Originally Posted by
Rowan
The other significant factor for us is that we don't live on the doorstep of these countries. To get to them means a long and comparatively expensive trip that carries other downsides, such as visa restrictions (six months in the UK but only three months in the European Schengen Zone).
That means we have to work and save quite hard to get to where we want to to.
Yes, I get that. I used to work with an expat kiwi who was over here on a two-year contract. The thing he loved about being here wasn't just exploring the UK - though he did love that - it was the fact that he was only three hours away from Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Madrid etc etc. he spent most of his salary on long weekends in great European cities. We get a bit blasé about that, it's very easy for me to go to these places whenever I want.
If you are cycling south from Amsterdam, stop off in Bruges. It's an almost perfect sixteenth century town.