Canals, windmills, tulips, the Van Gogh Museum, Ann Frank’s house and the bicycling community aren’t the only reasons I want to live in the Netherlands. Like many people who have visited Europe or anywhere away from the U.S., a trip abroad can open your eyes to what else is outside our borders.
Maybe it’s just a common calling when on vacation: To see the best of a place and imagine how wonderful it would be to live there.
Then reality kicks in, such as money. While my job is mobile and I can work from anywhere, my wife would have to find a job. And then a million other excuses pop up, such as moving our daughter from her friends and school to a new country, what to do with the dog and all our belongings, etc. In the end, they’re all excuses for staying put.
I’ve had the same “time to move” fantasies when visiting Hawaii, a beautiful state where, if I had the money, I could see myself living there and enjoying the beach, wonderful weather, and sense of Aloha.
But the pull of the islands, as I’ve heard from many Hawaiian friends, can also send you running away. Being stuck on an island can make you go stir crazy, and there are only so many days at the beach before you get tired of it.
But there’s something about Europe, and the Netherlands in particular, that make me want to at least give living there a try.
Surrounded by history
Part of the appeal of wanting to live in the Netherlands is the history and the chance to visit a new country via a short plane trip or a few hours on a train.
Being in the same house where Ann Frank hid from the Nazis during World War II gives you a sense of history you can’t have otherwise. Visiting London many years ago, I was amazed at the people and events that made history there hundreds of years ago.
Along with the chance to explore the past, if I live in the Netherlands, it and the rest of Europe offer innovations that the U.S. is behind on. Here are a few that are almost enticing enough to get me to move there:
A solar road
The world’s first solar road is in the Netherlands. It’s a bike path coated with solar panels, which are reinforced with rubber and concrete and can withstand being driven on by firetrucks. The paths light up at night and generate enough power for local households.
A project called Solar Roadways is seeking donations for a U.S. solar road.
Free housing for nursing home help
A nursing home in the Netherlands allows college students to live in rent-free apartments if they help out at a nursing home.
Their work doesn’t include changing bedpans or anything like that, but simply helping older residents by doing activities such as watching sports on TV, celebrating birthdays and offering company when they’re ill. That doesn’t sound like much work for a free apartment.
By itself, the nursing home’s program doesn’t sound like enough to convince anyone to move to the Netherlands. And while I hope I never have to live in a nursing home, the compassion of such a program is a benefit that probably extends to other areas of life there.
Again, this isn’t reason enough alone to live in the Netherlands, but it’s an example of how well they try to take care of each other.
Dutch euthanasia
I hope this woman’s story of a life in agony never becomes reality for me, but I’m glad that the Netherlands allows euthanasia. It’s an individual choice and one that I don’t think government should prohibit. I know, this isn’t a major reason to want to live in the Netherlands, but I think it adds to the overall well being of residents.
A good home base for travel
Schiphol International is the busiest airport in Europe, the Netherlands has the biggest port in the world in Rotterdam, many trains are available, and there a lot of bikes.
The Dutch like to travel, and their location and transit options make it easy to visit the rest of Europe if you live in the Netherlands.
Live in the Netherlands for the frites
The Dutch version of French Fries was invented in the northern part of Belgium, but you can find them everywhere in the Netherlands.
I’ve had them served in a cone of paper, and topped with mayonnaise, curry or peanut sauce. Brussels isn’t too far away if you want to try other unhealthy but tasty food, such as Belgian waffles. Or go for the carbonnade, beer or chocolate. Oh, the chocolate.
A relaxed culture
From family-friendly workplaces, celebrations that pop up when your soccer team is doing well, and the ability to buy marijuana in a coffee shop, the Netherlands has an inclusive, classless culture that’s easy to assimilate into. Almost everyone there speaks English, though an expat should learn some Dutch.
I could go on and on about how much I want to live in the Netherlands, but the point is that anywhere outside of the U.S. should have enough reasons to want to move there if it’s a place you love.
I don’t know if I’ll ever live in the Netherlands or somewhere else in Europe someday, but the reasons above are calling me over.
I like to live in the Netherlands because of the culture, although I heard that the cost of living is much higher compared with other Europe country. I have never been there, but it is one of the places such as France and Germany I want to visit.
I’ve been there once, and my understanding is that the cost of living is higher, but doable. Homes are much smaller than in the U.S.