There’s no one-size-fits-all rule for settling into expat life in a new country, but here are a few helpful articles and personal stories that may help make your move a little easier.

Circumstances can be challenging if you are an expat living in a foreign country, where there are different rules. As an expat, your tax situation could prove more complicated than initially expected. With the high inflation and the new Dutch government cabinet introducing amendments to tax laws,… Read more
Born and raised in South Korea, The Rising Mom made the move to the Netherlands in 2011 as a Master of Laws student and hasn’t looked back since. As a budding legal professional and busy mom, she finds her pockets of peace and joy in the simplicities of everyday life in a small Dutch town just… Read more
Lisa is Chinese by race, born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore. In 2004, she moved to the Netherlands for love and now calls Haarlem home. She finds Haarlem to be full of energy and completely different to what she was accustomed to – weather included! She's a stay-at-home… Read more
All you needed to know about the Dutch income tax system but were too afraid to ask As somebody who works in the Netherlands, you have probably already noticed a large amount of payroll tax (so-called loonheffing) listed on your salary slip. But have you ever tried to figure out… Read more
Having a baby in a country other than one's own can present challenges. However with careful planning, and taking advantage of the benefits at hand, these obstacles can be easily navigated.  In the Netherlands, a special service is offered to mothers with newborns, created to alleviate stress… Read more
Unfortunately, there was no guidebook waiting for me when I left the UK and moved to the Netherlands in 2008. In the space of 24 hours I began my sentence in the Westfries boondocks as a reluctant housewife, completely unable to speak a single word of Dutch.  Sure, I had a couple of good… Read more
There are often things one wishes they knew before they moved to a new country. With a touch of humour and a hint of hindsight, Tracey Chalmers, a British expat living in the Netherlands, shares some of her insights about what to know before you move to the Netherlands. The autumn… Read more
Tracey is a British expat living in Breda with her husband, aka Mr Sunshine, and their beloved Tibetan terrier, Alfie. She shares her expat experiences with a touch of humour and offers some great tips for those thinking of relocating to the Netherlands. You can read more about Tracey's expat life… Read more
Jeremy Holland is an American expat from California who is now living in the Netherlands. Having previously lived in Barcelona with his Spanish wife and their daughter, they now call Oudorp their home. Jeremy is the author of a series of short stories, and his most recent publication, From… Read more
Edward Chetwynd-Talbot is a British expat who is currently living in Amsterdam with his wife and children. Having lived in many countries around the world, including in Asia, Europe and the US, here he gives us his insightful take on life in the Netherlands. Read more about expat life in the… Read more
How would you sum up the Dutch race to an alien being? Where would you start, and what on earth would you say? If you’re an expat new to these shores you might start by describing their quaint penchant for tulips, windmills and uncomfortable wooden shoes, or maybe you’d begin with their obsession… Read more
When American expat Carolyn Vines arrives in the Netherlands with her Dutch boyfriend (and future husband) she's unsure how she'll be treated as a foreigner, a Black person, a woman. Her partner's response comes to encapsulate her entire experience, "It's Holland, Carolyn, not America." With… Read more
Amanda is a thoroughbred English woman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2000. She maintains a blog about expat life – the good and the bad and all the in-betweens – called A Letter from the Netherlands, also runs The Writing Well, a company that provides English language writing… Read more
Expat life is a rollercoaster of emotions but one sensation sure to hit hard is a feeling of loneliness. Amanda van Mulligen talks to Debby Poort, an expat therapist in the Netherlands, about the effects of loneliness and how to overcome the hurdle of isolation when living abroad or working… Read more
Nicola McCall is an expat life coach based between the Netherlands and the UK. She runs Live Life Now Coaching, has been a Board Member of an Expatriate women’s group, International Womens’ Contact Utrecht, and a Mentor on expatwomen.com. Nicola loves the way the expatriate… Read more
David R. Hampton, PhD is an experienced global leader in medical device innovation and new business development, creating profitable new products for diagnostic and informatics markets. He lives in Maastricht and writes the blog Random Walks in the Low Countries where he documents his… Read more
Tiffany Jansen moved to the Netherlands recently after marrying her Dutch husband. Her father is a pilot for Delta Airlines, so she’s lived in places like Japan, Greece and Germany before high school. She is really loving living here and writes in detail about her adventures as an expat in the… Read more

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