This has been on my mind for at least a year now and I don't know where to start, so I'm finally reaching out! Thank you in advance for reading!
My wife, infant daughter and I lived in Haarlem for 1 year from 2017 - 2018 under the DAFT. I went through some personal crises, got homesick, and we ultimately moved back to the West Coast. I didn't put much effort into my DAFT Freelance business and it became painful to watch our savings dwindle while we (I) struggled to adapt to Dutch life. I didn't really try to make friends, and the self-imposed loneliness ended up being a big part of my personal undoing.
Big surprise: the grass isn't greener in the US, and the same appeal and reasons that drew us to the Netherlands to begin with have not changed. Now that we've been back in the US for 3 years to the day, we've been eager to consider NL once again for our now-family of four. We've had dozens of conversations and have done lots of personal work that would position us better to take on another international move (psychological, monetary, emotional). Since then we've also made some money and are on the verge of investing in 3-4 rental properties in the midwest. This would provide the equivalent of ~€3000 per month in rental income consistently. Put simply, we would probably not impact our savings if we tried it again, but we don't want to just "get by"--we need something to give us further day-to-day purpose rather than just living in our favorite country.
I have some online freelance work that I could pick back up to make the equivalent of 2-3,000 euros a month--the same work I originally did for qualifying under the DAFT. My wife has a Master of Science in Education, but has been self-employed in Real Estate since earning her degree and only has internship work experience in her field. She would also like to participate in the work/income effort in the Netherlands once our youngest is of preschool age (she's 1 currently, so we've got a little while).
My question is: are there HSM opportunities for a holder of an advanced Education degree? We could still utilize the DAFT to get in, but switching to HSM for her when she's ready to work would give us a stronger sense of permanence. I would continue freelancing. My wife has also expressed interest in freelancing as well, but more for selling her handmade goods (she's a sewist and a sketch artist who has been selling her work and accepting commissions on the side/online for a few years).
I don't think I'd be eligible for HSM work, but I'll share my background here:
BS in Psychology
10 years in real estate advising and brokering
Notary Public and Scrivener services
Property Management experience
I am also fully open to working on a credential or certificate that make me eligible for hire in a field/career that fits under the HSM umbrella. I'm technically minded, love math and systems, and am fairly savvy with computers.
I would love to hear anyone's thoughts, recommendations, opinions, etc regarding any aspect of this post!
With Gratitude,
NB