One-way: Portland to Amsterdam on October, 16th 2024.
Dolly’s face accurately captures the truth of how we felt for the first several months in the Netherlands. We were excited, everything was new and truly beautiful but, it was so hard. I struggled from the guilt of uprooting our great (comfortable) life in the suburbs of Beaverton, Oregon. Ben struggled with purpose having left everything to start over in a foreign country. Dolly struggled because that’s what two-year-olds do.
We made our decision and the opportunity of this new chapter was not lost on us. Better days, daycare and a trip to somewhere awesome was just around the corner and we needed to stay positive.
After two temporary living situations we finally found a permanent rental in Utrecht just before Christmas. Gorgeous, lively Utrecht had all the charm of the Amsterdam ascetics but far less busy with tourism.
We quickly learned of all the “animal parks” Utrecht had to offer. The Netherlands has a children’s park on just about every corner, many of which boast farm animals. To say that the Netherlands is kid-friendly is an understatement… We’ve decided, the Netherlands was made for kids, adults just happen to live here, too.
No matter where you live or how busy with life you are, it’s always worth documenting. For me, it’s especially important to document this time with my family because it’s extraordinary what we are experiencing given where we came from.
Just like our life in the US, we still have to deal with crappy weather, weeks of routine, earning a living and regular daycare induced sickness but it comes with a different feeling. Everyday we have been abroad so far we have to learn something new– what a privilege. We have seen six countries in our first year and collected countless precious memories and I never want to forget them.