Blog: Elodie Kint
“There’s plenty of great work in the region”
She jokingly calls herself a ‘boomerang Zeeuw’. Freelance journalist and copywriter Elodie Kint (29) from Heikant just keeps coming back. After her studies, for example, after a tropical adventure in Curaçao, and who knows, maybe again in the future. “Living in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is much cheaper than in the Randstad,” she says as a possible argument. And according to her, there’s plenty of great work available.
After your studies, you moved back to Zeeland. How did you find that?
“That’s right. Not even five days after I graduated, I got a call from the PZC asking if I wanted to work for them. They had a traineeship program especially for starting journalists and immediately offered me a full-time contract for two years. I hadn’t even dared to dream of that, because during my journalism studies I was always told that jobs weren’t easy to come by.
So I didn’t have to think long about it and moved from my student city Tilburg back to Heikant to accept the offer. That turned out to be a good choice. I absolutely loved my work as a regional reporter. Every day I zipped through the province to report on stories. I visited the nicest places and could always ask everyone anything. And on top of that, I had fantastic colleagues: it really felt like one big family.”
Still, after those two years, it came to an end. Why did you leave?
“There were some internal vacancies, but none of them really made my heart beat faster. I was only 22 and didn’t feel like applying for a job that wouldn’t make me happy. So when my traineeship ended, I decided to look for something completely different: in Curaçao. I worked there for a year and a half as a journalist at the Antilliaans Dagblad, only to eventually return to the Netherlands.”
At first, back to Heikant again, but not for long.
Where do you live now?
“To be precise, I was back in the Netherlands for just one day when I ran into my current boyfriend during carnival in Hulst – yes indeed, also a real Zeeuws-Vlaming, haha. At that time, I didn’t have my own place yet, and he had a nice apartment in Rotterdam, where he had stayed after his studies. So when things got serious between us, I moved in with him. We’ve now been living together in ‘the Randstad’ for three years.”
Do you still come back to Zeeuws-Vlaanderen often?
“Yes, definitely. Because we both still have family and friends in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, we come back at least once a month and then we stay for the whole weekend. We visit as many acquaintances as possible and above all enjoy the peace and space around us.
I always make my round through the city center of Hulst. Past the Hema, Kruidvat, Xenos, and Action, for example. We have those stores in Rotterdam too, but somehow I like them much better in Hulst, haha. And you can park your car cheaply or even for free there. Ideal!
If we have a bit more time, we often go to the coast as well. I don’t think it’s as beautiful anywhere else as it is in Zeeland. Our favorite is Breskens. We park the car at the ferry terminal to Vlissingen and walk along the coast to Loods Tien, one of my favorite beach bars. The food is great, you can sit out of the wind on the terrace, and the North Sea view is, in my opinion, truly priceless!”
To what extent do you ever miss Zeeuws-Vlaanderen? What are the things you miss?
“To me, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen never feels far away, and since we still visit regularly, I don’t really have to miss it. But if I have to name something, it’s mainly the food: Belgian sandwiches and filet américain, for example. But also shrimp croquettes, Flemish fries, and of course, in the summer, Zeeland mussels. Somehow, they always taste better in Zeeland itself, haha!
I also miss a bit of living comfort in Rotterdam that I do see at friends and family in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. You simply get so much more space for your money there. Bigger houses, larger gardens, and more greenery around you. Here, I have a small north-facing balcony in an apartment block, where all I see is a lot of concrete. Well, I’d much rather have that lovely garden with the sun on my face!”
Would you ever want to live in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen again?
“I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I used to think there wouldn’t be enough work for me in Zeeland. But I’ve since learned the opposite is true. Because there aren’t that many competitors in Zeeland, as a freelance journalist and copywriter I actually get a lot of great assignments from the region. I still write for the PZC, but also regularly for Provincie Zeeland, Zeeland Business Magazine, and Reham Makelaars. I’ve also done projects for Scalda, Rijkswaterstaat Zee en Delta, and a few local entrepreneurs. Super fun!
Another argument that could be important for me to return someday is the low house prices. A semi-detached house in a village around Rotterdam now costs about 550,000 to 600,000 euros. In Hulst or Sint Jansteen, you pay over 200,000 euros less for that. That would leave us with a lot more financial room for things we also find important: like traveling, for example. My boyfriend and I now regularly work as digital nomads from abroad, and I’d love to keep doing that in the future.
Would I be able to settle back into Zeeuws-Vlaanderen? I’m sure of it! I managed last time, and I’ve always kept my connections warm. I’m always there for events, like carnival, Vestrock, and the Trappist weekend. And just last weekend, I was at the flea market during the Vestingfeesten with my mom, for example. But my world would definitely stay bigger than just Hulst and the surrounding area. If I want to go somewhere else, I just get in the car and drive there, because Zeeuws-Vlaanderen really isn’t the end of the world.”
