Blogging to Amsterdam

From what I have been reading, living in Amsterdam would be quite different than here in the States.

Legal gay marriage and legal soft drugs would be the obvious big differences.

I also read that the elderly are not respected in the corporate world, so some people retire as early as age 50. And elderly people are well taken care of in comfortable old-age houses once they are unable to live on their own. If you are wealthy or not, everyone gets equal treatment. Equal treatment! The same applies for healthcare over there. They have a universal healthcare system.

Apparently the Dutch are thought of as stingy, which is news to me. But this supposedly stems from the fact that they do not like to waste things - food and money included. Sounds like my kind of people!

You can read more if you like at Expatica’s Netherlands at a Glance.

Categories: Anything Amsterdam
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I just love reading about how other countries get more time off from work than we do here in the States. And Amsterdam is no exception to this.

I just read that in Amsterdam, employees 21 to 35 vacation days a year! A year! Can you imagine! Here in the States you are lucky if you get a week off each year. I also read that Dutch employees are reluctant to work overtime.

In my last job, I was actually fired for not spending more time at work. I was hired for a full-time 40 hour week position and I worked about 50 hours a week. And they did not feel that was enough dedication to the company! Clearly that would not have happened in Amsterdam.

Categories: Anything Amsterdam
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I read a lot of blogs written by people that are earning a living online and traveling the world. Sure, most of these people are going to places where they can live real cheap, so they do not need as much money as others. But the fact remains that they are earning all of their income from online endeavors.

I have been giving this a lot of thought as I hope to get to a point where I can travel the world and support myself with online income. And I think that the key is having some diversification in your online income. And this means several things.

I think you need more than one website that you earn money online with. I also think that the subject of your websites needs to be different. That way if one is hot and the other is not, you will be alright.

I also think that you need diversification in the ways in which you earn the online income. You can’t expect to live solely on Google AdSense earnings. And you can’t expect to live solely on the earnings of reviewing sites and products on your blog.  Especially since Google has been taking away the page rank of people for doing those sorts of things. Cause your earnings go down severely when that happens. And if that was what you were relying on for income you could end up stuck in Thailand with no money to get you home.

Categories: lifestyle redesign
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That is what I want to do. I want to be able to travel and live any place that I want while being able to maintain a constant level of income.

And you can do it. You can work online from anywhere. There are plenty of people online doing that right now! I want to be one of them!

Of course, a lot of these people are aiming low and going where living is cheap. You know, places in Asia and in South America. Well, I want to go to places that I want to go to. I want to be in Western Europe! I want to be able to spend the summer in New York City and live solely on online income.

I want to truly be able to live anywhere and work online from anywhere. Some people call it wanting to be a nomad. I call it wanting a lifestyle redesign.

Categories: lifestyle redesign
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You might be wondering why I have chosen Amsterdam as the end destination.

I have never been there. I do not know anyone else from there. And I do not speak Dutch.

It is this simple- I like their politics. Specifically, I like what they have done for gay rights. Sure, other countries have made strides as well, like Spain. And truth be told, I would prefer Spain’s climate, language and location. However, in my research, it seems to be easier to move to Amsterdam than to Barcelona.

And the way I figure it is once you can get citizenship in a EU country, then there can be movement about the EU!

Categories: Just me
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You know, the norm is to go to college so that you can get a good job. Then you graduate college and get that good paying job that you work at until you reach retirement age. Then you get to live the good life - assuming that you saved up enough for said good life.

Well, what if you are sick when you hit retirement age? You did all that work and no fun for nothing. Not to mention the fact that working for ‘the man’ only makes the man richer and you, well, not so much.

I don’t want to be a part of the norm. I want to start my adventures now. But I still need income to be able to afford said adventures. And I do not want the US to be where I have a home base. I want to pack up and spend a few months here, a few months there and end up in Amsterdam.

I want to redesign life.  I want to be a nomad traveler like all of those others that I read about online. That means I need to be able to earn a living anywhere. And that means online.

Categories: Just me
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I think I am a bit of a gypsy. As soon as I was out on my own the moving around a lot began. It seems like I never stay in one place all that long.

Then I took a trip to Europe.

I LOVED it. And it made me realize just how much I disliked the US in comparison.

So, I began looking up how I could move overseas. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was not quite as easy as moving from state to state here in the US. In fact, it appeared to be pretty darn difficult.

So, I buried the idea of living overseas in the back of my mind.

But I forgot something - I absolutely hate working for the man. And the more I go to an office job the more I think about being able to work online from anywhere.

You see, I’m not really into corporate America, despite the fact that I have an MBA. And I am not really into working for anyone else. I have a bit of a problem with authority. So it only makes sense to work for myself. And if that is the case, then why not focus on being able to do so from any place - any continent!

And it doesn’t hurt that the US is behind the rest of the world when it comes to gay rights. I mean, I could move to Mexico City with my girlfriend and have more rights and benefits than here in the US. And that’s just wrong.

Categories: Just me
Tags: , the journey

The 9th Anniversary of Hard Rock Amsterdam is this month.

You can come and their birthday with live music and birthday cake on March 20, 2008 all day. Festivities are FREE!!

For reservations, 020-5237625 or Amsterdam_sales@hardrock.com

Hard Rock Cafe, Max Euweplein 57-61, 1017 MA, Amsterdam

www.hardrock.com/amsterdam

Categories: Amsterdam news
Tags: news

It is officially The Beginning of the Journey.

What is the journey?

To be able to make enough money online to be able to move to Amsterdam, or any place else that I please that in Western Europe.

How much monthly online income will be enough?

I’m not exactly sure yet. But I do know that I need to save up some cash first in case the monthly online income stream dries up. And I also have some debt that I need to pay off first.
Why Amsterdam?

Why not? It seems like a great place. Sure, it is a bummer that they don’t speak English as their official language, but I can adapt.

What’s the time frame?

Well, I’m not sure on that yet either. I do know that I want it sooner rather than later. But basically, I am still working out all the details.

It is a “learn as you go” sort of journey. But it should be fun!

Sign up for my feed if you want to keep track of me and blogging to Amsterdam progress!

Categories: Just me
Tags: , the journey