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November 2019, Utrecht – Netherlands

I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is look out the window. Yep, still freezing, fog rising up from the ground, no one on the streets. Just checking.

Sometimes a beautiful pink sunrise makes us think we’re dreaming. But nope, we’re still here.

There’s this unusual feeling about mornings. It’s a mix of quietness, inner peace and the anticipation of freshly brewed coffee.

Next thing I know, I pass by the park to check our new neighbors, a herd of geese. It’s the most funny sight watching them doing their daily routines. They scan you for a second, throw a loud ‘gaga’, then go back to eating. They always put a smile on my face before going to work. Checked again, we’re still here.

After a 7 minutes bus ride, where the driver usually sings or whistles on the rhythm of music, I’m in front of Utrecht Central Station. Luckily, my daily journey ends at this point. So here I am at the office in 15 minutes after leaving the house.

Even so, from Utrecht Central Station you can reach any major city in the Netherlands in about 1 – 1.5 hours. Geo spends 17 minutes on the intercity to Amsterdam south.

In the evening, it’s a real pleasure to come home walking, admire the Christmas lights in the city center, the lovely canals, or the parks invaded by splendid autumn colors. Don’t imagine it’s late. Usually at 5 PM there’s nobody left at the office.

There’s an unexpected thing about weekends, that we did not see coming. Before moving to the Netherlands, I had a plan to visit a new city every weekend. We thought it will be a continuous vacation, with new places to see all the time. Constantly on the run, like we did in city breaks.

The reality is that work takes away most of the week, and all we want to do in the weekend is relax, not chase castles. However, since we arrived here all our friends from the Netherlands reached out to meet. So i can say that quality time spent with them was more important than the list i had in mind. Haha, cheers to a new beginning without overwhelming to-do lists!

So for now, as a brand new adventure starts, we will just take the time to settle in and enjoy every day at a slow pace.

It’s true that change is hard, even if you aim for the better on the long run. The first months may not be exactly how you imagined, and you’ll keep comparing everything to what it used to be home. You will probably remember the previous life as being more simple, because you didn’t have to prove anything anymore.

As a personal belief, as soon as you realize you’re in denial (the first phase of change, followed by anger, exploration and acceptance), the sooner you’ll be able to talk about it, cope with it, accept it, then move on.

How was it for us? Probably we don’t realize yet what stage we’re at, or the first two were short. It’s definitely an adjustment to the new cultural environment. We’re in exploring mode now.

Friends had a major role in making us feel at home again and start new habits. But it’s also a matter of mindset. We wanted this change and planned it for a long time. We were well informed about what to expect. So when we finally went for it, it was 100%, with an open mind. We accept and embrace the new things in our life without freaking out. Change can be fun!

Be aware, this is not the promised article with all the steps of relocating abroad. In contrast with our bullet style and practical information posts, this one is just a quick answer to everybody’s questions about how we feel.

We’ll be back with a complete guide about relocating to the Netherlands, hopefully by the end of 2019.

We’re also preparing a new article with what to do around Utrecht (there’s plenty!).

Take care and never stop following your dreams. Sometimes, they really do come true.

Happy travels and stay safe!