Category Archives: Vivo@Amsterdam

Habits revisited

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This time I write about things lost in the transformation.
I’m talking about the transformation I’ve been going through in the last years, since I left Italy and the easy family life to live the real life alone in this funny Amsterdam.

“I’ll call this process *volution
as I’m not sure if it was evolution,
involution, devolution
or simply a revolution,
but I’m sure it’s not over yet
and is not time to make conclusion.”
(I made rhymes! is this creative writing, or what!?)

Here is a list of 10 habits I changed or got rid of during this *volution.
I’m not telling anyone to do that, and I don’t want to convince anyone that I’m doing the right thing or the best thing. I’m just sharing what I changed in my daily life, making it simpler or more miserable as you like.
After all, not telling people how to live is one of the rules I put in this blog.

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Hosting a stranger

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Last week I had my first Couchsurfing guest.

What is Couchsurfing?

  • It’s the largest hospitality network in the world
  • It’s a community where people believe in hospitality and provide free accommodation to travelers.
  • It’s a revolution in the concept of visiting a place, being in touch with someone living there.
  • It’s for people willing to meet local people, hear their stories and recommendations.

You can be a host, a guest or both, totally up to you.
You can ask to be hosted, or accept/deny requests from people to surf your couch, totally up to you.

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Stories from Holland: health care, care about my health!

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Story #1: Pinky days

It turned out to be a mistake, 2 years ago, but I still didn’t know.

I was kite surfing in one of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever been.
The dunes of the Sahara deserts are falling into a blue lagoon in Dakhla, Morocco, and the surfers are spending fantastically frugal days flying over the water and sleeping in simple bungalows.

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Why I bought a van

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[sorry, post only available in English!]

Sat 27th Feb 2010 I did bought a van, a Volkswagen Transporter T4 from 1999, called “The Salsa Shuttle”.

Qui va l'adesivo!It’s something I was talking about since few weeks but still people didn’t took me seriously thinking I was kidding… so many people asked me “Why did you bought a van??”

While my first answer is always “why not?”… there is more behind this decision and I want to share here my idea that buying a car is a much worse idea than buying a van.

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Blog news

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I recently decided to take more care about my personal blog, so these are the news:

1. beside the historic http://daniele.itvc.net URL (the domain is 5 years old!) the blog is now also reachable at http://www.danielebesana.com :)

2. As I’m feeling somehow internationalized, I started writing post in both Italian and English languages. To switch from one language to the other, look for the flags on the right column (I’m sure you can find it)

Recentemente ho deciso di tenere piu’ da conto il mio blog personale, e queste son le novita’:

1. oltre che allo storico indirizzo http://daniele.itvc.net (il dominio ha 5 anni!) il blog e’ ora raggiungibile a http://www.danielebesana.com :)

2. visto che mi sento in qualche modo internazionalizzato, ho iniziato a scrivere i posto sia in Italiano che in Inglese. Per passare da una lingua all’altra, cerca le bandiere nella colonna a destra (son sicuro che le puoi trovare)

How-to buy an house in Netherlands

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After 3 years, and taking advantage of being forced to leave the appartment I was living in, I took the decision to make a step ahead and buy an house in Amsterdam.

Now I want to describe how is possible to buy an house in Holland and explain why:
- it’s more difficult to be ripped off
- it’s better not to use your savings
- it’s actually like rent from the bank
:)

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Comprare casa in Olanda

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Dopo 3 anni, e approfittando di dover forzatamente lasciare l’appartamento in cui vivevo, ho deciso di fare un passo avanti e comprare casa ad Amsterdam.

Ora voglio scrivere e descrivere come funziona in generale il comprare una casa in Olanda, e spiegare perche’:
- e’ piu’ difficile prendere fregature
- e’ sconsigliato usare i propri risparmi
- si va di fatto in affitto dalla banca
:)

 

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