Moving abroad alone | What the first year of living abroad taught me | Living alone in Amsterdam

In this video I share with you 9 lessons that I learned during my first year living alone in Amsterdam.
Moving abroad by myself turned out to be more challenging than I expected, but I learned so much during the process of transforming my move into a positive experience.
By moving abroad alone, I was confronted with so many adversities, but with the right mindset this year of my life turned out to be an important mark in my personal growth journey.
For who is currently struggling in a new country, I hope my video inspires you to not give up on your goals, despite all the challenges that you’re facing. Be patient, good things will come your way!
Enjoy the video!
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⏱️Chapters⏱️
00:00 Introduction
00:29 Homesickness and guilt feeling
01:28 Not feeling at home anywhere
03:18 The new country will change you
04:31 Making friends as an adult is hard
06:29 Not everyone is meant to be in your life
07:27 How to enjoy your own company
09:13 You will learn more about yourself
10:51 Only you can create the life you want
13:24 You are capable of much more than you thought

[@awakeFromNib]

You have very interesting point of view and very clever thoughts.

[@mafaldaboers]

@awakeFromNib, thank you for your comment, I really appreciate it!

[@Wafa21]

Nice to see how open you are about all of it! I do relate with you on starting to enjoy my own company more. Few years ago I started just taking myself "on dates" and now I'm so comfortable doing things on my own without feeling too lonely. Because it is true like you said, as we're getting older, our friends don't all have the same lifestyle anymore, contact is more precious and reliance on them isn't possible anymore. Hope videos like these help others who struggle still. Good to see you having things figured out on these aspects, best of luck for the future!

[@mafaldaboers]

Hi @Wafa21! Thank you for your comment! I guessed that more people have been through the same as us and could relate. I also think it is important to share and talk about these type of experiences to normalise them. At the time, it would have been helpful for me to know that more people were feeling the same as I was.

[@viiyaxyz]

Thank you for making this video. Its been so hard for me. I just hope the growth and outcome I'll have will be worth the sacrifices I've made.

[@nithin_bhargav]

I will be moving to Ireland alone for work. Leaving my mom and grand-mom at home after staying with them for almost 28 years. I know it’s really tough for me, but i have some goals set and i really want to take up the challenges head on. I want to improve my life skills, technical skills and soft skills. This is the only way. Thanks for such a positive and practical video.

[@mikewillis2934]

You have very good insight and have wisdom in analysing the impact of moving to Amsterdam. After graduation from a UK university, I lived 4 years in Paris and 4 years in Amsterdam. I like the way that you describe the different aspects, pros and cons. Thanks for sharing Not initially speaking Dutch was difficult for me

[@mafaldaboers]

Hi @mikewillis2934, thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. Having moved to France and the Netherlands for sure you have some wisdom to share to help others adapt smoothly!

[@mhjmstultiens]

Loneliness is something many people are confronted with in their lives and I believe it's very prevalent in the Netherlands as well as Dutch people tend to take pride in being "zelfredzaam" (self-reliant). And sharing your personal feelings isn't always part of that. It works when you're feeling strong, when life is smiling, but of course that won't be always the case. Especially during the Covid period there was marked rise in the amount of people feeling emotionally down, especially young people. I can only imagine how hard it is when you're just moved into a new country, taking your first steps into a strange culture. It's true as well making friends as an adult isn't as easy as when you were young. The challenge however isn't insurmountable, but it does require a fair share of positive attitude and courage. This is something everyone can do, no matter the challenge presented. Start small, by figuratively planting one foot before the other. Eventually you'll get there. And never forget to be yourself, as the best you can be is just yourself. :)

[@PH61a]

Very wise words!

[@mafaldaboers]

@PH61a thank you for your feedback! Have a lovely day :)

[@qixxor2075]

Impressive personal account of your lessons learned. I appreciate the one about having to work to create your own life. Here is another one now that you have build your life here successfully. There will be people who want to use you as a platform to move here. They will become a burden, because they never learned the lessons of loneliness that you did. Of course that’s another lesson for you to learn.

[@user-je5cv9co7t]

Thinking about it..... ❤

[@zesousa1000]

Very interesting video I'm thinking about living in the Netherlands, after having studied several countries, I think it's an excellent country to work and live in. Um abraço de Terras Lusas

[@Kup1208]

I'm heavily considering moving to the netherlands next year so your videos have been super helpful and felt very genuine. I Appericiate the time and effort you put into these in order to help other people like myself. Hoping to see more content in the future, have a great day 🙂

[@mafaldaboers]

Hi @Kup1208, thank you so much for your feedback! It makes me very happy that my videos are being helpful to you, even if it is just a little. I wish you all the best and for sure whatever you decide to do, it will be a good decision. Have a lovely day!

[@briant3404]

obrigado for the inspirational video. it is odd, because i am at teh opposite end of life from you and am in an opposite situation, where i am considering moving to portugal. and even though i have had a life of continual transition, or maybe because of it i relate to every thing you say, but what you say also reminds me about portuguese culture and frankly i think it would be much more difficult to enter portugal than a place like amsterdam because of the nature of relationships as you described them in portugal and i really i think catholocism in all of latin europe has an influence on this and many other things, after all it is the cultural heritage, wonderful as it might be. ..eu acho todo isso a pesar de eu falar portugues sem a precisa de falar inglés..

[@mafaldaboers]

Hi @briant3404! Yes I also believe that moving to Portugal would be a different experience vs moving to the Netherlands, specially Amsterdam that seems to have a bigger international community. But portuguese people can be very welcoming as well :) Nice that you know how to speak in portuguese! It will be very helpful if you decide to move to Portugal :)

[@eddyvaneden8017]

A very good video. I also want to move to Portugal and I agree with Briant3404 that moving to Portugal is more difficult. I want to escape the gray weather months of Autumn and Winter here, which is an depressive period. Can you elaborate more about your feeling not safe, when walking in Lisboa at night? You are the first person to talk about that. As they say Portugal is a very safe country.

[@MSuarezification]

Hello Mafalda, I find our videos on KZbin, since I started to know more about moving to Netherlands and by far your videos is the most interesting. I would like to know if you could help to find a way in Netherlands, or what jobs platform should I subscribe ? My experience at this moment is the most of the job in Netherlands they look at the first site for your current address, and at this moment I’m still living in Portugal. Thank you very much and keep going with your amazing KZbin videos.

[@user-je5cv9co7t]

Iam considering london

[@OrkunAkar]

👍

[@Mahenaw]

Can you please make a video on how to find your "first" apartment when you just arrive in the Netherlands? Assuming the person does not have a local address, bank account or a permanent phone number. All the house-hunting videos are for someone who has all those three things. But I could not find one video that tells you how to find an apartment when you first arrive and have no bank account.