Life in 9 suitcases

On my personal Facebook page last year I shared our journey of leaving North America but I didn't share a lot of it here. Not sure why, we were just so busy I didn't really have the time to dedicate to writing the appropriate posts, I guess. So, I figure with our one year anniversary two days ago, I will share this with you now.

After we decided on where we should live and learning what our budget would be we knew this would be unlike any other move as now we had two choices: take our stuff or leave our stuff. 

Our friends who moved to Ireland a few months prior to us leaving sold everything. They said it was too expensive to ship and just wasn't worth the hassle. But, I figured I'd look into it anyway and agreed-for 10 year old furniture-the cost to get this stuff overseas was not even close to what I would describe as worth it. Plus, we were faced with the panic of 'what if we get it all there and it doesn't fit'...so we decided our best course of action was to sell just about everything.

But, before we could start selling, we had to decide what we were keeping. So, we looked at the costs associated with checking luggage and over weight fees and felt we could afford 6 large suitcases and 3 carry-on bags. This meant we would pay $150 extra for our luggage, but if it contained basically our entire lives it was worth it, plus it was less than the some 10,000+\- dollars a shipping container would have cost. 

About two months before we left Canada we started selling items. We started with items that weren't must haves or big items that would sell for the most money and we put a pick up date on them if it was stuff like beds or couches.

During this time I did take a 2 week vacation to Hawaii..which was wonderful, yet stressful. When we got home I had exactly one month before our fly out date. My days were spent on Craigslist and Amazon listing anything and everything that could be sold. In the last week I priced stuff to ridiculously low amounts, on the day before we were supposed to leave I was literally giving stuff away. I have pretty much my entire kitchen to a young girl who was moving in to her first apartment.

I did have 4 boxes 2 very large wardrobe type boxes and two regular medium size boxes that I packed with all our snowboarding gear and memory items and mailed that to my mother. I put some stuff in there for her and she still hasn't opened it. Maybe after this post she will {haha}. 

I will say deducting our lives down to 9 suitcases and four boxes made me feel lighter. Today, one year later I am careful about what I buy wanting to make sure I am surrounded by possessions I truly appreciate and that bring me joy.

Sure we sometimes miss the mindless shopping and buying because we want it in that moment, but know being conscious consumers during this time has only helped to serve our minds better and has let us focus on sharing memories instead of possessions.

Giving up everything for a dream was the best decision we ever made as a family and definitely don't regret it, it has been the most enriching experience for every single one of us. 

Why we chose Amsterdam

In celebration of our one year expat journey I thought I would do a few posts about our expat journey, there was so much I didn't say that I wanted to!

Today I want to tell you why we chose Amsterdam as the country that would host our expat adventure.

In the grand scheme of things (over a 6 month period of trying to make this happen) we had a total of four prospects: Warsaw, Cambridge, Prague, and Amsterdam. It really came down to 1) wanting a completely different cultural experience and 2) a place where a majority of the population spoke English.

I am not a linguist. My husband is not a linguist. Our daughter is okay at linguistics. She is young enough that she can catch on fairly quickly if she uses it enough. But the hubby and I were going to need some serious support.

Through research we decided England was too familar, Poland wasn't it because pay wasn't even close to what we had been making, location wasn't central, and we'd pretty much be stuck there, hubby wasn't sold on Prague because he didn't encounter a single person in his travels that spoke enough English to get by for us, so we finally settled on Holland. Through much research we learned that 90% of the population of Holland can carry on a conversation in English, coupled with a drastic culture change..it was just what we wanted.

But, in addition to having a well educated population that spoke English we chose Amsterdam for the following reasons:

• Culture: they have an open and supportive culture. Everyone looks out for one another and we wanted our daugther to experience that.
• Freedom: to be yourself and accepted by others regardless of sexual orientation, religion, or background.
• Outspoken truth: this is a very outspoken society, they always tell the truth even though you may not want to hear it. They are never mean, just truthful, I felt that was an important virtue for the teenager to learn at this point in life.
• Location: central Europe with an airport and train station where you can get anywhere in the world at the blink of an eye. 
• Language: the home language of the country was Dutch so we knew that over time and in school she would learn Dutch and it would add a little flair to our everyday experiences, yet everyone within the city is educated enough that they can speak English quite well so if we get stuck we ask, "uw sprek Engles" and they switch over to English for us (although within the city when they hear our accent usually they will automatically switch to English, a bit frustrating)
• Easy to get around...we knew when we moved to Europe we wouldn't be investing in a car so a place that uses bikes and mass transportation as their main mode of getting around was right up our ally. I will say with all the extra exercise from riding our bikes everyday we are happier people.

All-in-all moving to Amsterdam has truly been everything we thought it would be. We have seen a lot of Europe and really enjoy all the people we've met throughout our travels. We've met people from all over the world and have learned so much about their backgrounds. Every day I am so thankful for this experience and that it has been everything we thought it would be. 

I know my teenagers view on the world-understanding her friends home culture, learning about different political systems, and hands on history-has made an impact and broadened her personal knowledge and made her a deep thinker. Which is actually everything I wanted her to get out of this experience to carry with her in the future. 

I'm not sure what the next year will bring but given that it has started with a trip to Berlin and then London, I can only imagine how it shall pan out. 

One Year European Anniversary!

Well, we have officially been expats in Amsterdam for one year, folks! Can you believe it?! I can't.

I will admit, I had to look back through all my emails to find out our actual date of arrival in Amsterdam. So much has happened this year that I honestly could not remember for the life of me the actual date we got here. But, I found it and it was today, May 1-May Day. Gawd, we were exhausted! But, give me a minute to go down memory lane.

When 2014 started all I dreamed of was visiting somewhere I hadn't been before...Seattle (which was going in be in conjunction with my daugther's cheerleading competition.) I quite honestly had no bigger expectations for the year. However, since we are dream chasers, we had someone schedule an interview with my hubby in Cambridge, so I had my first trip overseas and the opportunity to visit London. Hubby then flew on to Amsterdam, which I sadly could not make. However, it is the destination we wound up choosing. Stay tuned because next week I will be telling you why we chose Amsterdam to be the city that hosted our expat adventure.

I'll admit, I was very worried that horse was gonna kick me! haha

Prior to making the decision to move, my best friend moved to Hawaii, within weeks of her moving, my husband surprised me by booking the kiddo and me tickets to visit her. A place I'd always desired to visit came true, Honolulu, Hawaii was on my list of places to check off my bucket list.

Once we made our decision to vacate North America, I wasn't sure what the future held. We took a major paycut, but knew if we were clever with our money the experience would be worth it. ..and it has been, let's take a visit to the cities we've been to:

• Brussels....this was our first European adventure as a couple. The kiddo was off in Germany, at a theme park much like Universal Studios, called Movie Park, where the European National Cheerleading Championships are held. It was a grand adventure I will never forget.
• Paris...this was our first European adventure as a family. It was to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary. An adventure none of us will forget, I know the teenager knows why we went, but I wonder if today she'd remember it was our anniversary, she was totally in her element and really enjoyed the city.
• Rome...It was fun to tell our friends, while they were on their honeymoon, "sure, we will meet you in Rome for the weekend-no problem!" ...and then actually go and spend an entire weekend wandering through the streets of an Italian city we've always dreamed of wandering. No real plan and just enjoying the time exploring.
• Zandvoort aan Zee...this is an amazing place...totally catering to tourists though...which is probably why we love it haha for more see our Day at the Beach in Holland Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
• Otterlo, Holland...visited the Kroller-Muller museum. Such a unique and lovely place. I have a post coming soon...but there are several Vincent Van Gogh works that if you are a fan you should not miss.
• Muiden, Holland...this was one of the first day trips within Holland the kiddo and I took...we had a really great time and if you have any extended period of time in Amsterdam I really recommend you visit this place.
• Berlin...this one barely made it to the one year cut off haha But, the kiddo and I had a lovely time exploring the uniqueness that is Berlin. Check out Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 for a full recap...if you have an extended period of time in Europe and you area  history buff...particularly if you can put up with the horrors of WWII, I definitely recommend you check this place out.

I feel as though our year has been very productive and I couldn't be more pleased. 

So, happy Anniversary to us!! If you are considering a move, please overseas and have questions ease don't hesitate to contact me, I am happy to share our experience with anyone who may want more info. This was the best thing we ever did for our family and I would love to share it with you. ☺️

Neighbourhood Tour!

We moved in to our permanent place in Amsterdam in July. We were 100% settled by early August...by 100% I mean we had all necessary furniture to be comfortable. We still have quite a bit to get as we need more lighting, tables, and stuff to put on the walls...but we are comfortable and are enjoying our new home.

We have gotten the opportunity to tour our neighborhood a number of times whether it be through running or biking so I thought I would share that with y'all....

This is the view from our backyard...if you follow me on instagram you've seen this (if you aren't follow me now and holla so I can follow you back)...but this happened on Wednesday, and I couldn't resist taking a photo! The park back there is always full of kids playing, people taking a walk, pets mulling around it is quite a nice area to have right behind us.

Now, let's hop on my bike and we can see the rest ;)

If you bike directly across the street and park your bike, you cross a bridge and come to this! I would never have expected to see this behind the bridge....we are so lucky!

As you wind your way through the trails you come back on to pavement and will find this gorgeous garden:

Lots of lovely flowers and well groomed bushes....

Then we have this area near the water with a small bridge and lots of lovely flowers that are highly water dependent (I assume) since they grow in the water! haha

As you keep wandering there are several places that have animals in them:

In this pen there are kangaroo's....

In this one, there is a, well, a cow...he didn't look very happy to see me...

In fact, he looked slightly frazzled...I wonder if some tourists were getting to him? 

Eventually you wind your way around to an open field...

This is a fantastic area with lots of trees for a picnic....

Now, in the park on select Sunday's we have the Pure Market:

You can get all sorts of delicious things but some of our favorites are the rotisserie chicken on this open flame cooker...how awesome is that?! I've never seen anything like it!

There are guys using a wood smoker and serving up fresh food....

Here are some other things you can get....

Fresh juices, pepperoni, butter whipped with edible flowers, dried cherries, and dried mango, and the Nanaimo bar ;)

Now, if you ride your bike behind the park and go toward a town called Amstelveen you will come to this:

I love this windmill! It is a huge tourist attraction too. I took a picture from the "ugly" side because there were too many people around it the day I tried to photograph it. But, it is a gorgeous piece. It has dates on it from 1600 something to 1960 something. I'm curious to know exactly what the dates mean. I do believe someone lives in the windmill also, it is very well groomed and there is always the same car out front.

If you keep going down this road you come to these:

Behind these gates there is a little play area for families...then a little farther down...

You can meet Rembrandt. He's always looking very stoic. 

Now we will hop back on our bikes and ride over to the train station:

This is just a five minute bike ride from our house, a brisk 10 minute walk or a slow 15-20 minute walk. The station allows us quick and easy access to a number of buses, trams, metro's, and trains. We can get all over the city here or all over Holland! We are lucky to have it so close to our house between this and our bikes we really have no need for a car (which I hate driving so I am so glad!).

If you take the metro down one stop and get out...you'll find this sign outside the Amsterdam Zuid Station:

Does this mean it is just a kiss for one ride?! How far is the ride? Is it the same kind of ride I'm thinking of? It doesn't help that the literal translation of "alleen halen en brengen" is "just give and take" haha....

Seriously, I think it means that is where you can pick people up or drop people off...possibly could be where you hail a cab but those are usually marked with a giant blue "T" much like the universal blue "P" for parking...but still pretty funny translation. This gave us a good chuckle when we were making our way home one night!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my neighborhood! We are really loving our area, there is so much to see and do...we really lucked out!

Culture Shock: #5

I haven't done one of these for quite some time so thought I would do one now!

The first thing that has been really hard to get used to is how nosy everyone is here! Honestly, I am a pretty nosy person but sometimes I feel these people step a bit over the line.
Example 1:

See this beautiful red hair color?! I took her to get this done as a back to school treat. We get to the salon and the stylist, who was recommended to us by a friend, immediately wants to know "why" she wants to get her hair colored red? What?! Does any woman need a "why" for coloring her hair?! My daughter being ever graceful just says simply because she wants something different...ya know, being a teenager and all they like to experiment...he then suggests she get caramel color highlights because he thinks that will look better. She turns to me with a very distraught face, I leaned down and let her know that if he didn't want or couldn't do the red we could go and find someone who would/could. He even said to me as he was trying to talk her into the caramel highlights, "Well, if this were my daughter I would not let her dye her hair red", I responded "Well, thank goodness she isn't your daughter then." He finally relented and did the red and it looks amazing, but what was the deal with him giving his opinion on the matter...I get that he can and should give an opinion about the shade and counseling on weather or not we would need to lighten the hair first, but no he went straight to the criticizing stage and it was shocking.

Example 2: 

It is a nice 68F outside, not raining, sun shining...we walk to get groceries I'm wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and runners, kiddo is wearing basically the same. As we walk into the grocery store someone on a patio jumps in front of us to ask us if we are cold....um what?! No dude, it is 68 degrees outside, not cold. Finish shopping, walk home someone else stops us to ask for directions, once we gave them to him we start to walk off but he calls after us and he says, "I don't mean to be forward, but aren't you cold?" Uh, no, no, not cold. Why do you people even care?! I could see if I was standing in the rain, in a bathing suit on the side of the road shivering but I am enjoying a nice walk in the sun fully dressed on a nice summer day!

People are nice enough, I just find it interesting that people are so bothered by and feel the need to give unnecessary advice on such trivial matters.

In example one I was paying someone to give her what she wants...in my opinion, unless you cannot do what I ask then I don't need your opinion on the matter. I know what is best for my child and what I am willing to allow her to do. It is just hair, not like i am allowing her to tattoo her entire scalp red!

In example two I told my daughter next time someone asks if I am cold, whether I am or not, I am going to say "yes" just to see what they would do. Think they'd give me a jacket or a lecture? haha

No one has been "rude" per se, and I don't really let these things bother me, but I think this is definitely a cultural thing as it isn't the first time incidents like this have happened. It just makes me wonder what gets into people and why they think they can be so forward to a total stranger? Not to mention it is really creepy when you jump in front of someone and command their attention to ask if they are cold. Just weird peeps, just weird. 

I will say though, living with people this outspoken I have really learned to speak up and be heard. I always tend to be a bit timid in giving my opinion, I am more reserved than most that way, but when someone gives me their opinion now I've learned to tell them, I see your point, but I view it differently and give my opinion because sometimes it means getting what I want to getting what they want to give me.

Weather....odd or not?

This has been our weather forecast...it has only changed slightly since I took this photo...we've had a few more days in the high 50's...that is only a little weird I mean it is August after all...where are the dog days of summer?! Guess I'd have to go to the Mediterranean for that?! But, that is not the weird part I have talked to several locals and here are the things I've heard about the weather:

"Oh, Amsterdam's crazy weather is back"

"Oh, this weather is unusual is usually isn't this wet"

"Oh, wait until winter you'll be sorry then it is wet, snowy, and overall sucks"

"Winter is great, usually very mild"

Ok, what?! People, you supposedly are from here...as far as I understand your predictions should be somewhat similar! I know weather is unpredictable but everyone is constantly contradicting each other. Those four statements are from four different people, all total strangers that I chit-chat with while out running errands. I know if you ask me and other people I'd grew up with what the weather is like where we are from in Jacksonville and we'd probably all say the same thing!

So, Amsterdamians get it together...what exactly is the weather like "usually"?! If it really is unpredictable then adopt the motto of Kansans: "Don't like the weather? Wait 5 minutes!"

I will say though the early fall this one time around is kind of nice. I would like to ask for one more heat wave, but I won't hold my breath. 

Surprise treat!

So, now that I have ranted a bit, I promise that won't happen again...I got a surprise treat and is just one reason why I LOVE living here! We went to the Pure Market  a couple of weeks ago, it was a super cool place with really unique products. There were even some American and New Zealand expats selling there...which was a fantastic surprise. Well, as I'm walking by the American Baking Company I see this gem:

Oh yes folks that is a glorious, gorgeous Nanaimo bar! This is half of it because I ate half before I remembered to take a picture. It was a true Nanaimo bar too...fantastic recipe. Delicious and I go to talk with some other Americans & a few Canadians who were in line also. I hope they are back at the next one as I am needing a fix. It was such a nice surprise to find a little bit of "home" (by that I mean North America) so far away!

So, tell me have you encountered some insanely nosy people in your life? How did you deal with it?