Sharing the journey of becoming an expat and the growth that comes with it.
We have been home now for one month as of this past week. I originally wanted to give myself a few days to observe our transition and take note, and post in that first week, but then distraction and brain fog took over and, well, I’m finally taking some time to get out my thoughts.
Efteling is ingrained in Dutch childhoods. Generally speaking, any Dutch person you meet has been at least once in their life. We decided Mason’s birthday was the perfect time to go check it out.
It has been a while since a Hays family life update. We’re getting so very close to the end of
early November, we had Melissa over for dinner and started listing some fun things to try/visit/do in the Netherlands. One of those things was staying in a windmill! Melissa had seen a listing on Airbnb and we went ahead and booked it for the spring.
fries) combined with a smaller city vibe than larger northern cities, loads of good restaurants, and excellent shopping. I really think it is the best place to land! Here’s a few things to know if you plan to move here.
I’ve been saving up this post because I thought, for sure, we’d visit dozens of markets and I wanted to review them all. The universe, Covid, and some European governments had other plans. Instead of dozens, we made it to four: Aachen (Germany), Brugges (Belgium), Maastricht (Netherlands), and funny enough, Valencia (Spain) where we stumbled upon one on accident. While they are all different, there are some staples that make a Christmas market a Christmas market: gluhwein and hot chocolate, chocolates and cheeses for sale, usually some sausages, small gift vendors, and usually some festive lights. Read on to see where we went and what we liked about each one!
We keep thinking we had all we needed and finding out we are lacking something. Here’s our journey to opening that darn bank account!
We get many of the same questions when we tell people our plan to live in Maastricht for the year…here’s the answers.
Ten things we are still getting used to in the Netherlands: Daylight: Right now in summer, it starts getting light
This is not my first time living abroad, but it is certainly different coming as a family and not as a student.
Soujourns with Sarah 