My Husband and I Moved Overseas in Our 50s, Did not Want to Waste Time

This story is predicated on an interview with Leslie Hodgin, a 55-year-old advertising and marketing advisor who moved from the US to the Netherlands along with her husband, John Lyman, 52. It has been edited for size and readability.

Until 2026, I used to be dwelling in Richmond, Virginia, with my husband and our cat.

My dad was within the Army, so I grew up all around the international stage, however Richmond is my adopted residence. I lived there for about 10 years.

During that point, I bought a suggestion to maneuver to Seoul, South Korea, for my advertising and marketing job. My husband, John, and I had been relationship on the time. We bought married one week earlier than moving to Seoul for 2 years.

After the contract ended, we returned to the States. I really like Richmond, but it surely did really feel small after I had been in Korea.

Some occasions occurred in each of our households that made us need to transfer overseas once more sooner fairly than later. My dad died. My husband’s mother died. We had a few pricey mates move away. It was all very fast. And it made me suppose, “What are we ready for? We do not have guarantees for tomorrow. Now is the time.”

We don’t have kids, in order that wasn’t holding us again. We had some cash within the financial institution to maneuver, which I do know is a privilege. It was like, “Let’s simply go and stay our lives. We should not simply hold hoping for sometime as a result of there will not be sometime.”

Moving to the Netherlands

John had gone to graduate faculty in the Netherlands, so we might visited earlier than. Through my work in promoting, I additionally had a reasonably large community of individuals dwelling there.

There’s a visa for Americans known as the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) that enables freelancers and entrepreneurs to stay within the Netherlands. It made the nation seem to be an awesome selection for us.

My husband works for himself, so it was simpler for him to choose up and go wherever. I began my very own consulting industry and left my company. I knew there was an promoting group within the Netherlands, and I deliberate to freelance if my consulting industry wasn’t doing nicely.

My husband’s dad is in his 90s, and my mother simply turned 80. Moving removed from them was in all probability the toughest a part of the choice. I’ve just a little guilt for that, however they’re excited for us. I’ve promised my mother that I’ll be residence for any big family and vital occasions.

That’s a tough factor to do, however we felt it was proper for us to not put our lives on maintain.

Downsizing our lives

We moved in January. We did it in six months. We’d offered our home a couple of 12 months earlier than transferring and had been dwelling in an apartment.

We determined to promote nearly every thing we owned to maintain prices as little as attainable. We shipped a half-crate over, which is kind of small, so we needed to do away with quite a lot of stuff. We made near $12,000 promoting every thing and used it to pay for the visas and assist with a few of the moving costs.

When we moved, we had 9 suitcases, together with a big piece of artwork. It was the biggest oversize merchandise that will match on an airplane, and we had a particular museum-packing firm pack it. And our cat, after all, got here on the aircraft with us.

We stay in a two-bedroom condominium. It’s an outdated, outdated constructing, however the condominium is newly renovated and has a patio.

We do really feel fortunate that we found a place as a result of there’s a housing scarcity, and it is fairly arduous to search out housing, significantly in case you’re American or from one other nation and you do not have Dutch revenue. We needed to pay six months’ lease upfront to safe our rental.

Life in Europe

It nonetheless feels surreal that we stay right here. My husband and I’ll steadily take a look at one another and say, “Oh my God, I can not consider that we’re right here.” I by no means need to lose that feeling.

Business appears to be going very well. I additionally already knew some mates, however I’ve met so many superb folks by way of social media and made some nice mates with our neighbors.

We love the sense of group. I recognize the social contract that folks afford one another in the Netherlands, from the alternatives the federal government supplies to the respect and belief they present one another typically.

Recently, there was Open Monumentendag, or Open Monuments Day, with over a thousand monuments, church buildings, homes, farms, and historic locations throughout the Netherlands open to the general public at no cost. They try this yearly, and it feels so particular. It looks like each different weekend there is a competition.

There are all the time challenges. I’m very gradual to choose up the language. Most folks converse English, however I really feel like I must be higher.

Moving additionally prices much more than you intend for. Even in case you’ve tried to pad all of the numbers, it nonetheless prices greater than anticipated. Because our work was fairly gradual earlier within the 12 months, we had been like, “Gosh, what have we completed?”

Our cost of living is pretty much like what it was within the US. We do not have a automotive, so we do not have that expense. We could be paying double the lease in New York City for this similar condominium.

A contemporary begin

I really feel alive once more. I felt just a little stagnant in Richmond after dwelling abroad, and transferring has opened quite a lot of doorways for my creativity.

On social media, I’ve documented attempting one new factor per week. It’s gotten us out to satisfy folks and have some attention-grabbing experiences.

There’s a threat in transferring overseas. You need to get your self over the hump, and it’s important to be courageous.

Believe in your self. If there’s one thing you need to strive, like transferring abroad, happening a solo trip, or taking a cooking class, take an opportunity on your self. You’re by no means going to remorse attempting it if it does not work out. If you do not ever put your self on the market, you are going to look again in 20 years and be like, “That would have been nice. Why did not I give {that a} shot?”