Americans Moving To The Netherlands | 15 REASONS WHY

We're an American family from Kansas moving to The Netherlands. It took us several months of researching countries and going back and forth on a few options before we finally decided The Netherlands was right for us! In this video I'll discuss the 15 things we took into consideration in order to make our decision.

The move is less than a year away and we can't wait! Please subscribe and follow us as we prep for our move abroad and help others do the same!

Let me know in the comments, is there anything we overlooked??

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[dutchyjhome]

As a Dutchy, may I add some easily overlooked traps you may step into when you are going to live in The Netherlands: I am glad that you are actually doing some research and doing the ticking your boxes thing, but: You are going to an entire different country with an entire different culture, and with an entire different social structure and an entire different language, which you really should master. Remember you are doing yourself a great favor to learn the language as soon as possible, because us Dutchies talk English to strangers but Dutch among friends. So yes you can try to go around in English and we will politely answer your brief questions; superficial chit chat as well, but we Dutchies will not give you access to our personal life as long as you speak English. We've seen this all before: For example expats come to The Netherlands for estimated 4 years work, therefor they refuse to learn the Dutch language and so they get lonely, since Dutch society is not accessible in English and so these people go back home in depressed and in tears way sooner than those 4 years estimated. Please do not get fooled by the statement that we, The Dutch, speak English as a second language, because this absolutely is not the case. We do speak some !!! English and for simple chit chat just enough English, but no matter how you look at it: Want to stay stranger in The Netherlands: stick to English. Want to make life worth it and get access to the entire Dutch culture and social structure? By all means Learn to speak Dutch ! This is The Netherlands after all and we speak Dutch. This next blunt statement may hurt at first, but let is sink in before you react: With all do respect, but socially spoken, we don't need you. See in general we already have an extended group of friends we grew up with from kindergarten, school, high-school, university, clubs, you name it. And guess what: all of these long term friends speak Dutch. So to break in, in such a steady group of friends takes a lot of effort and speaking Dutch is obligated, it basically is the very first step for foreigners to overcome. So best thing you can do is: learn Dutch in the country you are from before you even set foot on Dutch soil, this will make life so much easier for you.

[transient_]

How's your move going? Have you moved already? Or are you still in the preperation phase?

[roderickvannoorloos]

So, based on one of your comments on another post you're probably aware of this but.... housing is a real issue atm. Make sure you've got housing arranged before you make the move!! And I'm not talking 'We'll AirBnB for a few months while we look around' because that will simply not work. You need to have a long term rental contract in the bag, or purchase yourselves a house, otherwise things will end in tears.

[privatetatum]

This has just become a real possibility for my husband and I who are absolutely getting out of here before 2024. I’m so glad I found you on TT and now here!

[christianbell]

Looks like you took a very practical approach to the move, well done, i approve :)

[DJbradass]

Thank you Jess. My wife and I are interested in the Netherlands for all of the reasons you laid out, other than colder climate, as we've lived in Seattle for much of our lives ;) as well as our soon-to-be 3 year old. We've been eying Valencia, Spain, mostly because of the fact that we both already speak some Spanish in addition to sun and beach. As I understand it, and from my experiences traveling to Amsterdam, living in the Netherlands as an English speaker is no problem. However, are there requirements to speak Dutch if you were to eventually apply for permanent residency after 5 years? Not a deal breaker, but it would derail my other linguistic pursuits for a time. Appreciate your feedback!

[JackpostHome]

Hey Jess,

The Netherlands does have a Dutch Mountain Trail...🙂 includes the only mountain cabin in The Netherlands...

[nealjones]

just curious, what kind of business did you start under the Daft process?

[iedzjee]

Hi Jess, great to hear all your deliberations and the way you don’t haphazardly stumble into an emigration adventure that can be really hurtful. As other fellow countrymen stated, please look for a place outside of Amsterdam. That city is possibly the easiest and seemingly obvious starting point, but really, life is so much easier and relaxed in any other town or city. The only thing is that public transport is a bit less accessible outside the Randstad.

[williamgeardener]

Seems you've got a very idealised picture of the Netherlands, disregarding the difficulties that all expats experience after moving here. Finding a job won't be a problem, your visa should be a breeze using DAFT. But then it starts, housing is very expensive and scarce. It doesn't matter if you rent or buy. The cost of living is going up by the week and the myth of the Netherlands being a welcoming and friendly country is long gone with the influx of refugees, foreign students and expats who refuse to adapt to Dutch values and norms. Yes, most Dutch people can speak English, but a lot of them refuse it because "You're in my country, so you have to speak my language."
You also seem to be unaware that the Netherlands is very tiny and very densely populated. You won't find the space that you have in the USA. There's always some stranger keeping an eye on you, and if you're not used to that, living in the Netherlands can be a very paranoid experience.

[privatetatum]

Can you recommend a house hunting website, please?

[janvanholten]

Affordable healthcare?? Well, there are plenty of European countries were the healthcare is much more affordable. Actually, it is very expensive. But of course, not compared to the USA.

[RoelHodes]

You’re totaly right about our characteristics. But you forgot that we have a huge housing problem. We are short of almost a million houses. Te rent a house of to buy a house is very espansive. Coming to the Netherlands you make that problem even worse.

[AnwarKarimi-tcxg]

Your flight is taking longer than expected 🤣

[itomg]

Looks to me that you and your family really thought this through. I understand and as a Dutchman I do see how you might fit in our society fine! So Welcome in advance and I really hope it will work out for you and your loved ones.
I'm looking forward to your explorations in my country and Europe as a whole. Given that this vlog is 10 month old, I wonder what the status of your move is.
I hope to see more soon. Good luck!

[marcelwevers]

Before you move, get rid of that highly annoying focal fry.

[richardhltrp]

i know why so many americans want to go to europe ( the Netherlands ) ... we ARE the american dream we dont have to be a sleep for it because we have enough free time to realize it 😅

[valentinjaeken]

You really think that it's going to be that easy? Think again.