Hi, I'm Veerle -
most people call me Vee
I help people who’ve moved abroad figure out what comes next, when the life they built no longer feels aligned and the path forward isn’t clear yet.
I know this phase intimately. Because I've lived it more than once...
At 20, I packed my bags and moved to Barcelona alone, without speaking a word of Spanish. I sat in law lectures with a dictionary, translating on the spot, learning by survival. Twelve months later I was fluent, had passed my law exams, and felt more alive than ever.
That was my first taste of what moving abroad can do to you. Not just change your scenery… but change you.
After graduating with a Master’s in International and European Law, I worked at the United Nations in Cambodia, then built a career as an immigration consultant in the Netherlands — helping other people move countries every day.
Until one day, staring at passports and visa files on my screen, I realized:
Maybe I’m the one who needs to move again…
So in 2018, I transferred my job to Sydney.
What was meant to be six months turned into three years. I got promoted. I moved to Melbourne.
I fell in love — with the life, the country, and the person who is now my husband.
On the 59th floor of my apartment in a Melbourne skyscraper, watching the sunrise over the mountains every morning, I thought I had cracked the code of a successful life abroad.
Then 2020 happened.
The pandemic took my job, my visa, and my home — all at once. Within two weeks I had to pack everything into a container and leave. I couldn’t even say goodbye to the friends who had become my family.
Moving back to the Netherlands was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Not because of the logistics. Because of what happened inside.
I cried every day. I felt lost, purposeless, and like a stranger in my own home country. What I didn’t have a name for yet, I later learned was reverse culture shock. And almost nobody around me understood it.
That's when everything changed...
I went inward. I did the inner work I had been avoiding. And in that uncomfortable in-between space – between who I had been and who I was becoming – I found my purpose.
I got certified as a Travel Coach and Life Coach. I started Unpackbyveer. And I began helping others navigate exactly what I had lived through; not just the outer journey of relocation, but the inner one too.
Because here’s what I know for certain:
Wherever you go, you take yourself.
Your habits. Your patterns. Your identity. Your “inner carry-on” as I like to call it.
And no amount of beautiful scenery will change what you haven’t unpacked yet.
What I do
I work with people who’ve built a life abroad, and now find themselves in the In-Between.
That uncomfortable space between who you were and who you’re becoming. Between a life that works on paper and one that actually fits.
My work combines practical strategy with deep identity work. Because your next chapter isn’t just about location. It’s about who you’re becoming — and making a clear, confident decision that reflects that.
Together we cut through the noise, get clear on what you actually want, and build a roadmap for what comes next — whether that means staying, pivoting, or starting somewhere new.
Ready to work together? → Book Your Clarity Call
Credentials
- Certified Travel Coach — Travel Coach Network (ICF accredited)
- Certified Life Coach & Meditation Trainer — Mindvalley (EMCC Global accredited)
- Master's in International & European Law
- Former Immigration Lawyer & Visa Specialist
- Lived in 5 countries, travelled to 40+
- Published Author — "Pre-Departure Planning: Wherever You Go, You Take Yourself"
- Published meditation teacher — 22,000+ listeners on Insight Timer
- Host of Beyonder — The Podcast
- 1,900+ course students
- Speaker at international summits
This is me
Curious to know the person behind Unpackbyveer? Here are a few things that make me, me.
Born in the Netherlands, lived in Spain, Cambodia, Australia and Portugal. Travelled to 40+ countries. Every move taught me something new about the world and about myself.
My husband is Portuguese, I’m Dutch and we met in Sydney when we were both living in Australia. Want the full story? Listen to Episode 3 of Beyonder — The Podcast.
I speak English, Dutch and Spanish fluently. Currently learning Portuguese… slowly but surely!
I have been a Zumba Fitness Instructor for 13+ years. Dancing is how I stay grounded, energised and connected wherever I am in the world.
Certified scuba diver since my teens. There’s nowhere I feel more at peace than underwater. I’m pretty sure I’ve been a mermaid in a past life.