The last week has been a whirlwind of activity. We’ve been putting things into storage, deciding on a place to live, and getting ready for the big move. To say that it’s been stressful is an understatement. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it and then I remember that it is, of course.
Moving is always tumultuous, especially long distances. I never really considered how much work my parents put into moving a family of six back and forth around the country. Just to move this family of three is a ton of work. We’ve put down roots here. Some of our friends here are some of the best we’ve had in our lives.
We travel a lot. Often leaving for a weekend at a time. It’ll be nice to have a weekend trip to Italy, Spain, France, or Germany, or just explore Holland for a day. There’s so much to do in the Netherlands, we should never run out of places to visit or things to do!
I’m excited to explore new places and cultures with my wife and son. To see the world differently, and most of all, to watch us all grow from the experience.
We’ve settled on a place to live. Through some serendipity, we found My Home Relocator which virtually walked us through several properties, over video chat. They’re a bit on the expensive side, but I found their expertise and professionalism to be worth it.
What’s Next
Moving! We hop on a flight next Wednesday, and we’ll be there Thursday. We still have a lot of last minute things to figure out:
- Disconnecting utilities — I found it rather obnoxious that some utilities won’t allow you to disconnect until you have a forwarding address. So this has been pushed back to the last possible point. 🙁
- Finding utilities — Utilities in the Netherlands just work different. You pick your provider, in almost all cases. There’s an organization that just manages the grid, the rest, is your own choice. Except for water and heat, that’s a central provider type thing, similar to the US. Oh, and apparently heat is a utility. That’s a new thing.
- Shipping — You can only carry so much on an airplane. We have a lot of winter clothes to ship, some electronics that aren’t worth buying again, and some keepsakes to make our home homey.
- Mail — I’m not sure how to stop getting mail and/or get it delivered to us while overseas. I’ve been putting this off, because frankly, I don’t care. But I do feel sorry for the person whom inherits our mailbox and has to deal with our junk mail, plus their own junk mail…
We also have an AirBnb for the month. Which gives us plenty of time to wait for packages, explore, and find furniture. I can’t wait to be there!