Packing Guide: What to Bring When Moving to the Netherlands?

One of the hardest parts of moving abroad is packing your bags. It is that moment where you must condense your entire life into a 30-kilo luggage allowance. Naturally, you cannot bring everything you want, forcing you to let go of many belongings.

Before anything else, keep a kitchen scale and a bathroom scale handy right beside you.

Here are the essential items you should pack:

1. Identity and Legal Documents:

• Original and official translations of your records (birth certificate, marriage certificate, and academic degrees). Remember that identity documents must be legalized.
• Driver's License: If you are arriving on a highly skilled migrant visa or as a PhD researcher, you can simply submit your original license along with its certified translation and exchange it directly for a Dutch driver's license, completely exempt from local driving lessons or exams!
• Passport Photos: Bring extra physical prints and digital files of the exact photos taken for your visa application.
• Digital Scans: Save high-resolution digital scans of everything imaginable on your phone and cloud storage: all passport pages, national ID records, academic diplomas, and transcripts.

1. Clothing:

• Underwear and socks.
• Raincoats and Ponchos: If you do not own proper ones, buy them upon arrival in the Netherlands; local rainwear is far better suited to the Dutch climate.
• Good Walking Shoes: During your first few days, without a local bank account, public transit card, or bicycle, you will be walking for hours. Walking is an integral part of Dutch lifestyle anyway.
• Beanies, Scarves, and Windproof Gloves: Pure lifesavers on days when coastal winds try to blow you away!

1. Electronics:

• Laptop and tablet.
• A multi-outlet extension cord.
• Headphones (exceptionally handy for long flight hours).
• External hard drive containing essential backups.
• USB flash drives.

Important Note: You do not need power plug adapters for standard electronic devices in the Netherlands.

1. Personal Hygiene and Healthcare:

• Spare Prescription Glasses: Optometry services and new frames are pricey in the Netherlands, so having at least one backup pair is wise.
• Medications: If you take specific medications, make sure to bring them along with an English prescription. I have listed the essential first-aid medications to bring from home right here.

1. Food and Staples:

Almost anything you can think of is readily available across the Netherlands, thanks to local Turkish supermarkets! However, bring some light food supplies for your first few days. I certainly do not mean heavy canned beans or tuna; keep luggage weight strictly managed.

• Saffron is available here, but bringing a small pouch of authentic saffron is always a great idea.
• If you love tea as much as I do, pack some premium Lahijan loose-leaf tea!
• A compact set of cutlery (spoon, fork, and knife).

1. Keepsakes and Sentimental Items:

• A special memento from someone you love or a token from an unforgettable past journey.
• Anything your mom packs for you: personal experience taught me that even if you have to leave behind a pair of jeans, never leave what your mother gives you. Gifts from mom serve as an emotional umbilical cord keeping you tethered to home.
• Printed photos with close friends.
• A wonderful tradition I practiced was asking every friend I met during my final two or three months to write a short note in my journal. I dedicated the final pages to family messages. Though to be honest, I have not gathered the courage to read them yet; you know how easily tears of nostalgia fall in such moments.

Pro Tip: Buy a roll of heavy-duty packing cling film and wrap all your suitcases at home; it is significantly cheaper than airport luggage wrapping stations. Before heading to the airport, you can ask your local grocery store to weigh your bags on their scale. As the saying goes: 'Take account of yourselves before you are called to account' :)
You can read the rest of my essential travel hacks right here.