About me

Hi, I'm Tanya. I'm a South African now living in Amsterdam. I'm a mom, runner and writer, and work in content & advertising. Welcome to my blog, where I write about life here, settling in, and riding a bike. Read More

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Are you thinking of moving to The Netherlands?

Are you considering emigrating but not sure where to start? I can give you practical and essential info before you move here. To chat or find out more, you can email me here.

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  • Why Dutch kids are the happiest

    Dutch children are the happiest in the world,  according to Unicef, who published a report in 2017 on child well-being in rich countries, which ranks The Netherlands number 1 on the list. The report looks at things that contribute to a child’s wellbeing such as material wellbeing, health and safety, educational wellbeing, behaviour and risks, housing and environment and subjective…

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  • Life lately… swinging over Amsterdam, heat waves and more admin

    It’s been another great week settling into our new lives, and finding our rhythm, though that will likely change a bit once school starts next week. I feel like the new kid and quite nervous to be that parent who doesn’t really know anyone or how things work, or where to go. It feels a bit like some my angst-ridden…

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  • Things I’ve learnt in Amsterdam

    We’re only three-and-a-half weeks in, so I’m by no means “proficient” in the city or the lifestyle, but here’s what I’ve learnt: A coffee shop is where you go to smoke weed. If you ask for a coffee shop, that’s essentially what you’re asking for. If you’re looking for coffee, then rather say just that. There are sex shops all…

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  • We’re official residents of The Netherlands – the 3-week emigration update

    And we’re official! We went to the municipality last week for our “check-in” appointment – to register and to get our BSN numbers (kind of like a social security/ID number). We had made our original appointment for a day after we arrived, but were kindly asked to come back after two weeks of self-isolation. Strictly speaking, we weren’t ever asked…

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  • The two-week emigration update

    It’s hard to believe that two weeks ago, we were lugging our eleventy pieces of luggage, meeting the apartment to which we had committed a year (and paid three months of rent), and seeing all the IKEA furniture that had been bought and assembled. In a way it feels like we’ve been here much longer – I’ve had my nails…

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  • Week 2 in Amsterdam: thoughts, bike rides and more fries

    We’re in week two, and on one hand, it feels surreal and like I’m not really here (like an out of body experience), and on another, it feels like I’ve never known any other life. Except when I’m riding my bike and realise what a far cry it is from driving my automatic car wherever I wanted, and whenever I…

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