本文讲述了前亚马逊项目经理 Denise Segler 在2023年被裁员后，于2024年移居荷兰的经历。她选择荷兰是为了更平静、更经济的生活，并利用荷兰的DAFT签证作为独立创业者。Segler发现荷兰的生活成本更低，尤其是医疗保险和通信费用，尽管住房成本较高。她对荷兰的生活品质、工作与生活的平衡以及社会安全感表示满意，并积极发展自己的IT项目管理业务。文章还分享了她在荷兰寻找住所、办理签证以及融入当地生活的点滴，包括与当地人交流的经历和对友谊的看法。

💡 寻求更好的生活品质与工作平衡：Denise Segler在被亚马逊裁员后，出于对美国政治环境、高昂医疗保险和生活成本的担忧，决定移居欧洲，特别是荷兰，以追求更平静、更经济且注重生活品质的生活方式。

🌍 荷兰DAFT签证的吸引力与申请：Segler选择了荷兰的“美国荷兰友谊条约”（DAFT）签证，该签证允许美国公民作为独立企业主在荷兰居住，只需在商业银行账户中维持一定金额的存款。她通过荷兰法律专业人士成功申请并获得了该签证，于2024年11月抵达荷兰。

💰 生活成本对比与财务规划：Segler在荷兰的住房费用（每月约€1,735）高于美国，但其他开销显著降低。特别是医疗保险，每月仅需€190，远低于美国COBRA计划的$800以上。她也提到通信费用、食品和杂货等也相对便宜，这使得她能够将节省下来的钱用于储蓄和业务发展。

📈 创业与未来规划：Segler在荷兰积极发展自己的IT项目管理自由职业业务，并加入了一些商业社群寻求支持和合作。她的签证将在次年7月到期，届时她可以申请延期，并在五年后申请永久居留权或公民身份，为她的长期生活和事业发展奠定了基础。

Denise Segler was laid off from her role as a project manager at Amazon in 2023.Seeking a fresh start, she moved to the Netherlands in 2024 for a calmer and more affordable life.Segler told BI that she's saving money, feels more relaxed, and her small business is thriving.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Denise Segler, 54, who moved from Seattle to Haarlem, a city in North Holland, the Netherlands, in 2024. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I fell in love with Europe at 18 during a school trip and promised to live abroad someday. I didn't know when or where, but I would make it happen.

Later in life, I found myself divorced, with grown children, and recently laid off from my job. I'm a project manager in Information Technology (IT), and I used to work for Amazon. In January 2023, the company laid off my entire team.

After that, I asked myself: What do I want to do with my life? I also questioned what was keeping me in the US.

A lot of different things were pulling me toward Europe. I wanted to be my own boss and work as a freelancer. But health insurance in the US is incredibly expensive, and that's not the case in much of Europe. I also think Europeans have a better quality of life and work-life balance. In addition, the political climate in the US added a sense of urgency.

Europe was calling my name

When 2024 came around, I knew it was finally a good time to take a chance abroad.

I had earned higher-level project management credentials and started actively promoting my own business as an IT project manager.

I had also taken a trip to Ireland. I spent three weeks there — two on my own, and then my 27-year-old joined me for the last week. During that trip, I realized: OK, I can do this. I can go somewhere unfamiliar and be just fine.

I researched different European visas and discovered the Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) visa. It allows Americans to live in the Netherlands as independent business owners. They just need to maintain a minimum of €4,500 ($5,278) in a business bank account.

The visa was attractive to me. I also found out that the Netherlands had more affordable health insurance. Then I looked around, and other things were cheaper: cellphone and internet services. I thought, "Why not give that a try?"

While you can do it yourself, I used a Dutch legal professional to file my visa paperwork. The legal office submitted my visa application and documents to the Dutch government on my behalf in August 2024 and let me know the visa was approved in September. I landed in Amsterdam on November 5.

The Netherlands is the perfect place for me

Before I moved to the Netherlands, I had never visited. But I received a lot of advice from people who had. Everyone had wonderful things to say — it was beautiful, and the people were fantastic.

I live just south of Haarlem, the capital of North Holland, in a really cute neighborhood with shops, restaurants, and cafés. I feel very lucky, there's a train station just an eight-minute walk away from my apartment, and I'm right near a shopping area with all kinds of grocery stores.

In some ways, the area reminds me of parts of Seattle, like the South Lake Union neighborhood.

Before moving to the area, I hired a makelaar, a real estate agent, who helped me find a place to live. There's a housing shortage in the Netherlands, so you have to be either very flexible about where you live or be prepared to spend a lot of money.

I was very lucky and ended up getting the first apartment I looked at. I had to pay six months' rent in advance because, as someone new to the country, I didn't have any local rental history.

My apartment has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small second room that I use as an office. There's also a combined living and dining area that leads past the kitchen.

I spend more on housing but less on everything else

I am self-employed, and I am withdrawing from my retirement account for now, which I do not recommend. So budgeting is important.

I am paying more for housing in the Netherlands, about €1,735 ($2,041) for my apartment, but all my other bills are significantly cheaper than in the US.

I pay €38 ($45) a month for internet and TV, whereas in the US, I paid over $100. My health insurance is also much cheaper here.

Legally, you must have health insurance in the Netherlands, and there are a variety of insurance companies to choose from. In the US, I was on COBRA, which cost over $800 a month. Here, I pay €190 ($224) a month. It could be cheaper, but I added dental coverage and extra benefits for chiropractic care.

Since I've been here, I've had my teeth cleaned once by a dentist, and that was about €150 ($176). The insurance paid half, and I paid the other half.

I worried that food would be more expensive in the Netherlands, but it's not that bad. Produce is pretty cheap. For example, eggs usually come in packs of 10, costing between $3 and $4, depending on the type.

The produce here is fantastic. There are farmers markets all over. I go to one every Wednesday, and I have to be careful because I always come back with all kinds of potatoes and cheeses. I think the bread is better here, too; many stores have in-house bakeries.

There are pros and cons to living here

English isn't an official language of the Netherlands, though most people speak it fluently.

French is also commonly spoken, which works well for me. While I wasn't fully immersed in French, I practiced it five days a week for over a decade, starting when I was about nine years old.

The locals are generally welcoming. I have seen someone shouting at people speaking a language other than Dutch or English, but only once or twice in the several months that I've been here. No one has been angry with me for speaking English. I think they take me as a tourist and are glad that I have a few words of Dutch.

The people here are kind of direct, but I don't mind that much. Once, I went to get my hair cut, and the hairdresser commented, "Oh, you have to color your gray." I said, "No, I like my gray."'

It can be hard to make friends, but there are meetup groups and Tinder, if you want to date. I do miss my chosen friends and family, and I have standing phone calls with them every Sunday night.

Moving to the Netherlands was the right decision for me

My life is more relaxed in the Netherlands because, honestly, I feel safer here.

There aren't nearly as many guns, and I'm living in a safer neighborhood than I was in the US. I'm also not worried that a medical emergency is going to bankrupt me.

I'm paying significantly less in bills, and the money I am saving every month on health insurance is going toward my savings and my business.

My business is also about ready to take off. I joined two networking organizations of business owners, one based in the Netherlands and one based in the UK. I am working with a business coach, and I will be hiring a branding expert next month.

My visa expires in July next year. I can request an extension, which I believe would grant me an additional three years. At that point, I would have been here five years, and I can apply for permanent residency, or, after taking Dutch classes, citizenship.

I don't know if I want to become a citizen of the Netherlands, but for now, I'm just happy to be here because I can support myself.