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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  • The second hardest part of emigrating (it will probably surprise you)

    Aside from leaving my people, for me, the next hardest thing wasn’t leaving the weather. It wasn’t leaving behind the good things, like Woolies, or Dis-Chem (or doctors who were more liberal with writing prescriptions). It wasn’t about feeling like a “foreigner” or learning my way around here. It wasn’t the language, or getting used to new systems, schooling, rules…

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  • Another fracture and a new home!

    Though I didn’t want it to be this way, my blog posts have now turned into quarterly reports, when I was hoping they would be weekly. But I guess time really does allow for news to accumulate… like the purchase of a new home! A few months ago, Andrew and I thought we’d start looking around at homes in the…

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  • I swear I’ll blog more this year on life in Amsterdam

    There was a small chance that my new year’s post was going to be written in 2024, if my recent blogging habits are anything to go by. But here I am, with an aim to write more this year – at least a few more before the next new year. I’m not sure if others who have moved up north…

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  • A fracture, a celebration and another new chapter

    October was an ambitious and big month. I started a new job, ran the Amsterdam Marathon and celebrated my son’s barmitzvah, with our close family from around the world. It was a month that brought tears of happiness and pride, busier work days than I’ve had in years, and crying over spilt milk. Or rather, milkshake. Let’s start with the…

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  • A European road trip and back to the hustle

    There’s a lot of joy to be had in closing our front door and hitting the road while it’s still dark and early (despite “only” having had two cups of coffee) and driving to Dresden in Germany for the first stage of our summer holiday. We decided to do something a little different this holiday and head to Zamardi Hungary…

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  • Two years and about two hundred kilograms of eaten potatoes later

    Someone asked me this week if Amsterdam feels like home, and I didn’t really know how to answer, because I’m not quite sure how I feel. It kinda does, but without the deep familiarity, roots, history, wider family and old friends that often make up a “home”. Practically, it’s home. We have our things, the kids know Dutch, I can…

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