Den Haag

Bethany Peck
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

I knew very little about The Hague (or Den Haag in Dutch) until just a few months ago.

Enter my amazing sister Michelle, who is a super smart DNA scientist. In late June, she accepted a job with the International Commission on Missing Persons, located in The Hague, Netherlands, with a start date in mid-August.

I graciously offered to travel with her to help her move, and navigate a new city. I’m such a good sister to sacrifice a trip to Europe, am I not?

We quickly fell in love with this beautiful country. The Hague, in particular, is a fascinating international city, with much history, culture, and beauty.

There are gorgeous flowers everywhere, and it wasn’t even the famous tulip season in Holland! As I struggle to keep my flower baskets alive back home, everywhere we turned in The Hague, or other cities we traveled to, we were greeted with vibrant, cascading flowers.

One fascinating aspect of life in the Netherlands — one of the flattest countries in the world — is the Dutch affinity for biking. As a pedestrian, you’re more likely to get hit by a bike than a car!

With their highly developed bike path system — in the cities and countryside — it’s quite easy to explore, and great exercise!

🚲🚲🚲 Loving the Dutch way of life — biking everywhere! pic.twitter.com/0blUuK2RR5

— Bethany Goodman (@beth1027) August 13, 2017

We had both traveled overseas before (England, Taiwan, Israel, South Africa), but always as part of a group trip, where we had local guides. We didn’t know what to expect when we landed in Amsterdam, but it was amazing to me how easy it was for us to navigate a new country on our own.

Four things made our travels and experience go smoothly:

  • Airbnb — rather than a hotel, and at a comparable or even more affordable price, we rented a great Airbnb apartment. Our host met us and gave us some really helpful advice about navigating The Hague (particularly, about watching out for the bike lanes so we didn’t get run over as pedestrians!)
  • Uber — we mostly walked, biked, and took the train, but I was also able to easily use Uber when my luggage to cumbersome to walk to the train.
  • Google Maps — by downloading maps, we always knew where we were, and where we were going. We could easily look up the train schedules, and learn when the next train was coming, even down to the platform number. Google Maps also was the most effective way for us to navigate the bike paths — I don’t know what we would have done without it!
  • Visa — we had no problems paying for items, or withdrawing Euros at ATMs.

Thank you, technology, for making international travel so easy! (*No, this is not a sponsored post for any companies mentioned!)

I will also note, since it’s rather en vogue to criticize airlines, that we actually had a fabulous flying experience. Kudos, KLM and Delta.

Lastly, it was also extremely helpful that virtually every encounter we had with the Dutch, they graciously spoke English with us. It was not lost on me the privilege that granted us in being able to communicate with everyone.

We were even able to enjoy all the various street musicians who all seemed to sing American songs in English!

Gorgeous afternoon at Den Plein Market in The Hague — all the street performers sing in English! pic.twitter.com/TyxdmI9dzE

— Bethany Goodman (@beth1027) August 13, 2017

The best part about having a family member who lives in such an interesting place, is that I have a perfect excuse to go back. Stay tuned for more pictures and adventures!

p.s. WOW Airlines just announced today new (cheap!) flights to Amsterdam and other destinations!


Originally published at bornwithabeautifulpurpose.com on August 24, 2017.

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Bethany Peck

Written by

I write about life, travel, and faith. Enneagram-enthusiast. Nature- lover. Dog-mom.

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