Page 12 | Meant to be moving to Dubai in 4 weeks

Medesres · 2026-03-01T15:42:26+00:00

We've been planning a move to Dubai for a while now. Dh's work has an office out there and it seemed like great opportunity to live abroad and experience sth different. I've got a couple of friends out there already too who love the lifestyle. Watching the news for the past 24 hours and I'm really starting to question things. I had no idea how close to Iran it was and who knows what might happen next. Part of me is hoping it will all be resolved soon but hard to believe. My friend who already lives there has spent the night sleeping in one room with her dh and kids scared of all the missile noises.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 02/03/2026 09:13

Namechange19960 · 01/03/2026 20:01

Don't worry OP I didn't realise how close Iran was to Dubai either. Clearly some Mumsnetters have nothing else better to do than mock others.

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I don’t know exactly how close it is however given I do know it’s a pretty unstable region on a good day, you can bet your arse that if I was uprooting my life and that of my kids I would get an atlas out pretty quickly and look. Not just check out what monuments nearby would look good on Insta …

Its that ignorance that so many posters are astounded at.

Jerys · 02/03/2026 09:09

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:08

Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. There is top level security and people are paid well to do this. They have high tech surveillance.
Do you genuinely think that there's any gold jewellery shop in the world without security?!

ps a machete gang would have been spotted and intercepted....by top level security.
That's why you felt safe.

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Thank you!

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:08

Jerys · 02/03/2026 09:06

I couldn't see them there. It still was super safe and I knew a gang with machetes wasn't going to come.

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Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. There is top level security and people are paid well to do this. They have high tech surveillance.
Do you genuinely think that there's any gold jewellery shop in the world without security?!

ps a machete gang would have been spotted and intercepted....by top level security.
That's why you felt safe.

Pheebs87 · 02/03/2026 09:06

Medesres · 01/03/2026 15:53

I knew it was in middle east Gulf and obviously Iran is in that area too but I hadn't studied the map in great detail until today.

The problem is Dubai and parts of the middle east have been really glamorised now so everyone wants to move there. Then something like this happens and you get a reality check

Dh going to speak to his work tomorrow. I'm sure they wouldn't send him if it escalates

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I wouldn't go there if you paid me and that's before this week's events! A country build on modern slavery with little human rights especially as a woman the mind boggles at the excitement to move there.

Also I do agree that not even knowing it's neighbours before uprooting your life to move there is actually hilarious! 🤣 Very on brand for the type of person who idolises Dubai and thinks it's all glitz and glamour without knowing or caring about the human rights atrocities that have been committed to build it .....

TheGoddessFrigg · 02/03/2026 09:06

This whole thread is full of people who would have travelled to apartheid South Africa- for the lovely weather. And called protestors 'halo-polishers'

Jerys · 02/03/2026 09:06

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 08:18

That's not true.
There are security guards employed there, and a high level of surveillance.
Of course there are, they're selling gold!

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I couldn't see them there. It still was super safe and I knew a gang with machetes wasn't going to come.

SleeplessInWherever · 02/03/2026 08:59

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:46

Tbf, it's sold itself as a hotter, drier Monaco, basically.

And everyone knows that it's in the ME, even if they couldn't draw a map of the region.

I swear, Britain has the world's highest concentration of puffed-up, superior, and snobbish people. (I can say that because I am British.)

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The fact it’s in the ME would be enough for me to not move my family there.

It’s not like the area is know for its stability, I’d be actively avoiding moving my child to a potential war zone.

That’s if you take out all the other reasons I wouldn’t bother!

DiscoBeat · 02/03/2026 08:57

SuperSharpShooter · 01/03/2026 15:49

You didn't realise how close it was to Iran?

The mind boggles!

Yes, I do think moving to a different country should prompt a bit of education about it before making the decision!

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:53

JacknDiane · 02/03/2026 08:34

Actually you sound perfect for Dubia @Medesres

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That's MEAN! Do you feel good now?

Katypp · 02/03/2026 08:52

BlimeyOReillyO · 02/03/2026 08:41

Lots more have answered her and told her she should know a lot more about a country, like its location before she considers living there!

Bloody good advice i would say!

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No, lots more have used this as an opportunity to parade their competitive morality, political and geographical intellgience and imply the OP is empty-headed and swayed by influencers.
No many have juat said she should have researched the area (which clearly she knows now) without a side helping of why they would NEVER move there as they are better than the OP.

Crikeyalmighty · 02/03/2026 08:51

MikeRafone · 02/03/2026 08:23

no Italy doens't boarder Germany - Denmark does

Indeed - although only Jutland - having lived there if you go to Zealand where Copenhagen is you have to get on a ferry from Germany ( when we lived there although a tunnel was being started)

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:46

Ginmonkeyagain · 02/03/2026 08:43

I feel for anyone caught up in this, but these does seem to be an almost comical lack of basic understanding of the geopolitics of the middle east and where Dubai actually fucking is. It isn't just a hotter, drier Monaco.

Tbf, it's sold itself as a hotter, drier Monaco, basically.

And everyone knows that it's in the ME, even if they couldn't draw a map of the region.

I swear, Britain has the world's highest concentration of puffed-up, superior, and snobbish people. (I can say that because I am British.)

Ginmonkeyagain · 02/03/2026 08:43

I feel for anyone caught up in this, but these does seem to be an almost comical lack of basic understanding of the geopolitics of the middle east and where Dubai actually fucking is. It isn't just a hotter, drier Monaco.

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:43

MikeRafone · 02/03/2026 08:22

France, Italy, Switerland, Netherlands, Poland, Latvia

Austria

countries surrounding Germany

is that correct

Czechia, not Latvia, and also Luxembourg. And yes, I had to look at a map, despite having looked many times beore.

BlimeyOReillyO · 02/03/2026 08:41

Katypp · 02/03/2026 08:01

I am sure the OP is glad she posted here asking what she should do.
Only about 10 posters have actually answered her question, but at least she has been fully informed that the rest of the pps are cleverer, more enlightened, more geographically and politically aware and just generally better people than she is.

Lots more have answered her and told her she should know a lot more about a country, like its location before she considers living there!

Bloody good advice i would say!

Katypp · 02/03/2026 08:40

JacknDiane · 02/03/2026 08:34

Actually you sound perfect for Dubia @Medesres

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And snobbery. I forgot snobbery

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:38

gannett · 02/03/2026 08:30

The only country bordering Germany that it might be acceptable to not know as an adult is Luxembourg because it's so small. The other seven are really really obvious to anyone who's looked at a map of Europe once.

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Well, I disagree. For one, Denmark is easy to forget because it's up on a northern peninsula. And Switzerland's German border is pretty short. Eight countries is quite a lot to remember. I think you'd have to have a pretty photographic memory to remember all of them from looking at a map once. Maybe others aren't quite as intelligent as you.

Ginmonkeyagain · 02/03/2026 08:37

Anyway sod Dubai, anyone concered about the cost of living would do well to educate themselves on what and where the Stait of Hormuz is.

JacknDiane · 02/03/2026 08:34

Medesres · 01/03/2026 16:01

I'd looked up DH new office on Google maps and places we were thinking of living. Looked at nearby things on Google and landmarks, just hadn't zoomed out that far to see everything else. I knew Iran was nearby but I just wasnt thinking about that as no idea there would be war. People will laugh but it just wasn't my first thought, I was more concerned about neighbourhoods/ supermarkets etc

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Actually you sound perfect for Dubia @Medesres

gannett · 02/03/2026 08:32

But this isn't about a fictional character's ignorance being played for laughs, it's about not knowing that Dubai is in that bit of the map and Iran (which is quite large and unmissable) is just over the gulf from it. Adults should know those things. Adults who are about to emigrate to Dubai should definitely know those things.

gannett · 02/03/2026 08:30

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:07

She did know where Germany was. She just couldn't name all EIGHT countries that surrounded it. Not being able to name every surrounding country when there are so many is not the same as not knowing where somewhere is, geographically. It's not like she thought Germany was south of Spain, is it!

And of course the OP knows that Dubai is in the ME and where the ME is. But it's near many other countries, at least seven.

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The only country bordering Germany that it might be acceptable to not know as an adult is Luxembourg because it's so small. The other seven are really really obvious to anyone who's looked at a map of Europe once.

MikeRafone · 02/03/2026 08:23

no Italy doens't boarder Germany - Denmark does

MikeRafone · 02/03/2026 08:22

France, Italy, Switerland, Netherlands, Poland, Latvia

Austria

countries surrounding Germany

is that correct

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 08:18

Jerys · 02/03/2026 08:05

No security guards in the gold Souk despite so much gold around. Felt super safe compared to London jewelry stores.

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That's not true.
There are security guards employed there, and a high level of surveillance.
Of course there are, they're selling gold!

IdentityCris · 02/03/2026 08:13

MrFluffyDogIsMyBestFriend · 01/03/2026 16:24

I would love to get all the people mocking the op to draw their own map of the area. I spend ages on Google maps but I only have a rough idea of the location of Middle Eastern countries...I thought Iran was slightly further west rather than just across the gulf. I don't think that makes me an imbecile.

Isn't the distinction that you're not planning to emigrate there?