly a quarter of the entire Kiwi population scattered across London, Sydney, New York, Dubai, and everywhere in between.
They left for adventure, for opportunity, for love, for a change of scenery. But they never really left New Zealand. It travels with them β in their accent, in their values, in the way they say "sweet as" and confuse everyone around them.
If you have a Kiwi in your life who's living abroad β or if you are that Kiwi β this guide is for you. Here's what they actually want. Not what the tourist shop thinks they want. What they actually, genuinely want.
π₯Ask any New Zealander living overseas what they miss most and food will feature heavily. Not gourmet food. Comfort food. The stuff that tastes like home.
The ultimate Kiwi expat care package includes:
A box of these sent to a Kiwi expat will generate more genuine emotion than almost any other gift you could give. It says: I know you. I know what you miss. I thought of you.
π₯Kiwis living abroad love wearing their identity. It starts conversations, it connects them with other Kiwis they meet, and it keeps them feeling connected to home even when home is 12,000 kilometres away.
A well-designed New Zealand t-shirt is the gift that keeps giving. Not a generic "NZ" tourist tee β something with actual Kiwi humour and character. Something that makes other Kiwis grin and makes everyone else ask questions.
At Sweet As Tees, every design is built around authentic Kiwi culture β slang, humour, landscapes and pride. Our tees are the ones Kiwis actually wear, not the ones that sit in a drawer.
Browse the full collection β
π₯Premium New Zealand manuka honey travels well, lasts a long time, and is genuinely valuable β good UMF-rated manuka honey is expensive and difficult to find outside New Zealand. A quality jar is a gift that feels considered and luxurious.
π₯New Zealand merino is world-class β soft, warm, naturally odour-resistant and built to last. A merino scarf, beanie or base layer is a practical and premium gift, especially for Kiwis living in the northern hemisphere where they're finally experiencing proper winters.
π₯A piece of pounamu β New Zealand greenstone β carved into a koru, hei tiki or manaia carries deep meaning and travels beautifully. It's a physical connection to Aotearoa that a Kiwi can wear every day, wherever they are in the world.
π₯Kiwis are passionate about coffee and frequently disappointed by the flat whites available overseas. A bag of premium New Zealand roasted coffee, or a voucher for a specialty coffee experience, acknowledges the pain of bad coffee abroad while celebrating what they left behind.
π₯A beautiful coffee table book about New Zealand landscapes, MΔori art, or Kiwi culture gives an expat something to share with their overseas friends and colleagues β a way of showing people the place they came from. Photography books of New Zealand's landscapes are particularly powerful.
π₯RNZ podcasts, New Zealand news subscriptions, even a digital subscription to a New Zealand magazine β staying connected to home matters enormously to expats. Something that delivers a regular dose of New Zealand into their inbox or earphones is genuinely appreciated.
π₯The best gift you can give a Kiwi living abroad? Tell them you're coming to visit. Or better yet β buy the flights and go see them. Nothing closes the distance like being in the same room.
π₯The hardest thing about living abroad isn't the distance. It's the feeling of being forgotten β of life at home carrying on without you. A card, a voice message, a care package, a t-shirt that makes them laugh β these things matter more than their monetary value.
They left New Zealand. New Zealand never left them.
At Sweet As Tees, we make tees for Kiwis wherever they are in the world. Because being a Kiwi isn't a location. It's a state of mind.
Proud to be Kiwi? Wear it on your chest.
Shop Kiwi Pride Tees βNot sure what to get? Start with the full roundup: 10 Best New Zealand Gift Ideas for Kiwis and NZ Lovers β perfect for every budget and occasion.
Tags: gifts for kiwis abroad, kiwi expat gifts, new zealand expat, nz gifts overseas, kiwi living abroad, new zealand homesick, nz present ideas