category archive: Leaving the Netherlands

Cold feet

Friday, 1 Sep 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

The last couple of days, basically since I stopped working, I’ve noticed a change in how I feel about this trip. I guess the change is a result of me having my head cleared of all things to do with work and my departure being the main focus of my day now. But yeah, it happened, despite the extra socks and what not, I got cold feet!

I’ve been having thoughts along the lines of “what the hell are you doing”, “how on earth can you leave given”, “you’ve prepared next to nothing, despite what everyone says”, “what are you going to do with yourself”, “it’s not THAT special over there” …. classic case of cold feet, eh?

I don’t think you can really prepare for this or do anything about it. It’s just a matter of sitting out the doubt. But I’ve known this was going to happen to me for quite a while now. So it was no surprise. And I’ll be fine, I’m sure.

Insurance files

Wednesday, 23 Aug 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

Doing research on something like insurances is something I for whatever reason love doing. I like to really get into it, have a million browser windows open (thank god for tabbed browsing!) and try to find the best conditions for the lowerst price. And this is exactly what I did last night and made a few phonecalls about today. Here are the results.

I spent a few hours researching this sometime last year and came to the conclusion that ‘expat’ packages were out of reach for me because they require employment. This still seems to be the case. Even if they allow for non-employed people to be insured, the insurance premium is usually ridiculously high. Clearly targetting the expats with fat compensation packages and company paid insurances. Not me!

While I thought I had to keep my health insurance in the Netherlands here, it now turns out I don’t. When I first researched this, the dust was still settling down on the mess caused by a new healthcare act here and everyone was still trying to figure it all out. Now, different people have consistently been giving me the same information. This is really cool, because for a while there it seemed like I was going to have to keep a health insurance here and not really benefit from it.

Although an ‘extended travel insurance’ is still an option, they all have a limited period and will not ensure leaving the Netherlands for more than x number of years. Certainly an option, I’ve been looking and also asked an insurance agent to look for good deals in this area but have yet to find something which rivals the other option I have.

The other option is insurance by a company that specializes in insurances for people going abroad for whatever reason. It’s basically an expat insurance package, without the requirement for employment and without the fat-cat-surcharge. A no-frills approach, so to speak. After consulting my advisor on these matters (hi dad!) I decided on an ‘SOS insurance’, a short-term health insurance¹ , travel insurance, liability insurance and legal aid. All for the ridiculous price of €52.08 per month - just over half of what I pay now for basic healthcare.

The one thing I can’t get insured is if I for some reason will not be able to work anymore. I will have to look into this once I know where my income will come from, because this sort of insurance is always tied to an existing income. The alternative is to insure myself for a fixed amount in case I would be permanently disabled in some way. Costs 10 euro per month for a 100.000 euro payout. I’m still considering if I want this or not.

So … just in time, I got my affairs in order on this subject. Another box ticked!

Got my stuff sorted

Sunday, 30 Jul 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

A little while ago I decided to not ship anything to Asia and instead just buy everything I need. It was sort of a break-even deal financially and really not worth all the hassle. That meant I had to find storage space for slightly more stuff. I did and this weekend (with the help of Bradley, thank you!) moved all the stuff from Kims basement to my parents’ homes. I stored my bed and a few boxes in my moms attic and the rest (most) of the boxes were stored in my dads house.

Thanks mom and dad for letting me store my junk in your homes!

Now its just about the stuff I need to take with me to Bangkok. I have too much of it and will certainly not be able to take it all with me when I fly there on September 5th. Over the next few weeks I’ll have to decide what can wait a bit and what I will take right away.

One of the good things is that a lot of my dress shirts, several suits and also some shoes for me are not worth keeping anymore and I’ll be able to trash them. So that will lighten the load. But still, there are a lot of smaller items and also a 10kg box full of books for instance. And I just hope not too much stuff will get added to it. So I decided I can’t buy any new toys or gadgets until I get to Bangkok, even though I really really want¹ the new Apple wireless Mighty Mouse.

That which I won’t take with me on the plane (the limit I think is 25kg), I will pack in boxes. Perhaps I will send one box to Arjan ahead of me, perhaps I’ll leave some small 5kg boxes ready for mailing or taking along. Or maybe I’ll just take it with me when I come back for a month next year.

So thats it. The ‘stuff’ situation is all sorted now.

Not shipping

Friday, 7 Jul 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

It’s about time I make up my mind about what to do with my stuff, meaning if or not I will ship it to Asia. I’ve written about this a couple of times before, and decided I should make up my mind today. This upcoming weekend, I’ve got plenty of time to sort through Kim’s basement, where I’ve got everything stored at the moment, and prepare it for it’s final destination.

I’ll move to Bangkok with a minimum of things at first. Whatever it is I am allowed on board the airplane basically. Well, there is that and a couple of boxes I’ve got. This together makes up what I feel I need in Bangkok. These boxes weigh in at about 10kg each, one is filled with books and the other with some basic things that I for some reason want to get to Bangkok too. I will either mail these boxes or perhaps a friend flying to Bangkok can take them for me.

There is also a bunch of stuff that I certainly will not ship to Asia. I mean, who needs a wintercoat in Bangkok? I’ll store this stuff with my family. And Kim has also offered her basement. So plenty of space.

But then there are the things that I could use over over there but don’t need right away, the so-called ‘nice to haves’. I decided early on that I would not ship this stuff to Bangkok right away, but would store it and have it shipped to whatever city I end up finding a job in. It’s this category that I’m not wondering if or not I will actually ship. All together, including my espresso gear and a bed, it makes for about 2 m3 of stuff to ship. This is the minimum allowed by shipping companies and I got a quote for 1000 euro to ship this.

An alternative is to not ship, sell the items in Holland and buy replacement items locally. That is, all but my espresso gear. I would ship my espresso gear using the postal system, 40kg in total with insurance would cost about 150 euro. Yes, I know, it’s weird. But I love my espresso machine.

How to make this decision? Well, it turns out this is what it comes down to:
the cost of shipping everything vs. the cost of shipping my espresso gear only + the price of having to buy things - the money I would make from selling things here

Selling what can be sold would make me about 600 euro in total. I wouldn’t buy all those items again. I mean, a hammock is a ‘nice to have’ but hardly something I would buy again. I’d probably get a basic kitchen outfit, speakers + amplifier, bed (!), iron + board and a vacuum cleaner. The big question is, can I buy that for 1450 euro?

I’m guessing I can. So there we go. Decision made. I’m not shipping anything. Wow, that means I’m really moving abroad bare bones … just a couple of boxes by mail and my suitcase filled with stuff.

Booked my ticket

Wednesday, 5 Jul 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

Today marks D minus two months exactly. Only 62 days to go! And to celebrate this occasion, I booked my one way ticket to Bangkok. I paid €797,- for a premium economy ticket including taxes and fees. A little less than what I paid for my return ticket last year. But it’s the best deal, I researched the options a while ago and things had not changed since. Besides, even if it wasn’t the best deal, to quote Simone: “it’s the principle of the matter” … buying a single instead of a return ticket carries a certain message to it. Even if it is just for myself.

After the meetings attended this morning, me and a co-worker decided to work the rest of the afternoon at the location we were visiting. We were given a vacant and un-airconditioned office, hence the rolled up sleeves. While we were talking about holidays (yes, we did have a very productive day actually!), I booked the ticket. I took out my passport and creditcard, went to the EVA Airways website and closed the deal. My co-worker thought this was a memorable moment and she decided it was worthy of a photograph.

The weirdest thing was that I was nervous when I was making the booking. Selling my condominium, transferring the keys and moving out, closing the deal at work, etc. … none of it really mattered. They were just action items on my to-do list. But this did matter. I guess it was the last thing to do or something? I don’t know.

I’m confirmed for EVA Airways flight BR0076, leaving Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for Bangkok Don Muang Airport on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at 12:35 in the afternoon.

Am I making a mistake?

Thursday, 22 Jun 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

When I tell someone about my move, he or she is often very surprised. The first question usually is “for work?”, which is ofcourse not the reason. Most people admire the decision I made. Some are really interested and ask some critical questions, only to find out I’m actually quite well prepared. Most wish they could do it too. Those close to me or people that have known me for a while, often tell me they completely understand and that it makes a lot of sense for me to do this. I get nothing but support from most. And I really appreciate that support.

There is one exception. One person who is close to me has been very quiet about this whole thing. I got a comment here and there, but it was never really discussed. I felt she was just sad to see me go (as I will be about leaving her) and that I should not pour any salt in the wound. But for some reason, I felt I needed to ask about her opinion tonight. It matters to me and I would like her support. She says she can’t support me. She thinks I’m making a mistake, thinks it was an impulse decision and feels I will not be happy there. I was sad to hear this. But I don’t think she is right.

I do agree that I made the decision based on nothing more than a feeling and without a solid argument back then. But over time, I’ve increasingly felt I made the right decision. And now, I am very confident in saying I’m doing the right thing. I’m doing this because I’m looking to discover what else is out there. I understand that giving up a very nice and comfortable life, the security of owning a home and an incredible job to some may seem alien. For me, there is more to life. I want to be challenged by new surroundings and discover what other cultures are like. I want to expand my horizon.

Who knows, she might turn out to be right. I might not be happy there or I might not find a job there. Well, there really is only one way to find out. But to not do this because of ‘what might be’, I think would be a mistake. And even if this should turn out to happen, I’ll come back to Amsterdam having gained an undoubtedly incredible experience and learned a whole lot.

Ofcourse, I’m no fool and I do realize this whole thing is not without risk. I’ve tried to minimize this risk as much as I can in preparing this properly. And I feel I have prepared myself as best possible.

I’m confident. And I’m ready to go.

Checked another box

Thursday, 1 Jun 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

This moving abroad thing has been decidedly easier than I ever expected it to be. There is suspiciously little you really have to do and I honestly wish there was more I had to take care off. Ofcourse there are a lot of things that need research, which I then ofcourse do extensively because it allows me to work on my move in some semi tangible form.

But really, it all just comes down to this …

Make the decision - check.

Figure out what to do with your possessions - check.

End contracts - check.

And it’s this ending of contracts that hold the news of today. Sure, ending contracts from my end in regards to things like subscriptions, insurance, etc. is easy because all it involves is writing the right letter on time. But there is that one big contract, about which I received word today. As of today, I am officially a replacement candidate. Which essentially means I got fired to do and was given a 3 months notice. It was the final little thing that could prevent this all from happening, so you can imagine how happy I was in receiving this letter.

Check.

Where is the number for my travel agent?

The countdown has started

Sunday, 28 May 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

Today marks D minus 100 days. The countdown has started. In exactly one hundred days from now, my plane will take off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and I will be on it with the stub of a one way ticket if all goes as planned. It seems such a long time to have to wait for another 100 days. I feel I’m ready and would be able to leave a week from today if need be. But finishing my project is an important agreement I made with my boss and I intend to honor it.

To make sure everything does indeed go according to plan and being the project manager that I am, I sat down a little while ago and made a list of things to do. Most of the things were related to physically moving, or rather, making sure my condominium was empty and my stuff sorted. I was lucky enough to sell my place months in advance and so all those things are mostly taken care off. It is a really nice feeling to not have to worry about that anymore.

Read the rest of this article

I decided to seperate the remaining action items based on the timeline.

The last 100 days

• Confirm plans with work
• Cancel all contracts with a 3 month notice period
• Book flight
• Figure out what to ship, if anything

The last month

• Cancel all contracts with a 1 month notice period
• Send out address change notifications (not personal)
• Notify contacts in Asia of my arrival
  (note: perhaps I’ll do this once I get settled)
• Send email to business contacts asking for referrals
• Get all required shots, for things like malaria
• Organize how to say goodbye
• Organize permanent storage for my things and move it
• Contact a few housing companies in Bangkok to set up viewings

Last week

• Confirm flight
• Confirm contract cancellations
  (note: check transfer of Vodafone number to prepaid card)
• Get visa
  (note: can’t get this sooner)
• Say goodbye to everyone
• Pack my bags!

Did I leave anything out? The list seems so short!

And then, after I have arrived I’ll have to look for a place to stay. Arjan and Nuy have graciously offered me to stay with them for the first few days while I look for a place. I’ll try to find a small studio apartment, slightly outside the center but within easy reach of the skytrain or subway. I’ll sign up for a DSL connection (very important!) and get organized. And then … with an undoubtedly very stressful time behind me, I think I’ll relax for a week!

Just say yes

Thursday, 11 May 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

On my way back to Amsterdam after a day of meetings, I was really tired and dozed in and out of sleep with the sun shining in my face, I received a call that really woke me up … it was mr. middle management!

After initial negotiations, he had asked me to put everything on paper in a letter addressed to him. He would then discuss with the HR department if or not the deal that we had made was legal and possible, after which he was going to respond. During the call just now he asked me to make a slight adjustment to the letter and send it to him again, he said he had already asked someone to draw up a response to my adjusted letter. I for some reason didn’t dare to ask, so I’m not sure if he has already asked the HR department about the whole thing. I think he will go to the HR department with my letter and his response, after which I will receive the letter if approved.

So it looks like things are going to work out. Remember, them saying “no” can still make this whole thing not feasible or at least a lot riskier. Fingers crossed.

Ready to move out

As I’m speeding through the country, attending meeting after meeting and spending nights in every corner of the country, I’m also preparing the upcoming weekend - the weekend of my big move. I’ll leave my precious condominium permanently next monday. Over the last week or so, I’ve been increasingly feeling sad about having to leave my home. Although with it, the anticipation of departure day has also been growing so it’s not like I’ve also started doubting my decision. I’m sure that will happen at some point, but not just yet. Right now it’s just about having to leave the place I’ve lived for the last few years, with it’s incredible view, location and all.

I will move in with Kim. She and I are well aware of the risks that are involved with my moving in with her and Given. We have actually had some discussions about it tuesday night, but have decided to give it a go anyway. So I’ve moved my internet connection (very important!) to her address and will move my things to her apartment on saturday. I won’t sleep there until sometime next week.

All in all, I think having to deal with all the issues involved in leaving my home months before my departure day is a really good thing. Although there are some additional things to take care of, such as finding temporary residence, it does give me a feeling of having less stress in the last month before I go.

As far as my stuff goes …

Because my fathers’ address will be my official residence, I’ve moved all my paperwork to his home. For the next months, I’ll go down there to do my paperwork, pay my bills, etc. regularly. At some point he and I will discuss how to deal with incoming mail and what not after my departure. In notifying companies about my new address, I’ve found that this is an ideal opportunity to slim the volume of mail I get. I’ve notified the companies that I’ll continue to have a contract with of my new address, the rest has received a letter I’ll be moving abroad and so they can take me out of their files.

Most of the furniture and other stuff has been sold and picked up. The big load will be picked up on saturday by the lady who bought most of it in one go. The things that are left to sell, will be stored in Kim’s place so I can sell it from there.

The decision if or not to have things shipped has been postponed. So all the things I will leave in the Netherlands permanently AND the things I might leave here or might want to take with me have also been stored in Kim’s basement. I’m still looking for a permanent solution and still researching the shipping option.

On monday, somewhere around 16:00 I will no longer be a home owner. Snif.

Sold again!

Wednesday, 26 Apr 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

As I’ve explained before, I’ve been going through all my belongings and deciding if I would want to keep them or not. And if not, if I could sell them on ebay or not. So over the last couple of weeks I had compiled a list of items I was going to sell and last week I put photos and descriptions of each item online and waited to see how much people would pay for them. I also made a combination ad, selling everything one needs for a new apartment as a package deal.

Today I was lucky enough to make that package deal. A lady who had just divorced her husband needed everything for her new apartment and she bought the whole lot in one go. It was a good deal for both her and me. She didn’t have to go shopping in a million different places, which I’m sure would be the last thing on her mind going through what she is going through. And I was spared the headache of having to sell each item individually to a million different people. We made a good deal financially and upon my request she made a down payment too. She will pick it all up a few days before I leave my apartment, which is convenient for both her and me - she has to paint and prepare the place she is moving into and I like the idea of being able to use everything right up until I move out. So a win/win situation for both. It couldn’t have worked out better.

Still with quite a few items up for sale, the headache is not over just yet. But the pressure is off. I’ve made the amount I had set in my budget as a goal for the entire inventory with this sale alone. So everything I make on the rest is icing on the cake.

Finalizing the deal

In the right hand column on the homepage of sixtysix there is a section called Currently, which describes in a quick overview what the major things are that I am currently dealing with.

Only 19 weeks away from departure. Preparing to move out of my condominium to a temporary home, finalizing a deal with my employer and generally preparing the last couple of months before I leave.

The deal I’m trying to make with my employer is hopefully soon to be completed. It turned out the rules applicable to the downsizing kept me from leaving for Asia and so I started talking to my boss’s boss (we’ll call him mr. middle management) about an individual agreement. He was very accomodating and we worked out a deal we both felt was fair. I put this in writing and he is now talking to personnel about this deal. As he was formerly responsible for the legal issues of personnel, he knows what he’s talking about. And he knew about my plans even before he became my boss’s boss, he is the same guy I once referred to as mister HR. Anyway, in preparing the deal and putting it in writing, I got a helping hand from his then senior associate to whom I’m ofcourse very thankful. I’ve got the senior associate, my boss, mr. middle management and mr. senior management all in my corner on this. I shouldn’t jinx it, but I feel confident we’ll be able to finalize this deal.

The only thing I added on top of what we had already agreed would be a fair deal, is for an unpaid leave of absence of 2 months to be added before my contract ends. I ofcourse explained this to him and gave him two versions of the letter I wrote, one with and one without this leave included. As far as I’ve been able to find out, the leave of absence doesn’t really effect the company. But just in case there is a reason why it’s not possible, I left the choice up to him to either use one or the other letter when talking to the personnel department. The reason why I want this leave of absence to be added to the end of my contract is the following: at the termination date of my contract, all vacation days, holiday money, end of year bonus, etc. will be paid out in one go. With the termination date currently set for december 1st, this means I receive all this money right away. However, if I receive it in 2007, it will be the only Dutch income I have in that year and as such be in a lower tax bracket - saving me several thousand euro in the process. The downside ofcourse being that because I have an income here, I’ll be obligated to have the base health insurance here. But the money involved in that is far less than the savings.

Mr. advisor guy gave me a tip when I told him about this. He said that when I indeed would get this leave of absence worked into the deal, I could then out of that final sum have €613 euro transferred into a ‘spaarloon’¹ account which would save me an additional few hundred euro of income tax. I’m such a nerd for loving cute little things like that, but I do!

34 years into the future

As I’m sure is the case for many young professionals, I’ve never really put much thought into how I’ll be able to support myself when I retire. The Netherlands currently has a system called AOW, through which elderly receive a government paid pension. The idea has always been that you get the government paid AOW for the bare minimum plus you save extra money to make life more pleasurable. With the rise of the average age of the Dutch (due to the post-war baby boom), AOW is getting increasingly less reliable. I never really worried about it, “we’ll deal with that when it becomes a real issue” and continued to blindly deposit money into a mandatory pension plan that my employer at that time used.

With my departure, I’ll also stop working in the Netherlands and in doing so I’ll lose a percentage of the right to AOW each year. And I will also stop making that blind deposit I’ve been making for years now. So I figured I would need to somehow look into that. Today I met with an advisor on the subject, to see what he had to say. I’ve learned that if I want, I can compensate for the fact that I don’t have a job here by paying into the governments’ AOW funds directly. However, I don’t have any obligation to do so. Because I feel it’s such an unreliable system, I’m a little reluctant to do that. What if I continue to spend money on that every month for many years … and then in 10 years they decide to loose that system altogether. I won’t have any rights. Money down the drain. Ofcourse I could risk it and figure that is not going to happen. But why should I? Mind you, I haven’t really done much research on this. So there might be a very good reason. Do you know why?

Normal pension plans over here, such as the ones I already have, are based on income in the Netherlands. What happens is that a part of the pre-tax income gets funneled into a savings account and as such is not taxed at that time. Once you reach retirement age, pension payments are taxed according to the then applicable income tax. However, I won’t have any income here. So using that system would mean I put netted income into a savings plan that would later again be taxed. I’m not that stupid. Besides, I don’t even think it’s permitted. The advisor guy told me that these are commonly referred to as ‘income based pension plans’. The nice thing about this system is that no matter how old I get, the payments will keep on coming. The pension fund just bets on people passing away before they reach the average age I guess. In the past, these income based pension plans would pay according to the last paycheck you got. These days, they pay according to the average paycheck of your entire career.

An alternative mr. advisor guy presented to me is a capital based pension plan. Or rather, a longterm savingsplan. It sets out to save a certain amount of money when I reach the age of 65 (currently the retirement age here), I am free to save as little or much money every month as I want. I can take money out of the account too, if I would want to. And once I’ve reached that age of 65, I turn over the amount to them and they then keep paying me a monthly ‘allowance’ until I pass away. Again, they are betting on me doing that before I reach the average age¹. The idea of the capital based pension plan appeals to me for several reasons. First, it’s very flexible and also a very simple concept to understand. And, if I make money abroad and transfer that to my dutch ‘pension plan’ I would pay income tax in that country. Thats likely to be lower than what I’d pay in the Netherlands.

But I’ve decided nothing just yet. I’ll be looking into this a little more over time. The world of pension plans at least is a little easier for me to understand now.

Saying goodbye

Sunday, 23 Apr 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

A long time ago, my mom asked me if I knew when and where I would organize a get-together so I could say goodbye to everyone. I was a little surprised, why would I want to do that?! But she’s right and so in the back of my mind, I’ve sort of decided to have not one but several get-togethers. Because my family lives in the south of the Netherlands and most of my friends in the west, I figured I’d organize a few.

Currently, my project is scheduled to take until the end of August to be finished. Obviously, this is all still subject to change if things change at work. But, based on this I’ve decided upon the following. On Thursday August 31st I’ll say goodbye to people at the office. I doubt I’ll invite other professional contacts, keep it plain and simple and just have a few drinks. Tell everyone what I am planning to do exactly, etc. Then on Saturday September 2nd I’ll organize something in Amsterdam for my friends. We’ll see where, how and what, but the idea here is to just have some fun together. And on Sunday September 3rd I’ll go down to Eindhoven to say goodbye to my family.

Then… on Tuesday, September 5th 2006, I will board EVA Airways flight BR0076 to Bangkok with a one-way ticket. Yikes. I don’t think I’ll want to have a whole lot (or even any?) people there. Just put my bags in a taxi, drive to the airport and then leave. It will be stressful enough as it is, perhaps not having the added stress of people there when I leave is a good thing.

We’ll see what I ultimately decide to do. But this is the idea right now. And if you don’t agree, well then send me an email!

Single or return

At times I feel that moving abroad should entail so much more things than I can think off. I feel like I’m forgetting a million and one things, it all seems to simple and straight forward. Just a few dozen tasks to complete and I’m on my way. But I guess that really is all there is to it. After all, it’s just a move. Nothing more than that.

What I do like is how some little task involves quite a bit of research and pondering, such as the shipping has been over the last 2 weeks. And this morning I wondered what would be the difference between booking a single or return ticket.

I’ve flown EVA Airways in the past and I’m a big fan of their Evergreen Class (premium economy¹) so I plan to fly EVA again. I was hoping to visit Bangkok before my move, which would also have made me a silver member of their frequent flyer programme and as such allow me to take more stuff on the airplane. But helas. Regardless, it is the only carrier that offers premium economy on the AMS-BKK route² and so the choice for the airline is fairly easy to make.

So with the airline selected, the question is: do I book a single or return ticket. I always thought that a single journey ticket is as expensive or even more than a return ticket, but it turns out a single ticket is €792,- incl. taxes and a return ticket valid for 6 months (the plan is to fly back to Amsterdam at the end of February) would cost almost €300 more.

There is ofcourse the matter of Thai immigration having certain requirements in regards to single journey tickets. But luckily, I’ll meet those requirements.

So … I figured it to be a solid financial decision and perhaps more importantly, an important statement to book a single journey ticket.

Update:
In a response to the above, Simone correctly pointed out to me that I should also take into account the pricing of tickets booked from Thailand, that if they were more expensive my math might not add up and I would be paying more in the long term. I had already looked into that. Tickets out of Thailand are approx. the same price as they are here.

Addendum:
Basically, there are 3 different ticket combinations possible. Taking into account that a ticket with 1 month validity costs €800 and with a six month validity costs €1.100. A single journey ticket also costs €800.

1. I intend to stay there, but do have to make a return trip in march of next year for my unemployment benefits. So I’d buy a single journey ticket now and a return ticket for the trip in march. Total cost: €1.600,- at the most, €800,- if I find a job within the first 6 months and decide not to make a return trip in march of next year.
2. I buy a return ticket now because I know I’ll be back in march and then buy a single journey ticket because I feel things will work out in the second set of 6 months. Total cost: €1.900,-
3. Things don’t work out and I already take precautions by booking another return ticket when I go back at the end of march. Total cost: €2.200,-

I figured I’d add this to solidify the decision I have made. Only in the case of me deciding in the first 6 months that things won’t work out, will I be off more expensive because I’d have to buy 2 single journey tickets.

To ship or not to ship

Saturday, 22 Apr 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

The packing of my belongings has been a much easier task than I initially expected it to be. I felt the time given to me would not suffice and I would need to enlist the help of some friends to make it in time. It is now two weeks after signing the contract for the sale of my condominium and I’m just about finished. All that is left, are the clothes in my bedroom and the contents of my kitchen - perhaps a days work, if that. It was interesting to go through all the cabinets, cupboards and storage spaces in my place and decide for every single item if I wanted to keep it, sell it or would it go straight into the garbage. And for all the things I felt I wanted to keep, would I store them in the Netherlands, have them picked up by a moving company and stored until I find a job, or would I take them with me in September.

The really difficult decision now is if it is worth the money to actually ship things. I’ve requested some quotes from moving companies and all in all, the shipping of about 2 m³ (70 ft³) costs somewhere in between €1.000 and €1.500. A precise number depends on the actual destination, Hong Kong is more expensive than Bangkok for instance. Shipping less (in volume) doesn’t significantly lower the price. That translates into a certain amount per box, which makes it easy to figure out if something is worth shipping or not. The problem is that I think I’ll be able to ‘box’ about 1 m³ (35 ft³) of things I feel are worth shipping.

These are things like books and other personal items, plus things that I would need in a new place but would cost more to buy new than it would to simply ship them over. The problem is that if I can only manage to find 1 m³ worth of things to ship, the price per box doubles and then perhaps it is not worth shipping them anymore. To make the total volume approximate 2 m³, I figured I’d ship my bed too. The bed (deconstructed) with matrasses is about 1 cubic meter, so it would cost €500 to ship. Hardly worth that money, especially since I can probably get a good price for it on the secondhand market. So it looks like I won’t be able to make shipping worth my while and it would be easier to just buy everything I need at the actual destination.

Now, the only items I feel I certainly can not live without, are my espresso machine and coffee grinder. Shipping that alone is far too expensive. Sending it by mail is a problem, since mail has a max. of 20kg (44lbs) over here and the machine ways 26kg (57lbs). I have now gotten a tip to perhaps try and seperate some parts from the machine (such as the casing) and see if I can bring down the weight to under 20kg and then send it by mail. That would mean I would have probably have 2 20kg boxes to mail, which would cost approx €100 to mail. So there might be a solution if I really decide to only ship that.

The decision hasn’t been made yet.

Clear it out by May 15th

Monday, 3 Apr 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

Having sold my condominium last week, I have exactly 6 weeks to clear out the place. But it’s not just the packing and clearing the place, as I was procrastinating this weekend and wondering what else I need to do … I found myself a little overwhelmed. Some more time spent procrastinating and I found this to be a tough job, but very doable. Whoever said procrastinating never amounts to anything is wrong, it helped me make the below ‘to do list’ manageable! Anyway, all kidding aside, below I’ve put a list of things I think need to be done before May 15th.

Decisions to make

• Where am I going to live between May 15th and September 1st?
• What address will I use as my official Dutch address after May 15th/September 1st?

End contracts

• Mortgage and related stuff
• Utilities
• Digital TV, internet and landline phone (depending on where I will live, they might get moved instead of cancelled)

Clear the place out

• Take photos and post ads to sell all the things I want to get rid off. Things I can get a better value for later in the year (like winter related items) or wont be able to sell before May 15th, will get stored at Kim’s place
• Pack all the stuff I want to store medium to long term, store it
• Pack all the stuff I’ll need before September 1st/in Bangkok, move it
• Give away or trash the rest

Other things

• Send out address change notices
• Look into the cost of shipping things (while perhaps not entirely necessary within the next 6 weeks, I put it in this list because the outcome MIGHT have an effect on if I pack or trash certain things)
• Find a place to store medium to long term (anyone have some space I can use?)
• Rip out the carpeting in my condominium

Ofcourse there are a lot of other things I need to do, but they don’t have any relation to me moving out of my place - which is what the above list is supposed to be about. I think I’ve got a complete list here. But maybe I’m missing something.

Do you have any ideas?

Sold!

Wednesday, 29 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

A few minutes ago I got a call from my real estate agent. My condominium has been sold! It was a nerve-racking process, but kudos to Oscar for having balls of steel in the negotiations.

The Amsterdam real-estate market is not red hot at all and so the condo was expected to sell in between 6-16 weeks. I was lucky in that the second couple to see it, really wanted it and so made an offer right away. What followed over the course of yesterday and today were negotiations that for me were nerve-wracking. But I had a really good agent who got me an awesome deal. It was on the market for exactly one week. Being the nerd that I am, in the graph below you can see the way they went - the top of the graph being what I asked and the bottom is what I expected to get. The lower offers are obviously theirs and the higher counters are mine. So yeah, the first offer they made was exactly what I expected to actually get, I’m glad I didn’t accept that one right away.

You can undoubtedly imagine how happy I am with this result, especially now that I will make a little money out of this sale too - which I was not expecting to do at all. I have a lot of expenses coming my way and so the added savings are very welcome. There is a theoretical chance that the deal will fall through if they can’t get financing together, but that was unlikely according to their agent.

I’ll move out in a little over six weeks I think (it might be 8 weeks), so I have my work cut out for me. It’s going to be weird selling and packing most of my stuff so long before my actual moving. I also have yet to figure out what I’ll do for a roof over my head in the last 3 months in Holland, but we’ll see I guess.

But for now, I’m going to sit back and enjoy this moment for a bit.

An exciting week

Sunday, 26 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

I just finished cleaning up my place for the visitors that are going to come see my condominium tomorrow. It’s weird for someone who is … well, not the tidiest of people, to have to make sure your own home looks tip top every morning when you leave for work. But it’s all for a good cause and I’ve got the routine down. “Put everything away, clean everything up, make sure everything smells nice, make sure it doesn’t look ultra cleaned up and leave some signs of life” … and it appears, it is paying off. The first bid came in from the second person to see it and it was a very nice first offer, but I followed the advise of my real estate agent and did not accept it just yet. Tomorrow there are 5 visits and planned and more in the rest of the week, we’ll see what happens.

Also this week, on thursday I had a meeting with my manager about the conditions of my leaving the organization. I was incredibly nervous about this meeting, because this guy could basically make it a lot harder for me to leave. But the research I had done and the lobbying that was done over the course of the last few months (by others, for me) paid off. It was a very positive meeting and we were able to negotiate the terms to both his and my full content. He has asked me to put it in writing, which I’ll hopefully find some time for tomorrow. After he gets it from me, he does have to run it by a couple of people but he told me he expects no problems there.

It’s been an exciting week. Let’s hope the next one continues on the same streak.

Asian unemployment benefits

Monday, 20 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

When I leave, I plan to have enough cash in the bank to get settled and live in Bangkok for a year and to cover the expenses involved in looking for a job in Asia. Basically, I won’t have to worry about money for a year. Provided I balance my budget properly, ofcourse.

At some time during that year, I’ll find a job. But even if I do, this is not the end of all worries. Because at D+13 I’ll lose my right to unemployment benefits in the Netherlands. I’ve always known this, never wondered how I was going to deal with this added risk but recently defined some guidelines for myself to adhere to. These are:

1. If I find a job within the first six months of moving, I will attempt to negotiate being able to go back to the Netherlands for a month like I have planned now in order to not lose the right to benefits. By doing that, I’ll secure those rights just in case that first job doesn’t work out the way I ofcourse hope it will. However, if I’m still happily employed at D+13 and haven’t moved back at that time, I’ll permanently¹ lose my rights to unemployment benefits.
2. Chances of me moving when I’m happily employed are ofcourse slim, so I will indeed lose those rights. In order to compensate for this loss of safety, the first thing after I start working in Asia is to rebuild my own unemployment benefits. My goal for this is to rebuild the funds I will leave the Netherlands with, which would again allow me to spend a year in Bangkok looking for a job.

Aside from unemployment benefits, the Netherlands also has wellfare. I’ve read one article that says I wouldn’t qualify, but I’ve never researched it so I don’t exactly know what the rules for wellfare are. I hope to never find out!

Legalities of Dutch health insurance

Sunday, 19 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

A while back I did some basic research on health insurance for when I live abroad. I did talk to an insurance advisor shortly after writing that article and did some more research myself. However, I decided to postpone more research for a bit as things were to uncertain at that time. This was all due to the new health insurance system that was effectuated on January 1st of this year in Holland, which was very unclear to a lot of people (and in some ways still is).

Since we’ve got a couple of months of experience with the new laws in place, I decided it was time for me to have another look into the matter. I did some research, consulted the advisor I had spoken to before and called some government information lines to discuss my case.

The new system has something called a ‘base insurance’, which is basic healthcare that has the same coverage with all insurance companies. By law everybody is bound to have at least this type of insurance, but you can cover more by paying an extra premium. The problem for me was, would I still have this obligation when living abroad?

Turns out I don’t. As soon as my contract with my current employer is terminated, I actually even can’t be insured here anymore. “If your intent is to emigrate permanently (which it is) and you get no income from an employer based in the Netherlands, you are not entitled to using base insurance”. Which is all fine with me, since getting myself insured at a private firm is a lot cheaper than this base insurance is. So I was happy about that.

There is obviously still the option of insuring myself locally in Thailand. I’ll have to look into that a little more in the near future, perhaps in the first 3 months of me living there.

House for sale

Thursday, 2 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

After the removal of clutter came the cleaning. Did that too. I’m going to be set dressing this weekend, which will involve some painting and fixing little flaws. And of course will also include some new plants, flowers, etc. I expect to be finished by the end of the weekend.

Too late, because I’ve been aiming for my condominium to hit the market on March 1st. So to not cause any unnecessary delays I decided to sign the contract telling my real estate agent to go ahead and start selling the place. I figured he needed a few days of preparation and there was no reason why both preparations couldn’t be done in parallel. (Can you tell I’m a project manager?) Because I felt weird about preparing the place for sale, I thought signing this piece of paper would be even more weird. But instead I felt it was a formality and ‘just another action item on my to-do list’. Nonetheless, it’s a milestone!

I decided against setting up a site with more information. My real estate agent told me that this would actually hurt and not help. The ad will need to arouse enough curiosity for someone to want to come and check it out, nothing more. By giving potential buyers more information, you potentially give them more reasons not to go see it. And especially a place like mine needs a visit to be appreciated, photos won’t cut it.

Read the rest of this article

So it will hit the market pretty soon, sometime next week most likely. The estimate is that it will either be sold within the first six weeks, or after 4-5 months of being on the market. The timing of the sale was chosen carefully, it seems people tend to make higher bids during the spring season because this is the time of year we’re most into homebuilding.

Obviously I’m rooting for a quick sale. This would however most likely mean a transfer of the property long before my scheduled departure for Bangkok. While saving a lot of money every month on mortgage payments, I would also face being homeless for a while. Can’t have that of course! So if I will indeed need to bridge a gap, I intend to live in a furnished apartment or room for a little while. Aside from the financial aspect, I think having to go through and pack my stuff long before the move will also eleviate the workload during the last month. So let’s hope it sells soon!

New planning

Wednesday, 1 Mar 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

As you all know the date of my move is related to the project I’m currently heading. This end date until now had been set on June 30th, which meant I expected to leave the Netherlands in the first week of July. However, my project is linked into a lot of other projects throughout the Dutch federal government and in some cases depends on others having finished their work before I can continue. You’ve guessed it, I’m waiting for them to finish some things.

From the looks of it, they will require another 2 months ‘at the most’ (or so they have assured me) to complete their projects. Because of dependencies I can’t work around, this translates into a 1:1 extension of my project. This means my project is now scheduled to end on August 31st and I now expect to move in the first week of September.

Thats 6 months from today. Too far away!

The complete timeline (with the dates adjusted) can be found here.

I feel fairly indifferent about this change. I do feel very strongly about wanting to move and I can’t wait to go, but I don’t want to leave before the project is done. It’s a really cool project, management specifically wanted me to head it and I don’t want to tell them ‘good luck with that’ and just leave half way. So I’ll finish it and leave a little later, no big deal.

Removed all clutter

Saturday, 25 Feb 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

After weeks of procrastinating, I forced myself to start the proces of preparing my condominium to go on the market. My real estate agent gave me some pointers on how to best do this, mostly common sense to be honest. I’m happy with the results I’ve booked over the past few evenings, but it is taking a lot more time than I expected it to.

The first phase, which I’m working on right now, is the removing of all clutter. Anything that distracts, looks out of place and would not be put in a magazine shot should be hidden from view. Although my place is hardly of the magazine type (well, the place could be … the interior is just not), I’ve quite enjoyed this process. Which I’m sure comes to no surprise to those that know me. I’m almost done. All I have left to do is take a bulldozer to get rid of all the things I decided to trash. After that, I move downstairs to go through the storage unit I’ve got in the basement. Cleaning that up I think might help sell the place, it’s a great space but it’s to full right now. I expect to be finished at the end of the weekend, although my digital TV decoder just arrived¹ and I might loose some hours to this.

Although something I enjoyed doing, it was also weird. It’s things like this that make the upcoming move more of a reality. While it brings no doubts to my mind, it does make me feel funny.

Read the rest of this article

After the removal of all clutter, I have to give the whole place a good scrub. Then comes the ‘fixing of flaws’, painting a wall or two and fixing little details that would put people off. And finally comes the ‘set dressing’ … putting some cutesy things and more color around the house to make it more appetizing to potential buyers.

I wanted to have all this done and the place on the market by March 1st, but I think it will have to wait another week. I’ve got the contract for the sale on my desk, so it’s a matter of signing it and drawing up the ad. The ad will be put online, on the de facto real estate site of Holland which shows a description and a couple of shots. I wonder if making a more elaborate website myself would help sell it. A co-worker recently showed me a site he had made for the sale of his boat, with a bunch of movies and stuff. It made me consider doing the same for my condo. Any thoughts?

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1. It might seem weird I decided to get hooked up for digital tv with the prospect of leaving this place in a few months, but there is currently a special offer for all UPC customers to get digital tv for free for the first six months. So I figured: why not!?↩

Why I’m moving to Bangkok

Monday, 9 Jan 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

The change in the way people talk about my upcoming move to Asia has been really interesting. In the past, people doubted it was actually going to happen - especially those close to me. And I guess they were right in doing so, as I’ve been known to be somewhat of a dreamer. As time went on and my plans became more decided and solid, I started getting the same question over and over again: why are you so set on Bangkok?

It has actually been somewhat of a development. When I returned from Bangkok and Hong Kong I started considering moving to Asia. Bangkok at that time seemed like a logical destination, mainly because my best friend lives there. I brushed aside warnings about perhaps not being able to find a job there and had a tunnel vision about the whole thing. It was actually in this state when I made the decision to move. As time passed by and I started to consider all the pros and cons of the whole adventure, I became more aware of the risks but also the opportunities. I still suffered (and still do, I’m sure) from a dreamy image of my life over there, but much less so than before.

Read the rest of this article

The real breakthrough was in the days before leaving for Bangkok late October. I suddenly realised that because my chances in the jobmarket there are let’s say ‘less than perfect’, chances of me actually building and living a succesful life over there where pretty slim. After that, I changed the outlook and with that also my viewing the whole undertaking.

Now when I’m asked “why are you so set on Bangkok?”, my immediate response is this: I’m not, I’m set on Asia. I don’t expect to find a job in my field (project management) earning a decent salary in Bangkok, but have given myself a year to find a suitable position anywhere in Asia. I expect to focus 20% of my efforts on Bangkok, the rest elsewhere. I’ve chosen Bangkok as my base for the first year, because I’ve gotten to know that city and it’s people, because I like it there, I like the energy of the city, have some (farang & Thai) friends and business acquaintances there, it’s a great airline hub and a cheap place to live.

So while it has always been Bangkok in the back of my mind, with this motivation I’m certain it is the right destination for the first step into Asia. Once I’m there, I’ll start working on that second step. Who knows where that will bring me!

But doesn’t this sound like a great place to start:

The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.

- HM King Rama I

It’s the official English translation of the full name of Bangkok, or Krung Thep as the Thai themselves call it. Did you notice the word Bangkok is not even part of the name? Bangkok is actually the name of the village which used to be where Krung Thep is now located and means something else. But whatever it’s called, that is where I’ll be moving first!

Shipping stuff in stages

Tuesday, 3 Jan 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

As I’m writing this, the first 10kg/22lbs of my stuff is ready for departure on the Schiphol tarmac and on it’s way to Bangkok. Arjan is flying back after having spent the holidays in Holland and had some extra luggage space to spare that I was only too happy to utilise.

Over the next 6 months, all the stuff that I have in my place will be labelled as ‘sell’, ‘store’, ‘take’, or ‘now’. The first will be sold on eBay and Marktplaats and the second will be stored at a to be determined location.

I decided that at first I will move to Bangkok ‘lightweight’, only taking essentials with me. The rationale being that I most likely will end up elsewhere, there is no sense (frankly, it’s just a waste of money) in shipping my stuff to Bangkok (most likely leave it in boxes) and then ship it onwards to the place I land a job. So, while I do feel I want to take all the stuff labelled as ‘take’ (are you not impressed with my naming convention?) with me eventually, I don’t feel I will absolutely need it in the first year. I’ll have a shipping company pick up and hold it for me. After I’ve found a job somewhere, I’ll call them and tell them to put it on a boat.

Read the rest of this article

The ‘now’ group is stuff I feel I will need to take with me to use the first year. Most of it, I will take with me when I fly there myself, but like I said - the first batch is already on it’s way. It was actually quite hard to figure out what I would want to certainly have there for the first year. As I will be renting a furnished studio apartment, all I could think of was:

• Clothes
• My computer - which holds all my music, photos, etc.
• Towels
• Blankets and sheets for my bed

If you have any ideas of other things I might want to label as ‘now’, suggestions are much appreciated.

Friends and relatives

Monday, 26 Dec 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

The last Christmas before my move, which makes me look at the event differently. I can’t quite explain how. Christmas was much the same as it has been the past couple of years, which basically means running around and trying to fit a whole lot of relatives and friends into a tightly packed schedule. And I’d be lying if I said I felt more strongly about the relationships with the people I am going to leave behind because of it. Nonetheless, Christmas (for me at least) is about those I love and so it has made me think about having to leave them all. It’s been a weird feeling, thinking how the ‘actually spending time together’-part of those relationships will disappear. Sure, I’ll keep in touch with the majority and I’ll be back here once in a while. But the relationships will undoubtedly change to some extent. And I will for sure miss everyone a whole lot, each for other reasons and in another way.

Perhaps an easy way to describe what I think will happen is this. I already have quite a few international friends, sometimes I don’t see them for over 5 years, but somehow those friendships always remain intact. I think the friendships I have locally (meaning those in Holland) will change into international friendships. Some of the friendships will suffer more from the not spending time together (out of sight, out of mind), others will change only in the respect that the way we keep in touch is more via the phone and internet and not so much over a coffee downtown.

For some reason, I think the bond with my family will not change a whole lot. I’m not much of a family man and I really only keep in touch with my parents and brother. I feel I have an amazing relationship with both my parents, even though I don’t see either of them¹ more than a few times a year. I communicate with both (and my brother) via the phone and the internet already. What will change is that I won’t see them those few times a year anymore, perhaps once a year - if that. Which will suck, but I’m sure we’ll figure out some way to make it work for us.

Read the rest of this article

There is one person with whom the relationship will dramatically change. Given for the last two years has been of such an influence on my life² that I can’t imagine life without her. She has been a constant source of joy and happiness. At her age, playing and spending time together is important and conversation much less so. While I don’t think she will forget me, I can’t maintain our bond with just talking on the phone. It will become less of a father/daughter bond and it breaks my heart to be responsible for that. I will cry my eyes out when I see her last. But I can’t have it all, such is life.

The one factor that will make communication ‘difficult’ with both friends and relatives is the time different. Bangkok being 5 or 6 hours ahead of Holland³ , it will make things weird at times. The evening being the time to make phonecalls, they will be having dinner as I’m getting into my bed. I guess we’ll see what happens. The same time difference has never stopped Natalie and me from talking on the phone regularly.

I also wonder what those phonecalls and emails will be about. I read a book recently that mentioned the difficulty of trying to understand the life of someone living abroad, so I’m sure from time to time I will be full of stories about things that those ‘left behind’ find less interesting. And I’m sure in some sense I’ll also loose touch with their daily reality. On the other hand, the most important thing will be their and my well being, which I do expect to talk about and I guess perhaps less about life in general.

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1. My parents have been seperated for almost 10 years. They both live in Eindhoven, 120km/75miles south of Amsterdam. ↩
2. Given is Kim’s daughter, who I’ve seen grow up from being born premature till now and love like she is my own daughter. ↩
3. Thailand has no daylight savings, Holland does. ↩

Come and get it

Friday, 9 Dec 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

On Tuesday I met with a real-estate agent in my apartment and discussed with him the sale or rental of my apartment. He advised me to ‘set dress’ (a term I picked up from a BBC show and think is funny, it’s in reference to a stage set in case you didn’t pick up on that) but to also invest in a wooden floor. Because I really don’t feel like putting in a wooden floor, I asked him to tell me what the place would sell for without. This morning, I decided to ask an agent who specialises in this part of the city to also come by and give me an estimate and coin the ideas the previous agent had suggested.

I’m happy to report that they both expect it to sell for the same pricerange. And I’m even happier to report that the bottom of their pricerange will give me a €0,- profit, which means it’s possible I even make a little money on the sale. Good news for me!

When to put it up for sale (they have different opinions on this subject) is something yet to be determined, as is the agent I actually hire to sell it for me. But with this, the decision is final in that I am going to put it up for sale sometime soon.

I have to start the ‘set dressing’ this month, which means tidy up the place and give it a good scrub. I’ll probably paint some walls, throw out the dead plants and put in some fresh cut flowers. And some color here and there won’t hurt either, I guess. If anybody has ideas on how to make it sell better, let me know!

Planning

Wednesday, 7 Dec 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

This article is an update of the planning as described in an earlier article. It was last updated on March 1st, 2006 to reflect changes in my project that effected the dates. Below is the most recent version of the timeline.

This entire schedule is based around a certain day, which basically dictates the timing of all events. This is the day on which I no longer have to actively work for my current employer.

Read the rest of this article

D-9 months (01-Dec-2005)	I started my new project. The original planning was for it to be finished within 7 months, but it got delayed by two months due to external links over which I had no control. The planning now is that this project will take 9 months to complete.
D-3 months (01-Jun-2006)	This is when I officially become a ‘replacement candidate’. This means that I will have to continue working for my organisation for another 3 months, but some things do change from this date onward: I have approx. €12.000,- to spend on education, which I will have to spend within the next 6 months I will get unlimited (within reason, ofcourse) time off and expenses paid for job interviews, etc. There have been cases where people supposedly scheduled 5 job interviews each week, but that is not permitted obviously. I am expected to still work.
D (01-Sep-2006)	My project is finished, I no longer have to work. I will be paid for another 3 months, the only change is that I won’t get certain expenses paid that have to do with being able to do my job. I will still get expenses paid for job interviews. On or shortly after this date, I will move to Bangkok. I’ll be there for six months.
D+3 months (01-Dec-2006)	The official end of the contract. I will no longer be paid salary or expenses and no longer get support from the organisation or the coaching company. My educational budget (if anything left) will be revoked, unless I’ve already signed up for something or classes already started continue after this date.
D+5.9 months (28-Feb-2007)	Back in Amsterdam after being gone for six months, to claim unemployment benefits on the last working day within 13 weeks after I become unemployed at the latest. I’ll be in Amsterdam for about one month, so I can go to the benefits office and what not. I’ll receive one month of benefits at 100% of my current salary, which will cover my ticket and expenses but probably will not leave anything else. At the end of the month, I write the benefits people a letter telling them to stop paying me benefits and tell them I’m going abroad for 6 months to try my chances there.
D+7 months (01-Apr-2007)	I fly back to Bangkok for another six months.
D+12.9 months (28-Sep-2007)	In order not to loose my right to unemployment benefits, I have to return and report to the benefits office no later than the last working day of the sixth month after having stopped my benefits and ask them to resume paying me benefits. The plan is to let this coincide with me running out of funds over there. This means I’ll have been looking for a job in Asia actively for 13 months, but without succes. After such a long period, I figure I should take my losses and return home.

So, on September 28th of next year I’ll know for sure if I’ll be in Asia for a long time to come or if I’m back here for a while. Ofcourse if during that whole process I find job security over there, the timeline will change. I wish it was D already.

Learned something interesting today

Thursday, 1 Dec 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Today was a ‘you and your future’-day for all current employees of the organisation I work for. It was a very well organised day and hundreds attended. I’m convinced the new structure will succeed, although perhaps the required changes in corporate culture will not happen as fast as they want. Unfortunately (well…) I won’t be part of that. Nonetheless, I had a productive day. There were sessions and information for everyone, people who are going to stay and people who are being downsized. I ofcourse am one of the last group.

I’ve done a lot of homework in the past, on the right I have as an involuntary replacement candidate. Two of the loose ends were a budget for education and coaching from an outside company. Today, I found out more about the two. I was pleasantly surprised, because it turns out that I have €12.000,- at my disposal to improve my position on the jobmarket. This money is spent in part on that coaching process, which is not optional.

The remaining part, approx. €7.000,- is mine to spend on education as I see fit. So it looks like that other course, which I never did get for free, is something I have to look into again. Another thing that immediately sprung to mind was to continue my coaching sessions. And what might also be interesting but perhaps not allowed, is taking some courses in Bangkok. I spoke to someone at an EYP networking event who said she was really enjoying a particular course at Bangkok University. Might be worth looking into.

So, I’m going shopping for education!

Health insurance

Tuesday, 29 Nov 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Did some research today on being insured while living abroad. Think health insurance, but also stuff like liability insurance (although I think this is something only the Dutch insure themselves for) and perhaps legal assistance. My dad has a really smart rule of not ensuring anything he can pay from a single monthly paycheck, which I kind of adopted after he told me about it.

Turns out that the ‘expat insurance’ I expected to have to get are out of reach for me. These appear to have the condition of employment, which I ofcourse won’t be able to meet at first. In a way this is a good thing, because the expat insurances are really expensive.

Instead, the thing for me seems to be sort of an extended travel insurance. Normal year-round travel insurance like I have now, covers only trips of no more than 90 days and require me to have health insurance in Holland as well. A long term travel insurance seems to be exactly what I need and they’re a really good deal too. They cost less than my current health insurance¹ does, but actually cover more². And they also cover stays in Holland for ‘up to 30 days’. Which I thought was kinda funny.

Sometime next month, I’m meeting with an insurance advisor. What I’m going to look for is health insurance which will cover me while still in Holland for the next 7 months, which can be changed into a ‘travel insurance’ like the one mentioned above and can then later be changed into an expat insurance meant for professionals working abroad.

There is also the option of local insurance. I haven’t looked into that. The cost will most likely be even lower and so I will certainly look at it. But things like coverage while travelling or when staying in Holland are not included.

That one big thing

Monday, 28 Nov 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

This morning I met with my boss and he told me officially what I unofficially already knew: I’m being restructured.

I got exactly what I asked for: I can finish my current project (which ends sometime in June) and after that have to start looking for employment elsewhere. I’m going to be an involtunary replacement candidate, so I retain the right to unemployment benefits. Although I hope and expect to not need it, it’s a nice safety net in case things don’t work out over there. The only minus is that instead of the expected 6 months, I’ll only get continued pay for 3 months. We’ll see if that can be changed, but for now I don’t expect it to.

This is it, ‘that one big thing’ that needed to happen. Although a long time coming and exactly what I expected, for some reason I’m still a little stunned by it.

Sell, sell, sell

Sunday, 27 Nov 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been leaning more and more towards selling my apartment instead of trying to rent it out. Tonight I was at my brothers’ birthday and I had a brief discussion about this with my parents which basically made me decide that I might as well sell it.

The option to try and rent out my apartment seemed like a good idea. It would allow me to hang on to it, while having my expenses paid. If for some reason things wouldn’t work out in Asia, I could move back to Amsterdam and into my own apartment without having the stress of finding and decorating a new one. It would cause some added stress to the move, what if for instance the heating system breaks or what if I can’t find someone to rent it to? But I figured it was worth that effort in order to keep my home.

One of the things my dad said last night was that he was surprised that so short (2 yrs) after buying it, I was considering selling it again. My mom had an explanation for that, which I had never realised myself but totally agree with: for me, it’s a roof over my head and not my ‘home’. I’ve never put much effort into creating a nice and comfortable home in any of the places I’ve lived. I need some necessities, but that really is it. And I think she is spot on. Feeling homey and comfortable for me is not about the venue, but about something else which I have yet to put my finger on. Besides, it’s an expensive place to hang on to and should (I hope not!) I have to return to Amsterdam I guess I could just as easily rent something.

So I’ve decided to sell.

Read the rest of this article

Sometime soon, I’ll meet with a realtor and ask him what alterations I need to do to make the apartment sell well. Think paint jobs, putting flowers on the table and baking fresh bread. I’ll also discuss with him what the best time is to put it up for sale.

However, this does mean a longer ‘to do’ list for the move. It means I have to figure out what to do with all my furniture. And what stuff am I going to get rid off, what stuff am I going to store in Holland, where am I going to store it and what stuff am I taking with me to Thailand.

The timing of the moment of transfer is also something to be determined. Somebody told me that once on the market, an apartment in Amsterdam either sells in the first six weeks or around the 6 month mark. I might be able to postpone the transfer moment until I move, but what if I can’t. Or rather, why not transfer earlier and share a place with a friend or something. It would make things easier and save a lot of money too!

The roof over my head

Friday, 21 Oct 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

The last couple of weeks I’ve been looking into some things concerning my apartment. I’ll attempt to outline a couple of things concerning the two options here - renting it to someone else or selling it all together.

Renting

Although I would prefer this option, it does mean a lot of hassle and risk involved. What if I don’t have someone to rent it to while I live over there? What if something happens to the apartment or something needs to be fixed? A lot can go wrong when someone else lives in your apartment, they don’t generally care about it as much as the actual owner.

The first problem that presents itself is trying to keep the place occupied. Countless people that can do that for me, so just a matter of trying to figure out whom I trust to keep the place occupied. These people typically charge a months worth of rent as a fee, which is what I’ve calculated into the price as well. I think I’m presenting a good deal, but the market I’m catering to (high income, short stay) is relatively small. The only problem is that right now there is a building opening up which caters to the same market. Detroit has a plus over my place, because it offers a health club and swimming pool included in the (slightly higher) rent. Then again, mine has a way better view, balcony and would be including furniture.

Read the rest of this article

I will need to have someone for day to day ‘management’ - in case the renter loses their key or blocks the plumbing or something. Renting a place in this market usually means extra service like this is required. I will also need to have someone who can legally represent me. Either someone I trust or a lawyer/notary. I hope not to have to do this, but one never knows and it should be taken care off beforehand.

Renting means I will have the constant stress of keeping the place occupied, but it also means I would benefit of any increase in value. The other big plus is that I could use the basement as a personal storage space, saving me the cost of storing my stuff when I’m abroad.

Selling

Although I was able to buy the place at a really good price, buying and selling in Amsterdam is not cheap. So I’ve got quite a hefty difference to cover. However, when I look at the prices of similar apartments I’ll actually make some money on the sale even if I sell at 90% of that - which is fairly common over here.

As soon as I know the timeline, I think I’ll sit down with a few different agents and try to get it either rented or sold. I’d prefer to have it rented, at least until I’ve found a new job in Asia. But if that doesn’t work out, I won’t hesitate to sell it. As scary as that may be and although I would be very sad to have to let it go, I can’t afford to pay for an empty apartment over here for an extended period of time.

Today is not a good day

Wednesday, 19 Oct 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

After having met mister HR this morning, I’ve spoken to both him and mister senior management a couple of times today. I was trying to work out a scenario which was viable for them, but also for me. And I haven’t been able to do that.

Two options for me right now:

1. Within the next month, I change my contract to another department. I will become a replacement candidate with a temporary placement on my current project. After that, I’ll have another 3 months of being paid without having to work. Only if after that project I would get a 3 month project which I can do from abroad, would I be able to have 6 months of pay while living abroad - which in turn would give me about a year to look for a new job. Chances of getting that second project are next to none. This means I need to find a job within 5-6 months after having moved to Bangkok. That would be pushing it, I don’t feel comfortable taking this route.

2. Wait what happens with the reorganisation. I might get lucky and become a replacement candidate anyway for whatever reason. From what mister senior management said, I got that there might be a tiny chance that I will ‘follow my work’ and then don’t get matched to another position once my current project ends. If the case, I would then become a replacement candidate.

What sucks is that if I were to go for the first option, I would have to make that happen within the next couple of weeks. Kinda hard when you’re away on vacation. So I decided to take the other option. Chances of that happening are very slim but at least I don’t lock myself into a certain scenario that will not provide me with the results I require it to do.

So … now what? Well, right now I’m a little sad because it doesn’t seem like my move is viable the way I thought it would be. But I won’t give up that easy. Crazy ideas are running through my head. I need to rethink this thing, discuss it with Arjan, see what comes from my upcoming trip and then hopefully come up with a new strategy.

This, plus I’m getting sick and I have two exhausting days in London ahead of me. Today was not a good day.

As expected, not exactly as I had hoped

Monday, 17 Oct 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

This morning was the big meeting. It went as I expected, not exactly as I had hoped. I’m moderately happy with the end result.

Mister senior management was very supportive of my adventure, thought I was presenting a solid argument for doing this and told me he could definitely see me being succesfull over there. And he should know, he has worked in Asia in the past. It was a pleasant and open conversation and I appreciated his vote of confidence.

I presented my solution (option 2, see this article) to him. He then suggested the other strategy (option 1) I had previously thought of as an alternative, which I thought was interesting. Both would be applicable, although after discussing it we agreed that the former strategy would probably be the better of the two and allow for more control of the situation. He told me that he would help me as much as he could, but also that he was not able to make any commitments right now - simply because he wasn’t up to date on all the rules and regulations surrounding this issue. He was a little hesitant about the three months of ‘remote working’, but I think in the long run I would be able to convince him of me being useful to him from Bangkok. I felt most of his reluctance had to do with the rules anyway.

We agreed that I try and work out the best possible scenario with the HR department, put that in writing and send it to him so he can then discuss it with them seperately.

The person I’m supposed to work this out with is away on holiday this week, but will be in the office for a meeting on Wednesday. So I’ll try and plan a meeting with him. If not, I guess I’ll come back on Monday for that meeting even though officially I’m already on vacation then. I don’t know this guy (we’ll call him Mister HR), so I consulted someone on how to deal with him and got some pretty good advice.

First hurdle taken, more to come…

Meeting mister Senior Management

Sunday, 16 Oct 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Eleven hours from now I will sit down with mister senior management. Since I wrote down my strategy 2.5 weeks ago, I’ve discussed it with several people and finetuned it in the process. Although in the beginning I felt increasingly uncertain about the outcome, over the last week I’ve grown to feel good about going into the meeting tomorrow.

I am just going to play the ‘personal’ card. I will present my case, explain to him that this is my dream and tell him I need his help to realize it. I want to leave on good terms. I will explain to him the second option¹ from the ‘Please fire me’ article, which doesn’t require him to do anything other than not give me any work after I’ve finished my current project and support me throughout the following process of becoming a replacement candidate. I will also ask him to give me remote assignments for the 3 months following, so I can already live in Asia during that time and work on furthering my career there.

I will not go the route of “if you don’t help…”, negativity will certainly not get me anywhere. I think he will realise that sooner or later I will leave anyway, and there is no sense in trying to keep me aboard when I really want to be somewhere else.

He is a person who has always taken opportunities when he could, I’ve known him for quite some time (also at our previous employer) and we get along well. I respect him and like working for him and he considers me to be an asset. I think it will be a friendly and open conversation.

So I’m confident, but nervous as well.

Please fire me

Friday, 30 Sep 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

The chances of me finding a job in Asia while not living there are fairly slim. The upcoming reorganisation at work allows me to venture out to Asia without having that job lined up. It means I can move there sooner and ultimately probably also have a bigger chance of finding a job.

As I’ve explained before, the way I would do this is by becoming a voluntary or involuntary replacement candidate. The whole process of replacement basically means I for a limited amount of time continue to get paid by my boss even though I’m not working anymore. For this period of replacement, there is no big difference between being a voluntary or involuntary replacement candidate. However, if I volunteer it means I loose my right to unemployment benefits. That doesn’t matter if I do find a job over there, but would matter if I didn’t and would have to move back to Amsterdam.

I hope not to have to use it obviously, but it’s a matter of covering my ass - which is exactly why I hope I can become an involuntary replacement candidate. How am I going to do this? Ask a member of senior management, “Hello mister senior management, I know you like me and don’t want me to leave the company. But I’m going to leave regardless, so will you please help me? I’ll be your best friend if you do!”

But I figured that probably won’t work.

Read the rest of this article

So I sat down with my boss and we discussed how best to approach this upcoming meeting with mister senior management. There are two options I will propose to him:

1. Change my contract to one with a department that will disappear with the reorganisation. The one I work for right now will, but my contract is with another one. I will then automatically become an involuntary replacement candidate because my position has disappeared.
   

2. No longer allow me to work for another department than the one I have a contract with. I then have to go to the department I have a contract with, where I have to do work that I can’t do. The manager can then designate me as an involuntary replacement candidate on the grounds of insufficient skills.

Because mister senior management for some reason (I don’t know why!) perceives me to be an asset to the company, he will be reluctant to let me go and perhaps won’t want to help me out. Especially since he has recently asked me to lead two projects for him. I’ll have to convince him this is what I want to do (he actually already knows, I told him over coffee once) and that in exchange for him helping me out I will lead the projects he has asked me before I leave. I’ll ofcourse try to avoid telling him that if he doesn’t help, I will just volunteer as a replacement candidate and leave right away.

Currently I am aiming for a February move, but this is based on being a voluntary replacement candidate. I will meet with him in the first half of October and discuss this. Basically I’m hoping to have an agreement before I actually leave for my November trip. If he agrees, I expect to change the planning and move in May.

Taxes are easy, it turns out

Tuesday, 27 Sep 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Last Friday I visited the tax office in Amsterdam on a quest to gather some information about taxes in relation to my relocation. However, the people I spoke to were hopeless and the best advice they could give me is to look on the internet. I did, but that just confused me more. Their special ‘foreign affairs’ office is located in Heerlen, which is all the way at the southern most tip of the country. As I was in the area for a meeting, I decided to make a little detour.

I had been reading up on the internet, consulted a couple of books, etc. and found so many rules, special circumstances and exclusions that I was afraid of entering so much bureaucracy I’d need a machete to cut through all the red tape. I was pleasantly surprised, it’s fairly straightforward.

Read the rest of this article

To leave or not to live, that is the question

The big question is if or not I will be a registered resident of the Netherlands, meaning I have a home address in the Netherlands. Here is how it works.

The money we pay through our taxes is devided in two parts. One part is ‘income tax’ and one part is ‘social insurances’¹.

If I’m a registered resident I’m automatically insured for all kinds of things, such as the pension plan. And so I have to pay for those things over any dutch income I have. It will also mean I have to pay income tax over any dutch income I have. And even if I don’t have any dutch income (I will for the first 6 months!), I will still have to file my taxes here - and potentially pay taxes over any Thai income on top of the already paid Thai income tax.

As soon as I unregister as a resident, I’ll loose the social insurances². The good part is that I will not have to pay for those insurances over my dutch income while living abroad. A lot of money, which can add up to be 25% of my income. Income tax over my dutch income is ofcourse still taxable here.

It might be that I loose any rights to those 6 months of pay if I decide to move abroad. I’ll have to look into that. If that is the case, obviously I will remain a registered resident here. If that doesn’t matter, I will still remain a registered resident if it has an impact of my unemployment benefits. If that doesn’t matter, well then hell, it would mean I’d have funds equalling another month and half of pay!

Home, sweet home

Regardless of where I am registered, my condo is always an asset and thus taxable. If I decide to rent it out, I loose the ability to deduct interest paid over my mortgage, the nett value of the condo would be taxable as an asset, but any rent received is non-taxable.

If I decide to sell it, interest remains tax deductable for the first two years of me moving abroad provided it’s not occupied - by me or by any other occupants, including people who would rent it from me. I would ofcourse have to HAVE dutch income to deduct it from, which is not going to be the case after those first 6 months³.

This basically doesn’t change the strategy I’ve had concerning my condo. Rent it out if I can, sell it if I have to.

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1. Out of our monthly paychecks a monthly premium is deducted and haded to the government, they basically act as a big insurance company and give you coverage when needed. One of these is what we call AOW. This is a government funded pension that all occupants of the Netherlands get, at least in part based on the number of years they have lived here. ↩
2. On top of that, it will probably also have an effect on my qualification for unemployment benefits.↩
3. It might be that in deducting interest paid on my mortgage from a zero euro income, I’d be able to compensate the resulting negative income with income tax I paid the previous years - get it?↩

Unemployment benefits

Thursday, 15 Sep 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Today I investigated the impact of this adventure on unemployment benefits. I had a meeting with a lady at the agency who does the intake and she explained it all to me. These benefits could, depending on how things work out the upcoming weeks, be a safety net for me. If things don’t work out for me in Asia and I come back here, these can help me through the time of trying to find a new job here.

To qualify for unemployment benefits I have to be unemployed through no fault of my own. So in my case when I am an unvoluntary replacement candidate. If I volunteer to be a replacement candidate, I give up my rights to unemployment benefits. Benefits here are a percentage of your last earned salary, kicking in at 90% of and after a while dropping to 70% of that salary. There is a maximum of €167.70 per working day, but this is supplemented for employees of the federal government. So, assuming I do qualify…

Read the rest of this article

1. The first day of unemployment is also the first day I have the right to benefits. Basically, I have to apply for these benefits within 3 months after that day. I’m allowed a 13 week grace period between being unemployed and applying for benefits, because of the ‘26/39 rule’ which says I have to be employed for 26 of the last 39 weeks to for benefits. The fact that I am not actually working those first doesnt make a difference, because in legal terms I will be employed. Freelance jobs don’t qualify as employment.
2. After having been assigned benefits, the government needs a couple of weeks to process my application. She advised me to be in the country during that period.
3. After that, I can leave again for a maximum of 6 months. During those 6 months I will not receive any benefits, but I won’t loose the right to them upon my return either.

So, depending on my own financial resources I could spend as much as 16 months trying my luck in Asia, with a one month vacation in The Netherlands.

The calm before the storm

Thursday, 1 Sep 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

The last couple of weeks it has been fairly quiet on this blog. I think it’s safe to say this has been a calm before the storm. I don’t know exactly why I haven’t been posting a whole lot, because the move has been in my mind constantly and there is a lot to write about. There are a couple of things I have to make decisions about or start investigating soon. Some stuff you’re going to see appear soon …

• What to do about my current job. I have to research the moves I have to make and when I have to make them to make the best use of all options I have at my disposal.

• What am I going to do with my house? I could either rent it out or sell it. This will also impact what I do with surplus inventory and is a pressing matter because should I decide to sell I need to get it on the market soon.

• I’ve got to start looking into a source of income in Bangkok. Related to this is ofcourse a working visa and other things.

• The impact of my leaving this country is something I need to look into. What contracts would I want to continue having here and which ones can be cancelled. What formalities do I need to take care of, etc.

• November is approaching fast and I need to start planning and booking my trip.

Timeframe

Thursday, 11 Aug 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

I’ve been under the impression that if I wanted to do so, I needed to volunteer for replacement before December 1st. Earlier this week I had dinner with my boss, he told me this was not the case. I can actually still volunteer until March 1st at the latest. When I heard this, it was a great relief.

There are basically two ways to make this move. Either I start finding work from over here or while living over there. The first I think is a really, really hard thing - if not next to impossible. The second is a more risky, but for some reason my preferred approach. I haven’t made up my mind about this at all and I’ll come back to this more in-depth in a later article. However, because of the upcoming reorganisation I can’t ponder this question forever. Although the less risky option has no real timeframe, this reorganisation has a pre-defined and non-movable timeframe and so is the critical path (can you tell I’m a projectmanager?) for the move. The reorganisation gives me the opportunity to go for the risky option, while still maintaining a source of income for a limited time - something that is a major factor in making this decision ofcourse. So I want to adhere to this critical path, because I want to keep all options open.

The problem was that if I needed to volunteer for replacement before December 1st, I would have to move in December. This would have given me about 4 months to get everything sorted. That is quite a rapid move. It now turns out that I can volunteer anywhere from December 1st till February 28th. This would set me to move in March 2006 at the latest, if I do indeed decide to take the risky route. That gives me another 3 months. And in doing so, it releaves some of the pressure because 7 months is a much better timeframe for me to take care of everything I need to take care off.

I’ve got my mind set on a move in 6 months. I think that should be enough time to make all the preparations. Should I be able to go sooner, I’ll probably do so. Shooting for 6 months, gives me a buffer of 1 month in case I need just a little more time.

For more information, read “Process of reorganisation” in the archive.

There is nothing more to it

Saturday, 6 Aug 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

A few of days ago I wrote a couple of things down that I felt I had to investigate before making the decision if or not I would want to go. But when I look at them now, I feel there are actually two different things. The first being the big question if or not I want to go, the rest are more along the lines of practicalities. I feel like the latter is the only thing I really think about anymore.

Every single time I force myself to think about the big question “do I want to move to Bangkok or not?”, I find myself looking for pro and con arguments as if I’m waiting for a big ‘eureka’ moment. I don’t think that is ever going to come. The only really big argument I keep coming up with is my gut feeling that is telling me to go. It makes me feel excited, nervous, anxious, happy and eager just thinking about moving to Bangkok. It makes me feel like I’m an athlete warming up at the start of a big tournament - not that I would know what that feels like, I know.

So … for the sake of clarity, to myself too: I’m going. There are a lot of things to be worked out, perhaps I’ll run into things that can not be worked out and will keep me from going. But if it’s up to me, and I’ll try as hard as I can to make as much ‘up to me’ as I can … I’m going.

What I don’t like about this country

Friday, 5 Aug 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

For years now I’ve been considering leaving my homecountry, but never did get around to it. In the past the desire to move has at times been about fleeing my life here, but nowadays it is all about being intrigued with other ways of life and other societies. I mean, if nothing else, I do have a pretty cushy life right here in Amsterdam.

When exposed to other ways of life, cultures and societites, it puts your own in a different perspective. I’ve always had quite an international circle of friends and acquaintances and so have travelled a lot. I think trips visiting those friends really have put my own ‘normal’ in a different perspective. And also when friends from abroad visit do things regarded as ‘normal’ suddenly becoming utterly strange habits.

Only the last 5 years or so have I been increasingly becoming annoyed with what my fellow countrymen (and women) find ‘normal’. As I was going home last night and I saw something happen on the train, I decided to write an article about it. A few pickings …

Read the rest of this article

• Not so tolerant. Worldwide, we’re regarded as being an incredibly tolerant country. But we’re not. This country is about being average, you can not stick out in any way. For instance, you’re not supposed to excel at work, you’re supposed to just do your job.
• Lack of respect and courtesy. It is all about me! Why should I have to get up for a pregnant woman? She is no more than me. Why should I let people off the train before I want to get on it? Why can I not pick up my mobile, even in the middle of a conversation? It’s ringing!
• Terrible customer service. It seems people working in retail, hospitality and services honestly could not care less about you as a customer. Bad attitude, poor service, etc. They don’t see the value of repeat business, they only care about taking your money now.
• Lazyness. We have an absolutely amazing system of helping people out - ie. wellfare, healthcare, etc. The problem is that we take it for granted, even abuse it and so become lazy. We expect everything to be taken care of and forget to have to take care of ourselves first and foremost.
• It is never good. Ask a dutch person how (s)he is doing and the answer will always be “gaat wel” (so so). The is always something to bitch about, the weather if nothing else. And yes, I do see the irony in listing this one.

Ofcourse every country has it’s fair share of the above. But these are what have become apparent annoyances for me in this one. The first three can be attributed to Calvinism ¹ in some way or form. That doesn’t make it right, it makes it understandable though. The rest … I actually don’t know where they came from.

And yeah, I’m guilty of all of them at times. I am, after all, dutch. Regardless, the above is my personal top 5 dislikes of ‘typically dutch’.

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1. Calvinism had a great impact on the development of the modern dutch culture, our constitution is even based on it’s principles. I’m sure other people would be able to explain it’s religious essence. However, such words as humility, narrowmindedness, mediocracy, equality and sobriety come to mind.↩

Setting the deadline

Monday, 1 Aug 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

After having thought about this for a whole month now, I think it’s safe to say moving to Bangkok has become a serious consideration. Ever since I really started thinking about it, my gut feeling has been “I’m going” … and don’t people always say you should follow your gut instinct? I know, but we’ll just casually forget that my first feeling about Bangkok was perhaps not so positive, okay? Anyway, time for me to somewhat decide on how to tackle this whole decision making proces.

First and foremost, I have decided that the upcoming reorganisation at work presents a great opportunity to make this move. This will not influence the decision if or not I will move, it will however influence the timing of this decision.

Since I have to be back in Thailand for Arjan & Nuy’s wedding on November 19th, I figured I would go there for six weeks from November 1st till December 15th and after that make a decision. But because of the timing of the reorganisation, making the decision anywhere after November 29th would basically mean I wouldn’t be able to use the benefits of this reorganisation. So, I’ll have to decide sooner than that.

Read the rest of this article

But I actually wanted to make the decision based on another visit. So I will either have to change my travelplans and make two trips (one before November, one in November) or I will have to just make the decision and not base it on another visit. Right now, I’m not sure which of the two it is going to be. The upcoming three months would be plenty of time for me to visit again, perhaps I will. Regardless, the plan is to have made the decision by November 1st.

Actually deciding will be a lot harder. I will have to base it on how I generally feel about the idea of moving out of the safe, comfortable and familiar environment I’ve got here in Amsterdam and changing that for a risky and unknown environment over there. I’ll have to think about leaving my family and a lot of my friends here and most likely not seeing them more than once a year after that. I’ll have to consider the huge change in my life this will be and if or not I’m the type of person that will be able to enjoy living in Bangkok. Although I’ll never know this for sure until I’m actually there, experiences during my trip(s) and those of others will be important input. I’ll take a look at the job market and my chances of succes over there. I’ll have a look at the risks involved and how perhaps to minimize those. And I’m sure there are a lot of other things that I can’t think of right now, that will also require consideration in making the decision. So I’ve got my work cut out for me. The results of my work will ofcourse be published on this site.

Should I not be able to make this decision with full conviction before November 1st, no harm done. A move would just require a different approach and perhaps take a little longer, since then I will not be able to benefit from the upcoming reorganisation.

Once I do decide to move to Bangkok, I’ll have to start all the work of actually moving. But thats outside of the scope of this projectplan.

It could have, but did not

Tuesday, 26 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

A couple of weeks ago I was asked about my interest for a really, really interesting project. I would probably have put my plans on hold for a year for it. Today I had an interview with a member of senior management as one of the final three candidates.

I didn’t get it. At the end of the meeting I was told the lack of experience in the field was what was worrying him in such a high stakes project as this one. I told him I understood and would probably have made the same decision. He told me he would keep me in mind, perhaps for another position in the project or as the projectmanager for a different project.

I never thought I would be hired for this job in the first place, precisely for the reason put forward. But I was honored for being asked and it was an amazing opportunity, so I had to at least give it a try. I’m happy I did. It was a positive meeting and I feel I presented myself in a way I want him to think of me. I think he was pleasantly surprised by it.

The bill of rights

Monday, 25 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

These are two files I found on our intranet. I decided to put them on my site for reference. I know, it’s a lot of text and I’m probably the only who is going to read them. But at least now I can access them from anywhere and not just when I am in the office.

These two documents pretty much describe how the reorganisation is going to happen in broad terms. More importantly, they also describe what facilities are provided for employees and under which conditions those can be used. Yeah, well to me it’s interesting reading, okay?

• Sociaal Plan 2003 (opens new window) is the full text of the agreement about reorganisations made between management and employees. The last version was made in 2003 and it’s been in use ever since.
  
• Herplaatsingsbeleid en -reglement (opens new window) goes into more detail about the whole replacement process.

Oh yeah, they’re in dutch.

Options for my apartment

Friday, 22 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Most fridays I work at home and often the afternoons I ‘move my office’ to some kind of bar, as I need a change of scenery by that time. Today I was sitting in one of my usual hangouts, Cafeine, and overheard someone talking to a customer. Niels rents an office above Cafeine and has a business in short-term apartment rentals.

If I do decide to move, one of the things I’m going to have to decide is either I sell or rent out my apartment. Arjan sold his and I think it was his broker (also mine) who told me that unless you know you will be back shortly, this is probably the best thing to do. I’ve always thought renting it out would be the better option. Anyway, as I don’t know if I will be back after a year or after 10 years, I don’t really want to sell my apartment. It’s an awesome place and I got it for a really good price. So if I can, I want to rent it out so I have something to move back into when I return.

Service

I started talking to Niels about my plans and asked him for some general advise. He told me to think carefully, as renting your apartment - while seemingly a nice idea - it actually means dealing with a lot of shit. I told him I knew, as I’ve gained a little experience in this area with a friend, but that there were companies that take care of this for a fee. I asked him if this was his business, which it is. But he is not adding any more apartments, plus my place is in the wrong part of town for him to service it. Oh well.

Read the rest of this article

Niels advised me to not have a company take care of the ‘service’ for tenants, as most companies do a bad job of meeting the demands of customers and also charge a lot of money for providing this service. How very dutch! Instead, I will ask someone I know and trust to take care of the service, preferably someone who lives close to the apartment. I’ll pay them a ‘management fee’ and ofcourse draw up a contract for it.

Sales

For the ‘sales’ involved, Niels said he didn’t really think what I had in mind would work. I thought I would just write a letter to a couple of multi-nationals and offer my apartment for rent for an x-year period, they could then use it to put up their overseas employees for shorter or longer amounts of time. Niels told me those companies outsource the whole housing deal to a real-estate agent.

So instead, I’ll offer my apartment for rental to several of those ‘serviced apartments’ places and pay them a sales fee for getting me a customer. I’m a little hesitant about relying on this, as it would not be in the best interest of those companies to get me customers.

It turns out this is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. I learned a lot from the brief conversation I had with Niels and he offered to sit down with me to help me out if I do decide to go.

Process of reorganisation

Monday, 18 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

[An updated version of this article is also available, click here]

The upcoming reorganisation is a very long process ¹. I’ll attempt to write down here what the following months will bring.

Today - November 30th

Right now it’s unclear for a lot of people if or not they will get kicked out. There are some hints, but overall there is no definitive information we can base any conclusions on. As the date of December 1st draws closer, there will be more and more information about the needs of the new organisation and subsequently the chances of a job in the new organisation.

I expect for my department things should be pretty clear within a month. People should then know if or not there will be a job for them or if they will become a ‘replacement candidate’ on December 1st. If not the case, I could volunteer to be a replacement candidate and save someone else’s job ². There are some conditions to be able to do this, I still have to research those.

Read the rest of this article

December 1st

At the latest on this day, people will formally be told if or not they are a replacement candidate. I think, after this date voluntary replacement is not an option anymore. It is also the start of the 6 month replacement period.

December, January and February

During the first 3 months of the replacement period people will have to continue working in their old job or in a ‘temporary migration position’ as the new organisation gets up to speed. Replacement candidates get paid in full as before, including all benefits. The agency hired for this will start the process of the replacement and help them set up a plan to get to a new job.

During this period, a replacement candidate can also volunteer to actually quit. You then get a one time severance pay of €12.000 (before taxes). While interesting if you’ve got another job lined up, it also means there is no more guidance from the replacement agency and more importantly you also loose all rights to any government benefits you would stand to get after June 1st.

March, April and May

During the second half of the replacement period, the replacement candidates no longer have to work. They will continue to get paid in full, but lose any work related benefits such as travel expenses. They also continue to get guidance from the replacement agency.

June 1st

The end of the replacement period. People who haven’t found a new job by this time have to apply for government benefits and are officially ‘out of a job’. There are no more ties to the employer and all guidance is stopped.

I’ve also heard something about each replacement candidate having a certain budget for courses and classes, but I’m not quite sure what the deal is. I’ll figure it out and then update this article at a later time.

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1. To people from abroad it seems very weird that people here will know months in advance they are going to be let go but will continue to work for the organisation. This is fairly common in this country and gives people a good chance of finding a new job before leaving the current one. ↩
2. A common method of reorganisation and also the one used now is the ‘last in, first out’ method. This means people who have been with the organisation the longest will survive the reorganisation, new recruits get kicked out first. If I volunteer to be a replacement candidate, someone who joined after I did moves into my ‘slot’ and can thus I save his or her job. ↩

Job security

Thursday, 14 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

After the initial uncertainty about my job security, it now seems that there will be a position of some sort for me in the new organisation.

Although I work for the IM department, it is actually the faith of the BE department that effects me ¹. It turns out that BE will remain intact, no people are being let go from that department. So the contract with BE again saved me from being unemployed! However, the fact that I have a contract there does mean I would have to actually start working there after the reorganisation. Not an option for me, for reasons not worth getting into.

There are alternatives though. Several people in (senior) management have expressed their wish for keeping me onboard as a projectmanager or in another position that better suits my abilities and personal preference. For now, I don’t really know anything about those positions nor do I know if this would require a job application or not. But it’s nice to have such things being said to you and also good to have the job security it brings.

So what does this mean? Well, before there were two things that were influencing my decision. The first one was ‘do I or do I not want to live there?’ and the second was ‘I am out of a job here anyway, so why not go?’. The latter is no longer the case and so what this means is that the decision is not so much about timing anymore, but it now is only a matter of ‘do I want to live there?’.

However,

the upcoming reorganisation would provide me with some interesting benefits for making the move with a little less risk. So I might just do the crazy thing of opting to be let go (no, not the same as quitting) and thus benefit from all the things provided to me. I’m investigating the whole process at the moment and will write an article about it sometime soon.

Should I stay or should I go?

Thursday, 7 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

This has been quite a week. It’s as if somebody was listening when I was talking to Arjan on Koh Samui, somebody who then decided to give me what I wanted. “You want some change in your life? There you go! No significant other, no job. How is that for change?”

While before this week I had just returned from an amazing holiday and was thinking about maybe move to Asia at some point, with current developments I cannot help but think this is it. This is the moment for me to make such a move. There is nothing that ties me to Amsterdam, there is really nothing that is keeping me from doing it.

All of a sudden I find my thoughts about a possible move kick into a higher gear. I’m starting to think how the social plan for the upcoming restructuring would allow me to venture out while still on a payroll, I’ve thought about what to do with my apartment, where would I move, what the timeline would have to be, etc. There is so much running through my head and it really is something I’m constantly thinking about.

The big question right now is: should I stay or should I go? Or rather, in the words of the 80’s song: should I stay or should I go NOW? I think it’s been clear for a couple of years now that at some point I would get up and go. This just seems like the perfect opportunity for me to go.

I don’t know. Yet.

Restructuring announced

Monday, 4 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Last night I wrote ‘I really love my job’. But it turns out it doesn’t love me as much. This morning there was a group of co-workers gathered around my desk and while I’m telling them about my adventures, suddenly someone walked into my office holding a piece of paper they printed from the intranet.

Now, before I left for Thailand, there had been months of talk about an upcoming restructuring of the organisation. And I see why, there are just to many people doing to little work. But this has happened before and never materialized. And the process was so immensely slow, that I really didn’t think about it at all. While in Thailand I was reading my corporate e-mail, and I did see a presentation by management on the subject being planned. But really, I wasn’t worried.

Well, turns out the managing director also thought things were moving to slow. She kicked the project group in the ass and told them to get moving. And so, while before I left there wasn’t even a model for the new organisation, what this guy was holding in his hand now was a list of positions - with numbers for how many there were now and how many there would be after the restructuring.

So ofcourse I joined everyone in looking at the list to figure out what my faith would be like. Unclear. There was a small chance that I would be able to keep a job, but it wouldn’t be my current job. And so, I kind of decided then and there that after having been there for 3 years, it was time to leave.

Not level-headed

Friday, 1 Jul 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Having returned to Amsterdam after my first trip to Asia just a few days ago, I’m still on a holiday high and find it difficult to adjust back to the dutch way of life. Although I’m sure eventually I’ll be fine settling back into my life here, I can’t help but constantly think about going back to Asia.I’ve been telling my friends the tale of my trip over and over again and every time I do, I end it with a sigh - ‘I want to go back’. Twenty weeks from today is when I have to be back in Asia at the latest, that (November 19th, put it in your calender!) is when Arjan and Nuy are getting married. But it seems… well, really, it is far away.

Actually, already I’m thinking about having to come back at the end of my next trip and how hard that is going to be. I find myself remembering the repeated conversations I had with Arjan, during which we discussed me moving to Asia. If I did that, I wouldn’t have to come back anymore! Home would be there and here would be away!

Thinking about it, endless questions pop into my mind. Should I do that, would I want to do that? What would I have to lose? Why would I do it? Overall, my feeling currently is that it is something that needs further investigation. There are a lot of reasons why not to do it. Most of them have to do with caution and uncertainty about how well such a move would turn out for me.

I know, I know … I’m not really thinking clearly. I’m under the influece of the remnants of my holiday high and coming down with a bad case of the post-holiday blues. And I know I’m romanticizing the whole concept, that living somewhere is totally different from spending a holiday there.

But … I can’t help but think about it.

Looking at my life in Amsterdam

Friday, 24 Jun 2005 | Leaving the Netherlands

Tonight was our first evening in Koh Samui and it was spent avoiding the drizzling rain. We had dinner and after that went to a place called The Deck. A really nice place which made us feel quite comfortable and at home on the mattresses laid out on the floor. At a point during my holiday where I had truely detached from my Amsterdam life, tonight seemed like the perfect moment to take a look at it and see how I felt about it. It was quite a revelation, although for a lot of my friends it must have been quite a ‘duh’ moment when I told them about it. It boils down to this…

Although I don’t feel like I’m leading an unhappy life, I do think it could be better. Mostly, I think my life is to static. It basically comes down to working 60 hour weeks and spending the weekend investing a lot of effort into what I want to be a succesful relationship but which really is not going to ever become that.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my job and happily spend those 60 hours every week fulfilling my tasks. But there really is no way for me to further develop my career at the organisation I currently work in. I can get better at what I do, but I’d get better in a surrounding I’ve been working in for almost 3 years now. Financially, I’m at the peak of what this organisation has to offer, so there is no way to go. I could apply for a different position, but chances of getting hired at the moment are fairly slim. Likewise for Kim and I, it just isn’t going anywhere anymore and although we still love eachother a lot… I should just cut my losses and move on.

Something needs to change.