Page 38 | I live in Dubai, ask me anything

britindubai · 2026-10-20T05:34:06+00:00

Ask away, I’ll give you my honest thoughts and opinions

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:00

WinterAfternoons · 21/10/2026 15:41

Gosh, OP, if you are in fact fantasising in a semi in Dagenham, you should definitely go to Dubai. You’re a natural at the kind of underthinking required. You’d fit right in.

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Is that aimed at the 90% of expats or the 10% Muslim and Arabic locals!?

OP posts:

Nuthatchtreelover · 21/10/2026 16:03

Nuthatchtreelover · 21/10/2026 10:06

so basically everything done in Dubai you like! 😂. It sounds like they’ll love you then.

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Oh yes just for your information :- Dubai has one of the most resource-intensive environmental footprints of any desert city in the world.

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:04

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 15:55

A quick internet search turns up multiple worldwide reports of the events in Dubai earlier this year. They all contain similar information. I've found almost identical stories on CNN, CBS, Australian and European news channels and media.

Multiple countries issued No Travel warnings.

Why are you pretending this information was 'predominantly from the UK'?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-trying-to-evacuate-middle-east-frustrated-with-government-response/

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Ok so many media channels world wide exaggerated some of the truths.

Yes I am aware of the travel bans, I believe some are still in place

OP posts:

WinterAfternoons · 21/10/2026 16:11

Nuthatchtreelover · 21/10/2026 16:03

Oh yes just for your information :- Dubai has one of the most resource-intensive environmental footprints of any desert city in the world.

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The desalination alone is an environmental catastrophe. That was another story I proposed but couldn’t do when working in journalism in the UAE, the greenwashing habitually done by many companies to give the impression of progress and an ethical approach to the environment and energy use.

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:15

WheresMyHatGone · 21/10/2026 15:53

And I can bet you wish you had more class.

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Ooh this could be whole new thread

OP posts:

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:15

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:04

Ok so many media channels world wide exaggerated some of the truths.

Yes I am aware of the travel bans, I believe some are still in place

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So why did you say it was 'predominantly from the UK'.

Even you're not believing your own bilge now are you OP?

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:18

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:15

So why did you say it was 'predominantly from the UK'.

Even you're not believing your own bilge now are you OP?

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I guess I was a bit blinkered being informed by family/friends in the UK showing me the media stories being put out

OP posts:

iamnotalemon · 21/10/2026 16:18

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:15

Ooh this could be whole new thread

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😂😂😂

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:19

Nuthatchtreelover · 21/10/2026 16:03

Oh yes just for your information :- Dubai has one of the most resource-intensive environmental footprints of any desert city in the world.

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I get it, this isn’t great of course

OP posts:

KatyaAdler · 21/10/2026 16:21

britindubai · 21/10/2026 15:00

I do need to look all of this information up

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You’ll have to do that when you’re lucky enough to be back in the UK with its free press. The heavily restricted UAE press won’t give you the full story.

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:22

KatyaAdler · 21/10/2026 16:21

You’ll have to do that when you’re lucky enough to be back in the UK with its free press. The heavily restricted UAE press won’t give you the full story.

Edited

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I sure will

OP posts:

KatyaAdler · 21/10/2026 16:23

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:18

I guess I was a bit blinkered being informed by family/friends in the UK showing me the media stories being put out

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I think you are similarly blinkered about how bad the UK is. It is still one of the richest, most democratic countries in the world. Look it up.

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:24

This thread has gone a bit bonkers in places, but my two penneth - I lived in Dubai for years, but left about 15 years ago, so it has changed vastly since then, but a lot of things stayed the same. We went there on a promotion for my husband with his longtime UK employer - no failure involved. We got all rent, schooling, healthcare paid for. I loved my time there, made loads of good friends from all over the world - 72 nationalities in DS's school. Had experiences I never would have had staying in the UK.
I had a live in maid, because we had a dog, DH travelled a lot and DS was quite young. We paid her well, so that she was able to build her own house in her home country where she now lives in security. I am still in touch with her all these years later. She wasn't a 'slave' and I became very fond of her.
Out time in Dubai meant DH retired young, we live mortgage free back in the UK and have been able to help our son financially.
Do I feel we dodged taxes? - no. We paid all that were due by law and now pay an absolute shed load on our investments. do I think distasteful things happen in Dubai? - absolutely, do I think you have to keep your nose clean and behave ? - definitely, otherwise things go very bad, very quickly.
Do I regret it for a moment? -NO!

@Borracha Shame about the Barracuda run. They were fun, especially the bit through Sharjah. It felt like we were smugglers.

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:25

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:18

I guess I was a bit blinkered being informed by family/friends in the UK showing me the media stories being put out

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Dunning-Kruger Effect.

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:26

@mateysmum That's really interesting.
Did you bring your dog home with you?

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:29

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:26

@mateysmum That's really interesting.
Did you bring your dog home with you?

Indeed we did and he lived a long and happy life after having been a Dubai rescue dog. He had never seen real grass or a field, but the first time he saw a rabbit he knew exactly what to do!😀
He came back with British airways and his transport cost more than a first class ticket, but he was worth it.

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:32

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:29

Indeed we did and he lived a long and happy life after having been a Dubai rescue dog. He had never seen real grass or a field, but the first time he saw a rabbit he knew exactly what to do!😀
He came back with British airways and his transport cost more than a first class ticket, but he was worth it.

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Oh that's brilliant. I can picture him seeing a field for the first time and going absolutely bananas.

Bet he was worth every penny of that ticket price.

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:35

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:32

Oh that's brilliant. I can picture him seeing a field for the first time and going absolutely bananas.

Bet he was worth every penny of that ticket price.

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Yep. He is buried in the garden and I can see his grave from where I sit.

Back on topic though. Many posters here think everyone in Dubai is a vapid influencer or a lazy tax dodger. Actually the people I knew were just normal people taking advantage of a new culture and having an adventure.

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:38

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:35

Yep. He is buried in the garden and I can see his grave from where I sit.

Back on topic though. Many posters here think everyone in Dubai is a vapid influencer or a lazy tax dodger. Actually the people I knew were just normal people taking advantage of a new culture and having an adventure.

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I'm sure you're absolutely right. The problem we have on here is the Dubai AMA people who use their thread as a Britain bashing vehicle and say terrible things like, 'If you could see my bank balance you'd weep'. This one is not the first of it's genre. Not even this week.

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 16:47

KatyaAdler · 21/10/2026 16:23

I think you are similarly blinkered about how bad the UK is. It is still one of the richest, most democratic countries in the world. Look it up.

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It may well be, doesn’t devoid it of the problems it has

OP posts:

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 17:10

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 16:24

This thread has gone a bit bonkers in places, but my two penneth - I lived in Dubai for years, but left about 15 years ago, so it has changed vastly since then, but a lot of things stayed the same. We went there on a promotion for my husband with his longtime UK employer - no failure involved. We got all rent, schooling, healthcare paid for. I loved my time there, made loads of good friends from all over the world - 72 nationalities in DS's school. Had experiences I never would have had staying in the UK.
I had a live in maid, because we had a dog, DH travelled a lot and DS was quite young. We paid her well, so that she was able to build her own house in her home country where she now lives in security. I am still in touch with her all these years later. She wasn't a 'slave' and I became very fond of her.
Out time in Dubai meant DH retired young, we live mortgage free back in the UK and have been able to help our son financially.
Do I feel we dodged taxes? - no. We paid all that were due by law and now pay an absolute shed load on our investments. do I think distasteful things happen in Dubai? - absolutely, do I think you have to keep your nose clean and behave ? - definitely, otherwise things go very bad, very quickly.
Do I regret it for a moment? -NO!

@Borracha Shame about the Barracuda run. They were fun, especially the bit through Sharjah. It felt like we were smugglers.

Exactly this 🙌🏼

We are out here in similar circumstances except we don’t have the house and school package - they are not so common now

OP posts:

mateysmum · 21/10/2026 17:30

britindubai · 21/10/2026 17:10

Exactly this 🙌🏼

We are out here in similar circumstances except we don’t have the house and school package - they are not so common now

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Yes. I think we hit a golden era. Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall just opened, everything shiny and new and traffic bearable. We lived near Safa Park and it took 11 mins to get to the airport!! Everyone I knew shopped at ParknShop and Spinneys on the Al Wasl Then we moved to the Ranches when that was new. Happy days.

Original poster

britindubai · 21/10/2026 17:39

DorsetKnobBiscuit · 21/10/2026 16:38

I'm sure you're absolutely right. The problem we have on here is the Dubai AMA people who use their thread as a Britain bashing vehicle and say terrible things like, 'If you could see my bank balance you'd weep'. This one is not the first of it's genre. Not even this week.

Edited

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The same can be said about all the Dubai bashing around how morally wrong it is to live here, how we are tax dodgers, how we are ‘that type’ how we are going to make a mistake and get put in prison, how my children are going to end up gay in a Muslim country, how my husband is going to have an affair and take the children….these are not genuine questions - these are spiteful comments fuelled by…. let’s play safe and call it hatred.

I’ll say it one more time for the people at the back, this is the mentality of the British who hate nothing more than people who have ambition and want more from life. They despise success so it makes them feel big and better to be spiteful.

OP posts:

leavesinthebreeze · 21/10/2026 17:39

britindubai · 21/10/2026 17:10

Exactly this 🙌🏼

We are out here in similar circumstances except we don’t have the house and school package - they are not so common now

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So you agree distasteful things happen in Dubai? Can you just say yes without referring to other countries? Can you agree that things can go very bad very quickly without referencing other countries? Can you actually type out similar to what @mateysmumsaid about the problems in Dubai in clear plain English without excuses or would you be too worried to?

Gloriia · 21/10/2026 17:40

britindubai · 21/10/2026 11:14

Totally understand that, we can’t all be rich

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Op you're living a tax dodging fake life in Dubai. Yes I understand it is very tempting, I did it myself when young and ill informed but I regret it.

Things is you sound so very proud of yourself, why?

If I were you I'd do some studying so when you return to the UK you could at least be employable if your situation changes and you need to work. A career is a good thing for a bit of independence financially and of course for one's confidence and esteem.

So yes enjoy the sun and handbags for now, but it all a very superficial existence, just focus on trying to instil some decent ethics and values into your kids so they don't grow up thinking tax dodging is anything to be proud of.