Former politician Brendan Horan is looking forward to more time with his family - after not winning in a seat or a percentage of the party vote in last year's general election.
Since September, Mr Horan said he had been able to catch up with friends and family, "which was really lovely".
He said he was always busy and had been spending as much time as possible with his children and started "working on a couple of projects" in the interim.
With his wife, Miranda, and two children, Leilani, 9, and Kiahi, 13, "life never stops".
Mr Horan is looking at working with an organisation to develop educational pathways for the digital age.
"There is a real need for us to prepare ourselves for what's happening overseas within digital technology, jobs are being replaced by robotics and technologies."
Mr Horan said he would not pursue anything political in the new year.
When asked if he would campaign in the 2017 election, he said he was taking a break and did not miss being an MP.
"It's a lot of time, energy and work. The highlights would have been the number of people who were able to help from all walks of life, and also meeting the Dalai Lama and Prince William."
He said he would rather not dwell on the lows of his political career.
"I don't think people realise how much work you do in there.
"It really is a 24/7 job and now being able to spend time with my family is something I cherish."
Mr Horan noted how lovely it was to have the time to sit back and look at pohutukawas in bloom and he also hoped to get in some surfing over the Christmas period.