Amsterdam

When I was working at Captaris in San Francisco, CA, an opportunity came up that was extremely exciting. I was told there was a position they had a hard time filling for an International Trainer. The job would involve 70-80% travel and be based in The Netherlands.

I talked to the hiring manager about the role and it was decided that I would come to that office and see if I wanted to take the job. The office was actually in Vianen and I stayed in a tiny hotel across the river in IJsselstein. It was so different from San Francisco, but after a week I was very excited to join the team. So 3 weeks later I had sold most of the stuff that wouldn’t ship and got out of my lease in that apartment on Magnolia Street by the Moscone field in the Marina, and then took a one-way flight to Amsterdam.

I don’t remember where I stayed that first week or two, but I quickly found an apartment I liked on Utrechtsestraat on the corner with the Prinsengracht, above a parquet floor shop. My job level meant I got a pretty good car paid for by the company, including all gas. I got a VW Golf 4motion. That was a fun car.

Fast forward a few years and the company was acquired by OpenText, the office moved to Hoofddorp, I switched to a Nissan Qashqai, and I was still traveling a lot.

I stayed in Amsterdam for about 10 years, the maximum allowed by the 30% rule. In that time I managed to go to about 50 countries, all paid for by the company. It was a pretty amazing experience.