On How We Got Here

I realize that there is a large gap between our life in Italy and our life in the Netherlands, so before we move forward I’d like to take a moment to catch you up.

In 2023 we knew we had to make a choice. Italy was now behind us. As much as we loved the country, as teachers we were tired of the constant struggle of being overworked, underappreciated, and living mostly paycheck to paycheck.

While we mulled over our options, we moved to Bratislava to be closer to family we hadn’t seen in a long time. Despite having a home there, it was also not a place in which we could see our future. The job market was limited, the general attitude to other cultures stereotypical, and although on the surface it appears to be modernizing, the bureaucracy, especially concerning foreigners, and the lack of resources is demoralizing. Of course things are slowly changing, but in short it wasn’t for us.

We knew we had to take a bigger risk. We wanted stability, opportunities, and a better work-life balance. After doing some research, we narrowed it down to three countries, and of those three we chose the Netherlands.

Out of the three it was the one that entailed the higher risk. It was more expensive. There weren’t many jobs that aligned directly with our skill set, and there was a housing crisis, but it ticked all our other boxes. And worst comes to worst, if we failed we could default to option 2 or 3.

Because finding a place to live in the Netherlands was so difficult, we decided we would begin our journey wherever we could first secure a place to live.

On May 1st 2023 we made the leap and landed in a small town in the south, close to Maastricht, where we were able to rent a brand new studio flat that had just come onto the market. It then took several months for us to find work, but we were eventually able to pivot out of teaching and into work that gave us better work-life balance. The contract for that studio ended in 2025, and we have since moved to a bigger place closer to Eindhoven.

Would I recommend this approach to moving to the Netherlands? No. But would I do it again? In a heartbeat. My most meaningful experiences have stemmed from taking intentional risks to step outside of my comfort zone. It’s the only way to really know yourself.

xox Martina