My life is a bit schizophrenic these months...Living and working in Amsterdam, but buying and planning things for my next home in Alkmaar, and preparing for some big changes related to that. Yes, I will become one of those many commuters invading Amsterdam each day! In a few months, you will find me in the train rush hours instead of biking through Amsterdam. And my home-to-work travel time will increase from 20 minutes to an hour...If our national railways are so kind to let their trains arrive on time, which is not always the case. I guess I will compensate for that by working at home one day a week (another change...will it work?).

Mixed emotions about that move. It is nice to have everything close-by in a (miniature) world city like Amsterdam, and it's definitely nice to go everywhere by bike...Wel OK, apart from the really rainy days. Most of my friends live in Amsterdam too, I hope I will not create too much distance by moving out of the city. My new apartment will look great, but it will cost me more or less all my savings...

But on the other hand: I already signed the contract for this new apartment almost two years ago, so it's about time they finish building it! My new furniture looks really nice, I will get twice as much space, and I will finally live in an isolated and centrally heated place. Alkmaar is close enough to Amsterdam to keep enjoying most of Amsterdam's nicer sides, while getting away from its less nice features. And Alkmaar is a small but beautiful city itself, too! So it will take some time to get used to my new place, but I am looking forward to it