I didn't just create the Leave to Live platform - the philosophy actually saved my life. But it can be complicated and time-consuming to research more optimal locations, and I realized that AI can be leveraged to make the search more efficient. After all, I can't think of a better user for AI than improving our quality of life! I hope you'll agree after using the platform.
During my recent Europe travels, I loved spending a week in Amsterdam. The airport is one of the largest in the world, and offers many connections throughout Europe and the USA.
As with much of Europe, Amsterdam is a walkable city. This alone increases the daily quality of life EXPONENTIALLY in my experience. Like if you find a walkable city with no other huge benefits, you’ve already won. Amsterdam is expensive, so it is not for those looking for an affordable move. I have also heard that it is very hard to get longer-term residency in The Netherlands.
While I loved Amsterdam, I did not find it to be a “laid back” or “relaxed” walkable city. It is hustling and bustling with a lot of busy younger people in a hurry to get where they are going. The biking culture is mesmerizing and unique, but the bikes move very quickly and you can easily find yourself in their way.
The food was fantastic but expensive.
I have also flown into Paris during international travels, but I much prefer the city of Amsterdam and the airport. I find Paris to be a lot more run down and inconvenient, whereas Amsterdam feels like a clean, high tech, well organized civilization. I also found the airport itself to be mostly metal and glass, without much old / musty / water damaged building issues.
I would not recommend doing much driving in Amsterdam especially if you are visiting the downtown area. I would say hands-down it was the most difficult driving experience I have ever had in my life, made complex by the usual big city challenges but also by the biking traffic.
Overall, in terms of quality of life sweet spot, my thoughts on Amsterdam is that it is a MEDIUM length destination to visit. I would not want to move there due to the legalities of immigration and the high costs, and the busy / hustling / bustling nature of the walkable areas. But I LOVED visiting there and especially loved it as a connecting airport.
I have also found that Holland (The Netherlands) is a wonderful mecca for high tech and high quality alternative medicine, including ozone and other cutting edge German treatments (Germany is just a stone’s throw away). The Netherlands also has very strict medical governemntal regulations and is rated quite high for medical care both alternative and conventional. In general, a very high tech and high quality country.