People are curious about living as an expat. They seem to think that it is glamorous no matter where you actually live. The reality is that it’s life--just in a different place. Once you get past the “tourist”...
Expat Life: Six Months in Amsterdam
After living in Amsterdam for 6 months, I think it’s a great time to explain just why Amsterdam is an amazing place to not only visit, but live. It is a capital city, but the national government is...
Our New Normal
When the thrill of moving to another country wears off a bit, you need to find ways to keep discovering new places and hoping you will stay in love with your new home. For us, just living a...
How We Became Expats
I kept having this nagging feeling that this blog never did a good job at having a back story as to how we became expats. So here is our story: To understand our move in 2014, let’s...
Making the Most of Amsterdam
People keep telling us we are fresh off the boat, but it sure doesn’t seem that way! It’s been 5 months and yet we are so comfortable with the city of Amsterdam already. We have made friends, we...
How to Make Friends as an Expat
You’re in a new place and don’t know anyone (except maybe your partner), so how do you fit in? How do you find that group of friends? How do you make friends as an expat? You might wonder...
Clashing Cultures
You can quite literally clash with someone from another country when you greet one another. Oh the awkwardness! This kind of thing seems to keep happening to me! So, what on earth am I talking about? This...this is...
Becoming An Expat: The Anxiety, Adjusting, and Adventures
Becoming an expat is my first big adventure and is the first time I have done anything bold. It was also the first time I wanted something so bad that it pained me. That feeling drove me, it...
5 Things You’ll Need to be an Expat
When we thought about moving abroad to Amsterdam we first had to first figure out how it would be legally possible. Then we had to figure out the processes and logistics of it all. Nobody’s experiences are ever...
Our First Christmas Abroad
There’s a first for everything that happens. Since we just moved to Amsterdam this summer, this was our first Christmas abroad. We are just starting to settle in, so a flight back to the United States was...