‘Invading Holland’ is now ‘Accidentally Dutch’

Hello everyone,

I know things have been a bit quiet around here for a while but I’m back and I have a very important question… Who wants to play a game of spot-the-difference?

Yes, I know this might look like someone has committed a very obvious act of copyright theft but before you start calling your lawyer on my behalf, I promise you, this is all above board. Invading Holland is now officially known as Accidentally Dutch.

Surprise! I apologize if you just spat your tea or coffee out all over your monitor in shock. I hope it is easy to clean off.

So why the change and why now? The truth is that this is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a few years.

I chose the name Invading Holland back in 2006 when I was in my early 20s. At the time it was a bit of a joke on the idea that I was an Englishman ‘invading’ the Netherlands with no idea what I was doing.

The very first version of the blog even had a kind of punk, space invaders theme. It was kind of weird now I think about it but it was partly a reference to my job as a game designer (although I’ve never been into punk so I don’t know why I picked that).

As time went on the name seemed to fit less and less. I was becoming more Dutch by the year and the ‘joke’ about invasion felt less appealing as I got older. I was no longer the stereotypical Englishman, who tries to force the locals to accommodate for him (not that I was ever really that, not intentionally at least).

Every time I thought about changing the name it seemed like a lot of work (I said I was becoming more Dutch, not less lazy). I was also worried it would mean starting over again. A lot of people are familiar the name Invading Holland (and I’m grateful to all twelve of them).

If I’m honest, the final deciding factor has been recent (and ongoing) world events. It no longer feels right to have a blog with a name that makes light of invasion (and an invasion of a European country at that). So I’ve changed it.

I think Accidentally Dutch fits much better with my current story. It still reflects how my life in the Netherlands began. After all, I came to here by accident (applying for a job that I did not realize was in another country). Since then I’ve bumbled my way through so many confusing Dutch customs and situations. Each time I came out the other side just a little bit more Dutch. So, I am an Englishman who accidentally became Dutch.

Don’t get me wrong. I am still very, very English (and very accident prone). I don’t think that will ever truly change. I’ll still make mistakes, get confused, put my foot in it and generally embarrass myself. I accidentally became Dutch but I’m still English too. I’m just still trying to work out that balance, if that is even possible. Luckily it’ll still give me a lot to write about and I’m grateful to everyone who reads my crazy little misadventures. Thanks.

It’s going to take me a little while to work out all the kinks of this name change. I have a few other improvements planned too (which I’ll be doing over time). Things might still be a little slow at first but I’m looking forward to writing again.

p.s. If you have any links to the old address would you be so kind as to update them to the new one (https://accidentallydutch.com). Thank you very much.