Casper: “We have been back from the US for six years now, where we lived near Seattle for ten years because of my job at Microsoft.” Madeline: “He already came up with the plan to go abroad one day when we just met.” Casper: “We finally went when we had three children.”
Madeline: “It took me a year and a half to adapt to that new life: I couldn’t work there and was suddenly a full-time mother. In the Netherlands I would never have quit my job.”
Casper: “The idea was to stay in the US for three to five years, but it ended up being ten. We had a good life there.”
Madeline: “The children grew up there, fell in love and then one day you realize: ‘Oh dear, they won’t want to come back if we stay any longer. While we still wanted them to receive Dutch education. Two out of three children now, after six years in the Netherlands, still have daily contact with friends in America.”
Casper: “Yet they are happy that they live here now. They look at the US even more critically than we do, and they also see that it is much easier to visit your friends here, you just take your bike. But maybe they will go back one day, because their English is certainly as good as their Dutch.”
Madeline: “We also enjoy being in the Netherlands again, where so many things are automatically well arranged. For example, what you pay for health insurance here per year, you pay per month there.”
Casper: “And here the gap between rich and poor is smaller than in the United States.”
Madeline: “But when we are in the US, it gives us a feeling of being at home again.”
Casper: “Yes, it is a privilege to have experienced that period.”
Make things yourself
Madeline: “I did International Business and then worked in Paris and London for three years. Back in the Netherlands I met Casper and worked at DubbelM for over twelve years. That company furnished offices, hotels and houses and was co-founded by my mother. About a year before we went to the US, the company was sold, which gave us the opportunity to take this step.
“After our return, I started working as a relationship manager at my brother’s company, Eyevestor, a platform where medium-sized and small companies can issue shares and involve stakeholders. Then they don’t have to go to the bank for a loan. I came to help him for a week, but I have now been there for five years.”
Casper: “I studied history and since we returned from the US, I have divided my working week between supervising start-ups and scale-ups, such as Eyevestor, and PhD research at Utrecht University. I conduct research into collaboration between software companies. I work a lot with students and I really enjoy that. They have all kinds of ideas and ambitions, are optimistic and look for solutions. I feel good about that.”
Madeline: “I am available for the company every day, but I try to reserve Fridays for private things.”
Casper: “I work about forty hours a week, but often spend more time on my research because it is so interesting. I always wake up with a list of things in my head that I want to do that day. My brother and I recently started converting [Land Rover] Defenders to electric cars under the name e-Originals. We are going to test whether there is a market for this. The first will be inspected soon.”
Madeline: “Our diesel boat has also been fitted with an electric motor, which is now a lot quieter. We live near the Vecht and sometimes we go by boat to get pizza. Casper likes to tinker and build. Even before we had children, he built a track for a little train that brings plates from the dining table to the kitchen at Christmas. He even built a bridge for that.”
Casper: “I like to paint, but I don’t spend enough time on it.”
Madeline: “We just enjoy making things ourselves. When I left DubbelM I received a sewing machine. At the time I thought it was an insult, but now I have fun with it. For example, I made reindeer-shaped pajamas for the whole family and covered a chair with old jeans.”
To travel
Casper: “We spend money on the boat and on our house.”
Madeline: “When we buy something, it is of good quality. In the US we sometimes had difficulty with the lack of sustainable thinking. All those big cars… We try to live sustainably ourselves…”
Casper: “…but we can do more.”
Madeline: “We also spend money on holidays. We always think of what we want too late and then booking is more expensive.”
Casper: “We like to ski and we go to Madeline’s family home in Portugal every year. During the autumn holidays we often take a city trip. And when we returned from the US, we traveled a lot in Europe with the children to show them this part of the world. Asia may be on the agenda for this year.”
Madeline: “We are not thinking about our pension for the time being.”
Casper: “We still have a lot of energy to continue. We would like to remain involved in thinking about new developments and you can continue with this for a long time. We are excitedly looking forward to what is to come.”