Well, we’ve been in Amsterdam an entire month, as of a few days ago! Can you believe it? We sort of can’t, either.
Time is absolutely flying by (as usual), and we’ve tried to be really intentional and laid-back about adjusting to our big, trans-Atlantic change.
We’ve definitely done some neat things since we’ve arrived. Since we built in a bit of a buffer prior to starting our new jobs, we took advantage and went on a few day trips– Zaandam and Zaanse Schans; Delft; Utrecht; and Haarlem.
Delft, Utrecht, and Haarlem are all within an hour on the NS train system, and are beyond easy to get to– keep an eye out for dedicated day guides, coming soon! And we were thrilled to be able to bike to Zaandam and Zaanse Schans, since they’re pretty close to Amsterdam and the roads are so flat.
As always, we marveled about how the trains always seem to be on time in Europe, and are so clearly marked and easy to use– even with our limited Dutch. All you need to do is download the app and each ticket is a QR code!
We also took our time exploring our new home here in Amsterdam.
We have loved getting to know our neighborhood (it’s called de Baarsjes, on the western side of the city) as well as taking care of all the fun and exotic things that come along with moving…
- getting our wifi and banking set up;
- figuring out the banking system (not super intuitive!)
- getting new SIM cards, library cards, gym memberships;
- finding the best grocery store (more on that later); and
- submitting our immigration information to the government.
Of course it goes without saying that we also took care of finding the best place for fresh pastries and ice cream nearby, as well…
We’ll definitely be sharing more in the coming days and weeks about all the bureaucratic rigamarole that comes with moving abroad, as we’ve gotten lots of questions about it.
While the Dutch system is quite intuitive in a lot of ways, there’s still a lot of things to learn! We hope our experience can be helpful to any of you out there thinking about doing something similar.
Specifically for us new Amsterdammers, acquiring our bikes was a top priority!
We ended up joining a subscription service called Swapfiets (only here would you find a “Netflix for bikes!”) You pay a flat rate each month, and you get a beautiful bike with 2 locks, as well as unlimited maintenance, tune-ups, and protection if it gets stolen or if you get in an accident.
Biking around the city truly is as easy as it sounds here in Amsterdam, and most of the rumors you’ve heard about biking are probably true. We biked fairly frequently in Boston, but it’s such a way of life here, it really doesn’t compare.
Alex is pondering purchasing a fancier bike at some point… but Tegan is #TeamSwapfietsForLife already. More on the bikes later, though.
Aside from grocery shopping, we feel we have gotten the most questions from you guys about housing.
Well, after the big decision to sign a lease sight-unseen, we are so relieved to say that we lucked out with a fantastic apartment!
Many of you will be surprised to hear that, after a lot of discussion, we made the decision to use a realtor, called a makelaar here. For those of you who know us well, this was a big step for us.
As people who have always insisted on doing everything themselves (even if it’s really frustrating or difficult…) handing over the reins was a big decision. Surely many of you can relate! We definitely feel vindicated, though– the realtor we found was fantastic.
He took care of finding places that fit our criteria, arranging viewings and sending video remarks to us in the U.S., negotiating with the agents and landlords, and getting us across the finish line with a great place.
Rental contracts here are (naturally) in Dutch, so he also took care of translating the documents, arranging utilities, and making sure the place was move-in ready when we arrived from the airport.
We can’t even explain the relief that we felt in having our own place to go to directly from the airport, rather than a hotel or Airbnb! It was the easiest move-in we’ve ever had.
In honor of our first month here, we figured we would write a few posts featuring some delightful, surprising, annoying, and whimsical “first impressions” of Amsterdam, Holland, the Netherlands, and Dutch life.
It’s crazy to think that Tegan started out the month of July on a girls’ trip in Cancún and ended it with starting a new job, in a new continent, and commuting back-and-forth by bike! So it’s certainly been a whirlwind…
We’ve written a post about housing first, but stay tuned for installments on grocery shopping, biking, Dutch office culture, and more… coming soon!
As always, we hope you’ll follow along on our adventures on Instagram and Facebook, and do let us know what you think in the comments!
