Gezellig: Why Amsterdam is so darn cozy!

There are several reasons why Amsterdam has slowly but surely captured my heart: It has beautiful scenery, friendly inhabitants, interesting culture and history – not to forgot the amazing snapjes cuisine! For the seven months that I have now been living here, I can honestly say that I am very happy that (of all the lovely cities out there) Amsterdam is my home for now.

Beautiful Scenery
Everywhere you go in Amsterdam, you literally run into channels and parks. For someone like me who loves the nature, a stunning scenery is never dull! Even if Amsterdam is a smaller big city, it’s big enough to go explore and discover something new often. There are many areas around Amsterdam, all characterised by something unique. However, there’s no doubt that my favourite area is Jordaan: If I had the money, I would move there immediately. Filled with decorated, old truly Dutch houses, channels and lots of restaurants, cafes and bars, this is the place to live…and it’s central too – it doesn’t get much better! Of parks, I absolutely adore Amstel Park with its water fountains, maze and stunning gardening – not to forget the very Dutch windmill! Living right next to Vondelpark, though, I must admit that this park has a special place in my heart. Despite its hype and business, it cannot be argued that it’s a beautiful, big park with lots of stunning scenery.

Friendly Inhabitants
The kind people of Amsterdam is a friendly one: They genuinely want to know about you and are interested in your stories. They are also very open-minded and cultural diverse, which is something I really appreciate in a culture: There’s room for everyone!
Everybody here seems to speak English, which means that you’ll never truly feel obliged to learn the difficult language of Dutch. Nevertheless, I have begun my journey to, hopefully, speak it sufficiently at some point. One thing is to say about the Dutch language, though…it’s not a pretty one. However, when you overcome the obstacles of speaking it and slowly learn it, you feel like you can overcome almost anything – yep, that’s how easy it is to learn Dutch…

Dutch Cuisine
In general, the Dutch cuisine looks a lot like the Danish and German cuisine, I think: A lot of potatoes and a lot of meat in various combinations. Their national dish, Stamppot, comes with different ingredients and is delicious! I, especially, like the one with carrots, however, do not care too much for the one with onions… Moreover, their snapjes (small, delicious snacks) are groundbreaking! Of course, you can get snapjes of a variety of cheeses not to forget meats. However, their bitterballen beat it! A little fried ball of mashed potatoes and meat served with mustard – yummy! Of sweet snapjes Poffertjes and Stroopwafel are the best! While Poffertjes are cooked dough served with powdered sugar; Stroopwafel are two thin waffles stuck together with a layer of syrup best enjoyed with a cup of tea (although you can really eat those at all times).

Culture and History
As any capital, Amsterdam is full of culture and history. The fact that Amsterdam is the city in the world with most museums stresses this. You can literally find a museum for anything – be it cheese, tulips, erotic, cows and ducks… I don’t care too much for museums unless it’s something truly different (yes, I went to the cow museums and it’s great…!) or something that truly interests me (like Anne Frank and the Anne Frank Hous). What I do like though, are interesting exhibitions and cool concerts. So far, I’ve enjoyed a few exhibitions here, the latest being The Art of Banksy, which I give my best recommendations. With a rather modest pay check, however, I’ve only enjoyed three concerts here so far, which is far from enough! However, the up-and-coming as well as proper stars seem to visit Amsterdam regularly, which is quite nice. With time, there should be money enough to see more gifted artist on the big and small stages.

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Have you been to Amsterdam? What did you think of the city? Do you also think it’s rather gezellig?

xo P!

Travel Tattoos: Inking memories

Today, it has become normal for people to have a tattoo. It’s no longer possible to pin point certain types of people that are likely to have tattoos, as people with tattoos no longer belongs to certain social groups: No all types of people today have tattoos. As a result, new trends within the tattoo industry shows up every day. For the last couple of years, travel tattoos has become a noteworthy trend – one that I, myself, have influenced by.

Everybody who gets a tattoo gets it for a reason. The reasons are as many as there are people with tattoos. However, a tattoo marks a story. This story may be connected to home or travels themselves however, one thing is certain: It mirrors a personal development.
This permanent mark on the body functions as reminder or mark on what a person has been through and what s/he learned as a result – it reveals personality. In this sense, it’s always interesting to hear stories behind tattoos, as people can really surprise you – you learn from them. All experienced made – even if it is made by others – are experiences gained…

Personally, I have four travel tattoos. All of which I treasure. They mark my four abroad relocations and serve as reminders – or marks, really – for an old version of me. Each tattoo reflects a personal growth and development. Be this in relation to following my dreams and passions or letting go, they function as reminders… In this relation, my most treasured tattoo is a swallow on my left lower arm. The symbolism in it is clear… To me, this tattoo marks a change in my life, a choice I made. A choice from which I grew. A choice that made my life a lot easier but also, at times, a lot more difficult.

Do you have any travel tattoos? Or tattoos in general? Why did you get it, if I may ask? And what does it mean to you?

xo P!

 

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New Beginnings: Settling abroad

Step-by-step, I’m settling here in Amsterdam, Holland. My new room in a shared apartment has been filled with furniture with a little help from IKEA, and all the official paper work has been sorted out. Furthermore, I’ve landed myself one of those 9-17 jobs… One that I’m really excited about as it combines previous work experience with my degrees – it seems like the perfect match. Moreover, my colleagues seems warm and welcoming, which is highly important to me as I’m quite the social type – a friendly and positive work environment is vital to me!

However, although having lived here for a little over a week now, I haven’t had time for what I enjoy the most due to practical matters: Exploring the city.
I guess, I shouldn’t be too worried about that for now as I’m going to live here permanently for an undecided period of time. This means that, if all goes as planned, I’ll have years to get to know the city and all it’s hidden treasures – but it’s not like me… at all! The previous times when I’ve relocated abroad, I was out exploring from day one. Maybe that’s because all the practical matters had been taken care of before moving? Anyway, at least I’ve had time to figure out the most basic things: Where to grocery shop, how public transportation works and where the green areas in my neighbourhood are.

 

 

 

 

 

In this sense, though, I’ve come to wonder: What do I expect of my time in Amsterdam besides having a good time and it to be a positive experience? After some serious thinking, I’ve come to the following conclusion. In the big picture, I’ll work towards 1) Acquiring insight into and understanding for the Dutch culture; 2) Making new friends from all over the world in this highly international city; and 3) Settling in at work, befriending and getting close to my new colleagues. To me, these are the things that truly matter – especially the social aspect of it all.
Besides this, I’ve set myself certain goals to reach within the next five years. No rush, though – I’ll take it as it comes. It’s important for me not to get hung up on achieving certain things – as long as I work towards something with determination and it feels right, I’m on the right track, I’m sure.

xo P!

New Year’s: Goals in a jar

Happy New Year, dear reader!

It’s that time a year again. New year’s… This year, it marks a new beginning to me, as I’ve just moved abroad permanently to start my post-graduate life as a grown-up (…ish) with a 9-5 job. I cannot wait for this next chapter of my life to begin! It’s been a long time coming, and I’m more than ready for this next adventure in Amsterdam to take off.

With new year’s and new beginnings, though, comes new resolutions. I’m not one to set myself unreachable goals – I like to keep it realistic: What changes in my life are important for me to make, and what can I actually work on within a time frame of a year? As such, I’ve set myself three goals for the upcoming year of 2016: 1) Eat more organic and cut back on my meat consumption, 2) become increasingly economic responsible and 3) acquire insight into and understanding for the Dutch culture and its history.

Besides these three resolutions, however, I have made what I call a five year goals jar. In this jar, I have put multiple goals written on small notes for me to reach within the next five years. And over the next year, I plan to not only follow up on these goals in order to ensure that I’m right on track on reaching these, I also want to add further goals during the period.
For me, it’s important to set myself certain goals to reach. Then, I have something to work towards – things I can accomplish, which have been carefully selected. It’s not necessarily important per se if I reach these goals within the next five years. What’s important is to work towards reaching them. As such, if I don’t reach them, it’s not a failure but a learning process – maybe I’ll even change my mind along the way on some of these goals…

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These are my plans for the following year of 2016. Do you set yourself certain resolutions and/or goals? Why/why not? If yes, what resolutions do you have for 2016?

xo P!

 

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Being an Expat: Living abroad as a foreigner

Relocating abroad automatically means that you become categorised as an expatriate – also known as an expat. As such, you have decided to reside in another culture than that of your citizenship – you are now an immigrant. As a result, it’s now your responsibility to adapt to this foreign culture – for better and worse. Don’t be afraid, though, it’s quite the adventure, and as long as you have an open mind, you’ll be more than fine – trust me. However, for anyone relocating to a foreign culture and trying to adapt as well as assimilate to norms and behaviour attached to this culture will know: It takes time. Meanwhile, in my experience, you’ll come to experience things – things that you may or may not have expected before immigrating:

1. The paper work concerning your relocation abroad is endless

2. …And the rules and regulations can be rather confusing and, to you, at times, somewhat illogical

3. Not knowing the foreign language can be a real challenge – even with good English skills

4. For better and worse, Google Translate becomes one of your treasured friends

5. You’ll come to find that the importance of a personal number is key to …EVERYTHING

6. Keeping in touch with friends and family from back home becomes truly important to you

7. ..As a result, so does all types of social media as they help you stay in touch

8. You’ll experience that your otherwise common and boring name is exotic and beautiful in the ears of foreigners, which is somewhat wonderfully weird to you

9. You’ll discover what stereotypes there are out there concerning your home country and its people

10. You’ll come to understand that there are various and different expectations of personal space

11. You don’t always know what you should or should not buy at the grocery store

12. It can be almost impossible (at times, definitely impossible) to find certain native foods

13. You’ll pay unreasonable amounts of money for food that only somewhat resemble what you can get back home in desperate hours of homesickness

14. The wonders of goodie bags sent from friends and family with foods from home can make your day

15. Eating out can be either the best or worst experience

16. You’ll never really know how much to tip

17. When you meet a fellow (insert your nationality here), you immediately get excited

18. However, you’ll experience that meeting new friends from foreign cultures is truly enlightening on so many levels – especially, culture-wise

19. You’ll find yourself incredible excited when new friends or acquaintances know something about your country – especially, if you, like me, come from a little otherwise insignificant nation that people rarely tend to know much about

20. You’ll find that keeping up with politics back home is difficult

21. …So is keeping up with its pop culture

22. On the other side, you’ll experience that acquiring insight into and understanding for a foreign culture is an exciting and adventurous experience

23. You’ll come to understand your own culture and foreign cultures more in-depth and acquire perspective on these, realizing that there’s a lot you don’t know about the world yet

24. Ultimately, you’ll realize that you will never truly know the foreign culture no matter for how long you’ll live there

25. …That won’t stop you from getting lost in the foreign culture and your new home city/country, which you’ll find nothing but exciting

26. As a result, you’ll come to treasure your native culture more in some ways and in other ways, you’ll come to treasure the foreign culture more

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Despite challenges and difficulties linked to relocating and living abroad, it’s worth it! Every day is the beginning of a new and exciting adventure filled with wonderful people.

xo P!

 

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Attending Concerts: It’s all about that musical epiphany

…It’s all about that musical epiphany…

To me, music is a life passion. As I’ve touched upon in previous posts, I cannot go a day without listening to music. I need it to de-stress and switch off. I wish I could sing well or play an instrument (I would love to play the guitar or piano), however, that’s not the case. For now, anyway. I’m certain, I’ll learn eventually. Until then, I’ll have to do with recordings and attending concerts of gifted artists, which is quite the adventure.

Although a rather expensive passion, attending concerts is something I highly value for several reasons. Of course, you can always enjoy music by listening to recordings. However, attending concerts is not only about seeing my favourite artists and listening to their music – no, it’s also about feeling the energy from these artists as well as fellow fans. …Being part of the fan community raises my spirit every time and gives me a boost and an experience that lasts a life time. Not to forget: It’s the perfect way to switch off for a moment and forget about every day troubles – just relax and have fun with friends and fellow fans. …Simply, immerse in the music.

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By now, I’ve attended various concerts – both concerts of famous and non-famous musicians. As a result, some concerts are more memorable than others. They are more memorable for various reasons. For example, respectively Coldplay and Ed Sheeran concerts I remember specifically because they were dreams come true. Their music has had and continue to have an important part of my life. Hence, seeing these artists live, listening to their music, feeling everything and nothing at the same time in the company of good friends and fellow fans is something I will never forget. These concerts, simply, had an emotional impact on me – an emotional impact that continues and one that I truly treasure. However, I don’t only attend concerts of my idols… I like to attend all sorts of concerts – whether I’m a fan of the music or not. Sometimes it’s just for the experience itself and can be at arenas, concert halls or pubs. This was also evident when I attended respectively Snow Patrol’s and One Republic’s concerts. I didn’t know their music too well. As such, apart for a couple of hits, What I expected before going was to discover new music. However, these two concerts turned out to be so much more than just that. They, namely, turned out to be musical epiphanies to me. And that’s what it’s all about when attending concerts. At least to me. That musical epiphany. That moment when you fall in love with music all over again because you discover a truth in life through music – a connection. That moment exactly. It’s priceless. …Even though you can do that through recordings as well, it’s just not the same. At concerts, not only do the musicians open up, the audience opens up too. For an hour or two, this ”concert community” is a safe haven amongst fellow fans with open minds and hearts.

Throughout the last couples of years, I’ve attended lots of concerts and festivals in Denmark and abroad. As a result, I’ve among others experienced Dúné; Mads Langer; Coldplay; Florence and the Machine; James Morrison; Rihanna; Rizzle Kicks; Snow Patrol; Westlife; Christina Perri; Ed Sheeran; Elton John; Kaney West; Kings of Leon; Lady Gaga; One Republic; Passenger; Pharrell Williams; and many more. For 2016 in Amsterdam, I hope to join Hozier’s, Ellie Goulding’s, Adele’s, Coldplay’s and Rihanna’s concerts. I have no idea if this is financially possible at all. However, one can always dream and then make sure to chase those dreams, right!?

xo P!

 

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In the Process: Preparing my next relocation abroad

…Plan, organise, research…
…Then plan a little more, organise a little more and research a little more…

At the moment, I’m in the middle of planning and implementing my next abroad relocation. Within the month, I will (hopefully, if everything works as planned) move permanently to Amsterdam in Holland. I can’t wait! I have been counting down to December for so long now, and it’s finally time… Time to make my dream come true. However, the relocation, of course, comes with a lot of planning. Fortunately, this is something I don’t only enjoy, however, also something I’m quite good at. As a result, I already have all the necessary paper works as well as an apartment. Moreover, I have even started to learn Dutch via Duolingo and scheduled a meeting with the municipality in order to receive a personal number, which is needed for…everything really. Now, I just need a job. As such, I’m currently in contact with various companies in Amsterdam regarding a full-time job within my field of interest.

As it will be my first non-student job, I am excited to see what exactly I’ll end up doing and in which field. Of course, I’m applying for certain jobs connected to my experience and education. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities out there. Hence, as much as this is an interesting and exciting process, it is also a scary one. It is scary due to the uncertainty linked to it – simply because I have no control over the situation. I mean, of course, I send out applications and make sure to continually improve not only my CV but also my cover letter, which has shown highly positive responses. But… In the end, you never quite know whether or not the companies in question find you an attractive candidate for the job or that you lack experience and/or certain qualifications. Hence, I can do nothing more now but wait… Wait for feed back and a yes or no reply to my application… …Let’s just say, I’m not the patient kind, and to not have control over my situation is rather annoying… Nonetheless, this is my current situation. And when nothing is sure, everything is possible – let’s stay positive and optimistic, shall we.

xo P!

 

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Christmas: It’s the season to be jolly…

…Fa la la la la, la la la la!

It’s official! It’s Christmas! …Finally! My all time favourite holiday characterised by the Christmas spirit has arrived, and I can’t wait to dig into all the traditions that belong to the month of December.

Although I am not religious – rather cultural Christian if anything, I quite enjoy the traditions linked to Christmas. I do so for several reasons – all linked to the Christmas spirit. As such, I find that people, in general, are happier and more complaisant during this month. Coming from a culture that is characterised as cold and isolating, you can imagine that the Christmas spirit truly gets to the Danes. I mean, what an excuse to be the total opposite…and not being labeled as weird for acting so. Furthermore, being interested in multiculturalism, I find it rather interesting to look into foreign Christmas traditions. Hence, I wanted to share some Danish traditions with you here in this post. Then, hopefully, you might want to enlighten me with some of your cultural determined Christmas traditions as well in the comments section? I would love to learn more about foreign traditions – of course, also traditions during December that might not be linked to Christianity at all.

Danish Christmas Traditions
In Danish, Christmas is translated into ”jul.” What ”jul” means is ”feast.” Personally, I think that feast perfectly pictures what Christmas is all about in Denmark – namely, the Christmas spirit, ”hygge” and food…and lots of it. …Seriously, lots of it. We may be highly healthy in general, however, when Christmas comes… Let’s just say that the healthy diet is not linked to Christmas here in Denmark. …At all! (…Thankfully!)
Anyway, when it comes to Danish Christmas traditions, we have a few unique customs. However, we also share some with other Christian cultures out there. As a result, I here present you with, in my opinion, the most noteworthy Danish Christmas traditions.

Christmas Decoration
Like most Western Christian cultures, the streets are decorated by the given municipality with spruce garlands and lights in all shapes and colours – there even are some occasionally Christmas trees placed in the city squares etc.

In our homes, we decorate with figures, paper cut-outs and lights – mainly shaped as pixies, Santa, angles, hearts, stars and baubles etc. Occasionally, you might also see a nativity scene with baby Jesus, Josef, Maria and the three wise men. Moreover, also the mistletoe and, especially, spruce are highly popular. We put pieces of spruce everywhere: On table decorations, outside around the house etc. Its pine cones are also used in table decorations and sometimes as garlands on the Christmas tree. One thing, though, that you’ll most likely see in a Danish home is the smell of Christmas: Oranges with cloves hanged from the ceiling or in the window in a red string – yep, this is the smell of Christmas. Furthermore, many Danish homes put figures of Santa and pixies in the garden along with fairy lights in the garden trees.

Christmas Candles
Candles are popular in Denmark around Christmas time: Not only do we Danes have a candle with 24 dates that we burn every day – one each day; we also have an advent wreath consisting of four candles – one for every advent. I’m not sure where this tradition originates from or why, however, it’s a Danish Christmas symbol and a perfect way to count down for Christmas Eve.

Christmas Bakings
An important part of the Danish Christmas includes the baking of various and different traditional cookies – among other the pepper nuts, which can be traced further back than any other cookie. Moreover, marzipan in all shapes, colours and with or without chocolate and other toppings are a firm tradition. This is not to forget æbleskiver – delicious æbleskiver, which are Danish fluffy, round cake dough served with icing sugar/sugar and marmalade – sometimes even Nutella.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Chocolate Calendar
It’s mandatory for children (sometimes also adults) to have a Christmas chocolate calender – or…it’s not really mandatory, however, every child has one (or several). This chocolate calender is, basically, a calender with 24 windows. Behind each window is a piece of chocolate – one for each day of Christmas. Also, daily Christmas calender presents are popular in Denmark, where children (sometimes also adults) receive 24 presents – also one for each day of Christmas.
Some have both the chocolate as well as the daily present calender, while others only have one of the two. However, sometimes it’s combined with the advent present calender.

 

 

 

 

Advent Present Calender
Some children (even some adults) receive an advent present calender from their parents. Actually, depending on the family, sometimes Santa also brings them, which was the case in my family. As such, every advent Sunday, the child/children receive/s a present from Santa. In my family, we had a Christmas sock in which Santa would put a present every Sunday morning before my sister and I woke up. We were lucky, as ’Santa’ usually brought big presents, however, the amount of money spend on advent presents varies and depends on the family and whether or not they also receive daily Christmas presents.

Christmas Television Specials
Christmas Television specials is big in Denmark. We, among others, have a ”Julekalender.” A Julekalender is a Television series in 24 episodes made for Christmas. There are made a few every year mainly for children, however, there are also some for adults. It must sound strange to foreigners – I can even sense the weirdness writing this now, however, they are generally very good and is a good way to make Christmas a bit more special. Of course, we also follow foreign Christmas films etc., and Home Alone is part of the Danish Christmas tradition in most Danish homes as well. In my family, we always watch Home Alone 1 the 23^rd of December, also known as Little Christmas Eve (I’ll come back to that in a moment), and Home Alone 2 during the day on Christmas day, the 24^th of December.

Christmas Markets and Glögg
As in most Western countries around Christmas time, it’s the month of Christmas markets. Here, you can not only try various roller coaster rides, however, you can also buy all sorts of different things – also a lot of food and beverages, of course. Glögg, which is hot mulled wine with raisins, nuts, cinnamon and oranges, is very popular in Denmark along with the cold Christmas beer.

Christmas Company Parties
Christmas is not only celebrated with family but also friends and colleagues. As such, there are a lot of Christmas parties around the country at the time – even throughout November. Usually, people meet up to eat, drink, dance and socialise.

Santa Lucia
Originally, a Swedish tradition, Santa Lucia is celebrated on the 13^th of December around the country at schools, daycare institutions, hospitals, nursing homes etc. Basically, she is celebrated by a group of young girls dressed in white holding a white candle who walks along the corridors singing the Santa Lucia song. I must admit that I’m not sure why we celebrate her: She died a Saint after a martyr death and is known as the Saint of Blindness due to the way she died.

Christmas Mass
Characterised as a rather cultural Christian country, Denmark and the Danes do not practice religion much. Except for at Christmas. Here, you see Danes visit the church especially around the 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th of December depending on your family tradition. It’s sort of the one day of the year, where you honor the true spirit of Christmas – namely, Jesus (…although Christmas originally, of course, was a pagan holiday that the Christians later used to spread Christianity…)

Little Christmas Eve
We Danes celebrate ”lille juleaften” (little Christmas eve) the 23^rd of December, which is the last day of work before Christmas. There are various and different traditions linked to this day depending on family traditions. In my family, we decorate the Christmas tree, bake and make marzipan for the following Christmas days. It’s very common for the cook of the family to make desert for Christmas eve this day, which is eaten for dinner. Other families also play the Christmas Present Game (I’ll come back to this later) and sing Christmas carols.

The Danish Christmas Tree
The Christmas trees in Denmark are decorated like most other Western countries do it: With figures, baubles and garlands – not to forget the star on top. However, Danes also puts lights (living candles) and garland(s) with the Danish flag on it.

Christmas Eve
In most Danish homes, Christmas Eve kicks off with dinner. During the day, the cook of the family will cook while the others help when needed. Otherwise, it’s a big Television day where lots of series and film are shown – and lots of bakery and candy is eaten.

For dinner, generally the main course is roast goose, duck or pork (sometimes all three kinds) with brown sauce/gravy, sour-sweet red cabbage and potatoes as well as caramelised potatoes. With dinner, most families drink wine, Christmas beer, snaps and/or soda. For desert, we either have rice pudding or ris á alement with cherry sauce served with a glass of glögg. In this sense, however, we have a unique tradition: In the desert bowl, the cook puts an almond – whoever finds the almond in his or her portion receives the ”almond present,” which traditionally is a marzipan pig.

 

 

 

 

In my family, we play a game of Christmas Present Game between dinner and desert. The game goes like this: Every person at the dinner has brought 3 presents – two useful and one funny. Then either you play with cards or dices until all presents have been given to people around the table. Then it ends and you can open the presents for keeps.

At last, when it’s time to open the actual Christmas presents, a Danish tradition is to dance around the Christmas tree. As such, all family members join hands in a circle around the tree and sing Christmas carols while dancing around it – and then the Christmas unwrapping can begin. Following, the evening generally ends with Christmas films and lots of candy and chocolate.

That’s all, I think – a bit of insight into the Danish Christmas. How do you celebrate Christmas in your culture?

xo P!

 

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Down the Rabbit Hole: Future relocation abroad plans

As an aspiring traveler always on the move, I have certain countries in mind in which I would not only love to travel to, however, also live in. Let’s just say: I’m not planning on returning to Denmark once I move abroad again next month. Ever… No, I want to settle in one country at a time for a longer period of time. That’s the plan. Truth is, Denmark has never felt like home to me, and I’m quite certain my home is out there somewhere. Maybe the best way to explain it is through the concept of fernweh? …I suffer from fernweh: What fernweh means is, basically, that you’re homesick for a place you’ve never been. As such, I’m sure that I’m destined to lived abroad somewhere. I just need to find the country I belong to first. Until then, I’ll travel and settle in various countries for a longer period of time. …Of course, you never know what the future holds, and I might end up falling in love with the next country, I move to. If that’s the case, then I know I’ve found my home and then I’ll be content with traveling the world and living permanently in that country. So when I write ”future relocation abroad plans,” they’re just plans – not set in stone. As a quite ambitious and determined young woman, I also want a career. Hence, my career comes first. Hopefully, however, there’s room for both a career and traveling. Anyway, for now, I have four future relocation abroad plans: Amsterdam, New York, Edinburgh and Stockholm.

Amsterdam, Holland
First and foremost, there is Amsterdam in Holland. I’m moving there next month and I can’t wait. I already have a furnished apartment with two roomies waiting for me while I’m currently looking for a job.
Recently, one of my friends asked me why my heart is set on Amsterdam. The only way I can explain it is that I’m drawn to it. My intuition tells me this city is the next stop. It, simply, has to be Amsterdam. …When I imagine my future life in Amsterdam, it puts a smile on my face. It makes me happy. This feeling isn’t new to me: When I relocated to London, Dublin and Berlin, I had the same feeling. Although these adventures were part of my education and, therefore, not permanent, it can’t quite be compared to moving to Amsterdam this time. However, as these adventures turned out nothing but amazing, I am not one to question my intuition. I follow it. Whole-heartedly. Hopefully, this adventure will turn out just as amazing as the previous relocations abroad have.

New York, USA
For some reason, I just have to live in America for a period of time. I wish to experience first hand the differences between the American and European cultures – lifestyles and line of thoughts. For some reason, this is very intriguing to me. Obviously, NY represents only one part of the US, I am aware of that. Nevertheless, New York, NY, is where I’ve set my heart.
The reason why I have my heart set on New York in America is due to its reputation as a young and dynamic city. …The city that never sleeps. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem to be restricted to a certain generation or age group which means that when I’ve explored Amsterdam and Holland to its fullest for 5-10 years, I’m not old enough to relocate to New York. And this city characterised as colourful and adventurous in the land of opportunity, I will fit right in – for a period of time at least.

Edinburgh, Scotland
Then, once I’m tired of the fast-paced city life, I plan to move to Edinburgh in Scotland. Green, fresh and beautiful Scotland.
When a dear friend and I visited the city back in 2013, I completely fell for its charm – the culture, history and people. As such, it’s a culture I want to explore further – and just just for a vacation, no I wish to settle there for a longer period of time. And with the opportunity for weekend tours around Scotland and to the Lake District in north England as well as the rest of UK and Ireland, I’m certain that my 40s here will be well spent and bring me calmness along with a more mature and grown-up version of me.

Stockholm, Sweden
Finally, I plan to grow old in Stockholm in Sweden.
I fell in love with the city when I visited Sweden earlier this year. This beautiful capital with stunning architecture, harbour views and scenery captured my heart immediately. As such, it is a city in which I can very well imagine myself grow old with a future husband because it’s lively, however, not too lively – it’s the perfect combination of adventurous and calm.

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So… Those are my current future relocation abroad plans. Do you have any? Where would you like to settle for a period of time – or permanently?

xo P!

 

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The End of an Era: Excitement for what’s to come

Today, it’s my birthday. Another year has gone by …so quickly. I can’t believe that it’s already my birthday again… And that I turn 26 years old. Instead of panicking over getting closer and closer to my 30s not having anything specific planned for my future, I choose to take my birthday as an opportunity to step back and sort of reflect upon my life. Because, this year, my birthday is special. This year, my birthday is a game changer.
In many ways, 2015 has been the end of an era, and my birthday just underlines this fact. Soon I’m relocating to Amsterdam, Holland, where an entire new life awaits me as a grown-up (ish) graduate with work and lots of responsibility. Although the concept of responsibility scares me, it also excites me. Finally, I’ll be left all to myself – for good and bad – and I’m ready. …I’ve been ready for a long time now.

After having graduated from university this summer, I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am and where I’d like to go. As you can read from the last months’ blog posts, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection and come to the conclusion that all I do know is that I want to spend my life traveling and meeting wonderful people. Everything in between is sort of a bonus, as I know that traveling and having wonderful people in my life will automatically make me happy. The fact that I have no strings attached being single and all means I can pretty much do as I please, which is an amazing feeling. I don’t have to consider anybody or anything in the process – except for a relatively good salary for my next job. This makes my life as an aspiring traveler so much easier.

All through my life, I’ve set myself certain goals to reach and worked hard to accomplish these – well-knowing that everything comes at a certain time and pace, and that you can’t really rush things …although, being quite impatient by nature, I wish I could sometimes! These personal goals come to me as inspiration every now and again. Without any hesitation, I follow them to make sure, I not only follow my intuition, however, also my ambition in life. Because, truth is, I am quite ambitious, and I work hard to never let myself down. So far that’s worked out very well. In this sense, being the type of person who plan, organise and schedule all the big things in my life down to the littlest detail, I’m always right on track – especially, because I leave room for obstacles along the way. That’s just how I like it – always prepared, with a back-up plan. As I, now, start a new era in my life, I’m aware that this might not be possible to the same extent in the future, as moving permanently abroad to a country whose (among others) welfare isn’t the same as here in Denmark and things, as a result, are a bit more risky than what I’m used to. However, this fact will undoubtedly only make me work harder – setting and striving for goals while keeping busy living an active life, chasing my ambition…and continuing happiness. Hence… Even with no specific plans for the future, I’m excited for what’s to come. Because, when nothing is sure, everything is possible.

xo P!