Magdalena Laas

How to Prepare, Stay Safe, and Choose the Right Coverage for Your Trip
Traveling during hurricane season isn’t for everyone, but for many, the benefits can outweigh the risks. Off-season trips often mean fewer crowds, lower prices, and striking natural scenery you won’t find in peak season.
However, tropical storms can also bring sudden cancellations, rerouted itineraries, or even evacuations. That’s why smart preparation and the right hurricane travel insurance are essential.
This article sh...

Find the Best Coverage for Your Italian Adventure
Planning a trip to Italy? While the country offers unforgettable experiences, unexpected medical emergencies or trip disruptions can quickly derail your plans. That’s why having coverage is essential to protect yourself from the financial impact of unforeseen events.
This article breaks down what’s typically included (and excluded) in travel insurance for Italy, offers tips on choosing the right plan, and provides practical advice to help you ...

I and my young adult kids all moved from the US to different countries in Europe. Building a community to share advice, reliable information, and ideas on how to make your move without wasting time, money or effort.

Bringing you expert insights on creating profitable and impactful forest investments.
Meet experts in forest investment from different corners of the forestry asset class. From investors to entrepreneurs, market players to service providers. Tune in to hear stories from the trenches, insights and best practice guidance to build your toolbox for creating profitable and impactful forest investments.

Like many things in the Netherlands, the bulb flower season‘s exact dates depend on the weather gods’ moods. Still, as a general rule, it starts in mid-March with the crocus flowering, followed by narsissen (daffodils) and hyacinths. The star of the season, the tulip, flowers in all her abundant glory from about mid-April to mid-May. However, similar to last season, visiting the flower fields are impacted by covid-19 restrictions. To avoid disappointment, it is best to check before you travel...

Working from home and ‘social distancing’ has become the new normal since the middle of March 2020. Necessary measures? Yes, but with serious financial consequences. What resources are available to you in the Netherlands to steer your business sucessfully through this uncertain time?
‘Stay home, save lives’ is now our daily mantra. According to public health experts, social distancing and isolation are necessary measures to minimise the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The aim of t...

Haarlem, for its size, has a fair amount of museums to browse, and after months of museums being forced to close, we’re sure that you’re dancing in your seat to soak up some culture yet again.
If you haven’t explored the stunning city of Haarlem yet, it may be just the place for you to scratch that museum itch — after all, there are stacks of great museums that are filled with collections for you to visit!
Here are 16 (yes, that’s what we could narrow it down to!) that are some of the best.
L...

I arrived on these shores just over a year ago, and the Dutch lifestyle has already taught me a few things about myself.
So, muse along with me and take this opportunity to reflect on how the lowlands have shaped my life. 🥰
I am decidedly short
At 164 centimetres, I’m admittedly on the shorter side, but I’ve never felt quite as small as I have since moving to the Netherlands.
The average height for a Dutchie is around 183 cm for men and 170 cm for women. From where I’m standing (literally, al...

parkrun. No, this is not a spelling mistake, that is how you write it, no capital. This name with no capital letter befits the casual and warm nature of this movement. And a fun movement it certainly is: with over six million registrations, parkrun is the biggest, weekly, free fitness event of its kind. The best news is, on Saturday, 29th of February, at 09.00, the Netherlands becomes the 22nd parkrun country!
But I digress. So what is parkrun? It is a free, weekly, timed, five kilometre even...

Education in the Netherlands is considered to be of high quality, but negotiating the system can be somewhat confusing. This article looks at the ins and outs of primary schools (basisscholen) and all you need to know before you enrol your child.
My family and I arrived in the Netherlands, shortly after my son turned three and it was a bit of a shock to learn that we had missed the enrolment process for schools. You can forgive my confusion, as we are from New Zealand, where children start sc...

Since corona hit our shores, I became painfully aware of our small expatriate family’s isolation, without extended family or life-long friends to physically rely on. The reality check was that no matter how solid our family is, life can unexpectedly pile stress onto any family, testing relationships and mental well-being.
While there was something special about our tiny family bubble and more quality time spent with my little boy, balancing homeworking, homeschooling, and social isolation ove...

If you’re a parent, the unbridled travel days of stuffing a carry-on with the essentials and grabbing your passport are gone.
Travelling with the little critters requires a lot more planning, especially if you are travelling with your wee ones on your own.
The keyword above is planning, so here are the most important things to keep in mind as you write out your pre-flight checklist:
Make sure you gather the relevant documents
Additional travel documents, I hear you sigh. But why?
This is to e...

No matter how many times I tell my friends I live in Haarlem, every time we chat, they ask — “So how is life in Amsterdam?” Haarlem, people, Haarlem! Trust me, there is so much more to the Netherlands than Amsterdam.
We stumbled upon the Spaarnestad (city on the river Spaarne) one sunny, summery Saturday morning. With its bustling market and happy, chatty people wandering and cycling all across its cobbled streets, Haarlem cast a bit of her magic on us.
So, in mid-2018, we made Haarlem our ho...

Barriers to employment for international healthcare talent
Moving to a new country can be exciting but overwhelming, too. There is much to arrange: finding a home, settling children into school and looking for work. You may have relocated to support your partner’s career or moved with them to their home country. However, many internationals struggle to find a job that matches their skills. This includes highly educated international healthcare workers.
According to a 2024 Decisio report, just...