That Time I Moved to Dubai!

Wow, it has been a long while since I’ve written anything on this blog, and a lot has changed since I last hit the publish button in September 2020. For starters, I’m not living in Vietnam anymore… I actually up and moved to Dubai two weeks ago!

So how did this serial Southeast Asia-based expat land in Dubai? Well, it’s a long story, and I’m still pinching myself that I’m living in the Middle East, a region I know so very little about!

First off, I have to say I really loved living in Ho Chi Minh City, and I’m not sure I was quite ready to leave my home of nearly four years. I definitely was not ready to leave Southeast Asia. But due to COVID and some rather abrupt changes to Vietnam’s visa rules, I had no choice but to leave with very little notice back in June of 2021.

It was a very sudden move (I made the decision to leave 10 days before my visa expired). And aside from a couple of suitcases, I left everything behind. While I work online, it meant that Aaron had to bid farewell to his university job in Vietnam – so to say this was a big change is an understatement.

With no great idea of where to go, we ended up spending the next two months staying with Aaron’s parents in California, getting vaccinated, visiting family and friends, and pondering our next move. Typically Aaron and I would have beelined it to Bali, a place that has been our home away from home since 2014. But with borders still closed due to the pandemic, a lot of our go-to destinations were off the table.

As Americans, Mexico just seemed like a no-brainer. We’re allowed to spend six months there visa-free, there’s no threat of a border closure, it’s affordable, I’m obsessed with Mexican food – so off we went in August 2021. I’d like to say I put a lot of research into finding our temporary Mexican home, but I honestly found it after seeing a photo on Instagram. Seriously!

A travel blogger couple posted a photo of what I thought was a picture-perfect European city. Turns out it was actually a tiny Mexican town called Guanajuato. And while I’d never actually heard of it before, I knew that’s where we needed to go. And you know what? It turned out to be the best decision ever!

Aaron and I spent six blissful months living in an adorable apartment on a hill with a stunning view of the town below. We spent our days eating tacos and chilaquiles, exploring Guanajuato’s charming cobblestone streets, and ticking off bucket list activities like attending all the Day of the Dead festivities and traveling to Mexico City!

It sounds glamorous, but the reality is most of our time was actually spent working. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work online for the past year or so, which I’m so grateful to be able to do. As for Aaron, he needed to work on finding another job!

So, that’s what he set out to do. After quite a few applications and interviews, he accepted a job offer from a university in Dubai at the beginning of this year. And so ensued the mad scramble to return to California to prep for our biggest move yet.

At this point, we’ve lived in Indonesia, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. While we’re still technically living in Asia, this is the first time either of us has set foot in the Middle East. Suffice it to say, the move here was a big and difficult decision! Well, Aaron had no hesitations – that was all me!

It’s tough and stressful to move to a place you know nothing about. The challenge with Dubai specifically is that there are so many misconceptions about this place and so much of what is written online is either super old, super negative, or super unrelatable.

I’ve now been on the ground for two weeks, as so far, I’m pleasantly surprised! I’ll be writing way more about what it’s really like to live in Dubai – the good, bad, and everything in between – but I’ll just give you a little glimpse of my first impressions and my Dubai life for now.

While we’ve mainly been working and recovering from jetlag, we have managed to do a bit of sightseeing since we arrived. So far, we’ve hit up a couple of Dubai’s gorgeous beaches. As a San Diego girl, it’s always felt so unnatural not living near the beach, so it’s nice that wherever we eventually decide to live in Dubai, the beach will never be more than a short drive away!

We also had the chance to attend the World Expo 2020. Years in the making, this highly-anticipated event was postponed for two years due to COVID. Dubai poured $6.8 billion into Expo 2020 and built an entire mini-city and metro station just for this event.

So it was super cool to explore all of the exhibitions, which are hosted by countries from around the world. From digital art installations to incredible architecture to global cuisine, Expo 2020 was wild! It’s crazy the entire thing will be torn down in the coming weeks.

We’ve also spent some time exploring the ritzy Dubai Marina area, a couple of Dubai’s enormous high-end malls (one even has indoor ski slopes…), and visiting the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. There’s honestly so much to see and do here, it’s a good thing we’ve got the time to explore it all!

While I am pleasantly surprised by how easy life is in Dubai, I will say there are still some things that give me reservations. The cost of living is high here. And although I’m realizing it’s completely possible to live fairly frugally here (within reason) and save money, it’s a far cry from the low cost of living in Southeast Asia. The concept of paying $10 for a budget meal or $20 for a cocktail is tough for me. I know… I had it good in Vietnam!

Another thing that I’m somewhat nervous about is the weather. Honestly, the weather is pretty nice right now. It’s in the 80s during the day, and a breezy 75°F at night. But come May, days will start soaring well above 100°F (37°C), and everyone seems to be warning us that it’ll be so hot that going outside is not only miserable but it’s unsafe. As someone who loves to go outside and walk around, that concept is kinda freaking me out!

We’re currently living in a hotel for the first month, but we’ll have to start the apartment hunting process soon. I didn’t realize how sprawling this city would be, so I honestly have no idea where we’ll end up living. Another weird thing about Dubai is that you have to pay for a year upfront when renting an apartment, which means there’s no real room for error when apartment hunting here. Whichever place we choose, we’re pretty much stuck with it for 12 months. At least, I think that’s how it works. I guess I’ll find out soon!

It’s clear that there will be a huge learning curve for some aspects of life in Dubai, while other things will be easy peasy. One thing that’s for sure is that I cannot wait to do all the traveling around the Middle East, taking COVID into mind, of course. There are so many places around here that have been high on my bucket list since I was in high school, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to visit all of them. Cairo is a quick 3-hour 30-minute flight away!

So yeah, that’s the big news. I’m sure it’s going to take time to adjust to my new city and delve a bit deeper to discover all of the amazing things to see and do here. I’ve found it so hard to get information on life in Dubai that’s current or relevant, so I’m hoping to write more about my life here for any of you who are hoping to travel or even move here!

So what do you think? Would you ever consider living in or traveling to Dubai?