Our Danish Adventure
On moving to Denmark
The idea of moving to Denmark started about two years ago, the initial plan was to move to Sweden but as we were always driving through Denmark to get to Sweden the country started to grow on us. I was born and raised in the Dutch countryside, during my late teens and twenties I’ve lived in Massachusetts (US), the Cotswolds (UK) and for the last 14 years in a Belgian border city. I find that Denmark is a combination of the UK (vikings, Tudor), The Netherlands (harbours, bikes, architectural) and typical Scandinavian colours like yellow, blue and red. It’s just the perfect mashup for me. I also like the people, the culture and all the “hygge”1
Two years ago we were not ready yet and our house wasn’t ready yet to be sold. I love our home, I love the square meters we live on but I do not like to live in Belgium, and although I’ve lived here for almost 15 years it still feels like I’m driving to my holiday home rather than driving home. There’s a whole post I can dedicate to Belgium but that wouldn’t be fair because it would be mostly negative and I don’t live for that. So it’s time to move and leave our beloved home.
It’s quite a lot of organisation to move from one European country to another but the good thing is that because we are all members of the European Union we can live and work where we want but each country still carriers their own rules and regulations. The Danish are a bit more complicated with their regulations and that’s why I like them so much I guess. In Denmark we are not allowed to buy a first time home if we still have our home address in Belgium so we need to sell first, pack everything up, move to Denmark, possibly rent a house, register there and find a home to buy.
Our first step is finishing the tiny house (cabin) in our garden as it will value up our home. It will be another two months of decorating so we can put the house for sale in January 2025. And after that we have to wait and see how fast we sell. Legally we’ll have 4 months to sign and move out after we’ve sold, so hopefully we can move to Denmark in summer 2025.
I will keep you in the loop over here. We are super excited and can’t wait to start our new adventure.
Love, Yvonne x
What does hygge mean? Hygge is as Danish as æbleskiver and it goes far in illuminating the Danish soul. In essence, hygge means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Cosying up with a loved one for a movie – that's hygge, too.
Uiteindelijk toch een verhuis naar Scandinavië. Ik ben blij voor jullie!
Ik volg je al een tijdje en wist dat je niet in België wilde blijven. Daarom was ik al verbaasd dat je destijds verhuisde naar een ander huis in België. Knap dat jullie de oversteek wagen, ik wens jullie een vlotte verkoop toe en veel geluk in 't Noorden. Graag blijf ik jouw avonturen volgen. ;-)
Hello Yvonne, I wish you well on your adventure. I love your artist’s eye and look forward to seeing the new house inside and out. I’m intrigued about Belgium and realise you can’t really go into detail about why you want to move. If there was just one dislike you could mention though ….
Warm wishes from Gloucestershire.