A Reflection of 3 Years in Dubai
In August 2019, I left my hometown of Sydney, Australia to move to the Middle East, and it was one of the best decisions I made.
The past 3 years have been filled with ebbs and flows, tears and laughter, but more than anything else, new and different experiences that I will hopefully remember for a lifetime (unless I get dementia 🤷🏻♀️).
Notable reflections I’ve made since thinking about this topic are:
Reflection #1: I Am Capable. Life Can Be Better Than I Imagined
In Sydney, I was living a dream, cushiony life — working in consulting for a Big 4 (my dream firm), in a great 3 year relationship with someone who truly cared about me and had everything taken care of by my parents.
As of today (September 2022), I am not working in Big 4, not in that relationship anymore, and living alone, but I feel more secure and confident in myself than ever before. I know that no matter what happens, I believe in myself and will figure it out. An example of this is how I dealt with losing my passport in Beijing, China in comparison to Budapest, Hungary (Yes, I have lost my passport twice 😰).
In Beijing, I freaked out, got mad at the people I was travelling with and told them I’m going on a run to calm down to figure out what to do. Thankfully, I was able to get in contact with the taxi driver and he came back with my passport. Compare this to Budapest where after retracing my steps and recognising my passport was gone, I proceeded to find a solution head-on and dealt with the situation. I didn’t run (literally or figuratively) away from the situation. The Budapest experience was more difficult because there was no Australian Embassy in Hungary and I later found out the U.A.E does not accept emergency passports, so I had to go home to Australia, but not before being interviewed by Canadian immigration in Vancouver (due to visa issues). Both situations were not ideal, but the difference in how I acted shows me I’ve grown as a person.
Update: Someone found my passport and the Hungarian Authorities sent it to the Australian Embassy in Vienna. Whilst I cannot use it, I will be getting my passport back!
Overall, I feel like I am becoming someone my younger and older self would be proud of.
Reflection #2: The First 6 Months Sucked!
I heard from numerous people who moved to a new city that it will take approximately 6 months to feel acclimated. I thought I would be an outlier and not experience this, but no, I was smack bang in the middle of the bell curve. Personally, the first 6 months was filled with tears (lots of them), feeling lost, questioning myself, and missing creature comforts, including my friends, family and (now ex)-boyfriend. I was lonely and I wanted to go home.
As much as this time period was horrible, it helped me realise:
- This too shall pass and things will get better.
- Any relationship (intimate, friends, family) takes effort, and a lot of it. I’ve come to recognise who will prioritise the time and who wouldn’t.
- I have at least 10 minutes to catch up with the people who support and love me unconditionally aka my family. This surprised me because before moving, I didn’t think I was close my family, nor that I would miss them.
Reflection #3: I am privileged to be Australian
You don’t know what you don’t know. Living in Australia meant I grew up in a safe environment, had a structured government and social services, which is something I now recognise is not the same for majority of the world. Becoming friends with people of different nationalities opened my eyes to the impact an innate quality has to the opportunities of a person.
I ultimately feel lucky and bridging the opportunity (inequality) gap is something I have become more passionate about.
Moving away from home is not for everyone, but if you have an itch or get the opportunity, my advice is
Do It
Have a great day,
That Makes Cents.
