Smiles from Miles Away

Hi blog! It has been a while, but I’m back! Sitting in the Wroclaw airport for the 5th hour due to bad fog in Amsterdam and a delayed flight. 🤷🏽‍♀️ For my final trip on 2025 I traveled to Krakow and Wroclaw. I wanted to adventure outside of Amsterdam, catch up with a friend, tick … More Polland in 1 final trip in 2025

Hello and welcome back to the nitty gritty details of the Inburgering process in the Netherlands! This is part 2 so if you want the general info feel free to go back to my previous post. As a recap, I am in the process of applying for Permanent Residency and a big part of that … More Inburgering- Nitty Gritty Details

For the last several months, I’ve kicked my Dutch studying into high gear to work toward permanent residency. I’ve almost lived in the Netherlands for five years now—wow, how time flies! I thought it would be fun to share a bit about the process, my experience, and what it all means, especially in case my … More Een beetje Nederlands

I have been thick in the house hunt in the Netherlands the last few weeks/ couple months! It has been an exciting process and I have learned a lot along the way. The first timing buying a house is always a big step and in a foreign country solo even more so as there are … More Melanie’s House Hunters International

Hello from Iceland! It has been a fun extra long weekend solo adventure! It has been a while since I have been anywhere with my last real trip to the Olympics back in early August. I live in Europe so seems like I should remedy that! I booked this quite last minute by my standards … More Iceland made a great frost impression ❄️🧣🌌✨

This is part two of cultural differences in work life in the Netherlands vs in the US. If you are looking for part 1 you can find it here. Happy reading! I hope you enjoyed the post and learned something new about work culture in the US vs in the Netherlands! This of course isn’t … More Work life in the Netherlands vs US (Pt. 2)

Everything you should know about visiting and seeing the tulips in Holland in the spring! 2025 will be my 5th (*gasp* how time flies) year enjoying spring in this beautiful country. As I write this post it is gray and raining so I figured it would be great to reminisce on a better and sunny … More How to see the Tulips in Holland (updated)🌷

On to post #2 for the Paris Olympics talking about the vibes, the events, and the city. We were pleasantly overwhelmed by the amazing vibe of the city and the atmosphere surrounding the games! Everyone was so friendly and having the best time ever! Below are some of the highlights outside of the actual sporting … More Paris Olympics 2024- The Vibes