Swinging out of Folkestone’s Eurotunnel terminal and onto the M20 on Friday night, I was welcomed home by a gorgeous fiery red sky and...a mountain of motorway litter.

Verges scattered with everything from food wrappers to drinks bottles and The Garden of England looked like it could do with a bit of attention.

After a few short days in the Netherlands, which we found remarkably clean and tidy, the plastic party happening on our motorways suddenly felt all the more noticeable.

While (just like Kent) the continent’s Easter weather was disappointing, our time in Amsterdam had left the journalist in me furiously Googling questions like ‘Why is Amsterdam so clean?’ and ‘Who pays for for street cleaning and public toilets in Holland’.

The holy trinity of parking, dogs’ mess and rubbish are frequently discussed and debated among the stories on this website and quite rightly anger many people when things get out of hand – so has the Netherlands really got things under control?

Amsterdam’s public spaces were so noticeably spotless that even one of my small charges proudly declared at one point - as they casually dangled their foot dangerously close to the canal’s edge - that they ‘hadn’t seen or stepped in any dog poo all week’.

For the record I love Kent and wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.

And while going away can make you appreciate home there’s equally nothing wrong with wondering why other countries or cities – at least on the surface – appear to be doing some things better?

A 2014 scheme in which the homeless were paid to help clean Amsterdam’s streets and tourist boats that arm passengers with nets to scoop litter were among the internet’s suggestions by means of explanation – albeit I’m not naive to think it’s as simple as that.

The city’s public toilets (or at least the ones we found) were also excellent - but at just shy of one euro to enter per person I’ve no doubt the answer as with most things in life, must surely lie in significant charges or levies somewhere?

(That said as a visitor with kids in tow, I’m happy to pay a price for clean loos with soap and water aplenty.)

Where they don’t seem to be however is in the cost of the parking, where leaving our car for 24 hours in Amsterdam cost us a mere €6 or just over a fiver in English pounds.

Again we had to turn to Google to confirm it really was that cheap – thinking something must have been lost in translation – but despite being in a city with one of the best public transport systems in the world, it didn’t come after us for leaving our vehicle on its outskirts.

So if there is a cash cow covering the maintenance of the city’s public spaces I’m not convinced it’s coming from parking revenues.

A wholesome chat with some friendly bar staff yielded few answers either.

And while they conceded the cost of living was relatively high they insisted it was simply part of the package and social benefits, healthcare, childcare help and impeccable public transport more than outweighed the costs and the same applied across the country.

So what am I missing?

Are the Dutch simply more obsessed with cleanliness and people less inclined to litter where they live or has it really found a magic financial formula it should be sharing with the rest of us?