And by slow posting, I mean slowwww. In between playing Majora's Mask with two cats sleeping on me ❤️

2/n

The problem with NL is that it's cold, grey, wet and miserable. Unless you like cycling through the rain (gas costs 3 dollars a liter and forget about parking), you'll be inside your house for 8 months out of the year. Even during the 2 weeks of summer, there's no nature to enjoy. We basically have 3 nature parks, which you can walk in a day. And that's it. The beaches are shit, the food is flavorless, everything looks the same. It's grey and bland every day.

3/n

All of that was somewhat tolerable, because at least most of us lived a decent middle class life here. But that's starting to disappear as well. I don't know what's happened the past few years, but life here has gotten ridiculously expensive. Groceries, taxes, rent, incidental expenses, everything increased. To a point where it regularly starts to eat into my savings. It doesn't make financial sense to stay in The Netherlands. It's just not worth it anymore.

4/n

That's not even mentioning the pension age that they raised to 72, the houses that on average cost over €500.000 (for a rijtjeshuis btw), the insane cost of being single instead of a couple, and the right wing conservative parties consistently dominating for the last 20 years leading to a hollowing out of every collective utility from healthcare to energy to housing. The Netherlands is a boomers paradise.

5/n

Clearly it's time to go (even though I'd be willing to stay a bit longer for a ~particular role~, in case my boss is reading this 😂), but the question is..

..go where?

Australia was a contender, but I haven't heard back from my visa application. Finding a visa sponsored job also hasn't led anywhere. Plus, it feels like Australians are dealing with their own financial challenges, especially aspiring home owners.

6/n

The US isn't an option for obvious reasons, Canada too cold, Latam too far, South Africa too murder-y, and Thailand doesn't seem convenient careerwise.

So that leaves Southern Europe.

The biggest issue is where and how. I have two cats to haul along. Do I buy a campervan and rent out my house? Where do I go?

Also, I love my work atm, can I keep doing that for as long as possible while figuring this out? And will I find a new role in the same field again?

7/n