Living in Dubai vs. Australia? Opinions?

[mae2014]

Hey mumsnetters,

As a backstory, I'm 27 and have been offered to move to Dubai with my work with 3 other girls I work with - were all similar ages.

My dilemma is, I was initially thinking of jacking in my job and moving over to Australia on a working holiday visa.

Has anyone lived/been to both and can advise which is better? in your opinion?

For Dubai, Id be on 32,000€ a year plus commission (600–1000€ a month)—my boss will be paying the first 3 months of accommodation, and then I will be contributing 450–750€ a month towards my rent and ill be paying utilies, it will be a 2 year contract.

The alternative to this is to sell my car (about 8k) and head over to my best friend in Brisbane and travel the east coast for 2 months and then find myself a job.

Really torn in what to do, I've always wanted to go Australia and feel like the lifestyle is more me, but then feel like its more logical to go to Dubai,

Please please give me some helpful advice, i need to decide over the next few days as my boss would like an answer xxx

Australia. Nothing would make me move to Dubai or even visit. Particularly not as a young woman.

i was offered a relocation to Dubai. Went there for a wk to think about it. Nope! Nope! Nope! It’s horrific. I wouldn’t go there for a holiday.

Not all Australians are racist and not any worse than Dubai!

Putting aside the human rights thing, the main reason people go to work in Dubai is to build up a nest egg to take back home / live a more lavish lifestyle with maids etc. You wouldn't be getting either of those. You would be struggling to pay for the Aircon on that salary. Book your trip to Oz as planned, maybe have a stopover in Dubai en route. Then you can have both!

I wouldn’t go to Dubai unless it was on a very fancy expat contract and even then I probably wouldn’t fancy it

I spent the best two months of my life travelling round Australia, was great. I didn’t get a work visa but know people who did and they had a great time.

Think the only thing in favour of Dubai is it's much cheaper/quicker/easier to get home to the UK (and to travel to most other places). Australia is FAR! If you're likely to get homesick, or you have family circumstances that mean you might want to come home swiftly/more than once or twice a year, that could be something to think about.

Watch Dubai Hustle on BBC iplayer to get a (vague, slightly rose-tinted) idea of what living in Dubai as a young British sales professional might be like...

Looks like I'm the only respondent so far who has lived in both places.

Life in Dubai as a young, single person would be loads of fun. I do wonder if you'd have enough income to really enjoy it though. I'd pick this option if you're a bit of a party person and/or you like the idea of being closer to home for regular family visits.

Otherwise, I think Australia is the better option, firstly because you are going to have a much wider range of experiences, also because you have the option to travel away from the most expensive cities and save yourself some money when needed, while still seeing and doing a lot. If you love nature and the outdoors, definitely this option.

I didn't say they were but I've visited Australia several times (including living there for a year) and was appalled at the racism I saw first hand.

Really , I’ve lived in aus since I was a teenager. I’ve not come across anything so appalling. And the little bit that there might be is no different to the uk .

I’ve lived in both places.

Dubai would be a very different experience for you, coming from the UK. On that salary, you will not save a penny.

Australia is not as ‘England in the sunshine’ as some people expect but it is much less of a culture shock than the UAE.

At what age can you no longer travel to Australia on a working holiday visa? I’d probably prioritise that, and consider looking for work in Dubai if and when you leave Australia. That said, you may prefer to look to Hong Kong or Singapore for work after some time in Australia. For professional jobs, you would be able to make a lot of Asian contact here. More than in the UK or UAE.

Both are much, much more prevalent in Dubai. 🙄

Definitely Australia.

I've never been to Dubai (doesn't remotely appeal) but have known a lot of people go out there for work (I'm a lawyer with many connections in banking etc in the City and there are lots of legal/finance type jobs out there, plus many UK firms send their trainees and associates out on secondment for 6 months to a year or more).

Most of the people I know who have gone loved it. However, they were generally given either a very significant relocation package (often including private schooling for their kids etc although this isnt relevant to you, just an example of what is often offered) or (if a secondment) their accommodation fully paid for including maids etc. They also received far, far higher salaries, absolute minimum would be double your offer and usually more like 3 or 4 times as much.

By all accounts it is EXPENSIVE and in order to have any 'fun' or social life you need to throw yourself fully into the expat world - meaning drinking in pricey hotel bars, joining private members clubs and sports clubs, trips to designer malls, eating out a lot etc. The people I know who loved it were the kind of people who'd be doing that kind of thing in London anyway and many were I imagine independently wealthy or had trust funds etc as well so could afford it. It definitely wouldn't be for me!

I have to say Australia isn't really top of my list either but everyone I know who has gone there on a working visa has had the time of their lives! It seems far more fun, interesting and sociable for someone of your age and you'd be independent and free to travel and do and see whatever you want rather than being stuck in an expat bubble.

No brainer for me! 😀

On this salary, I wouldn't do Dubai. Like, it's doable but as pp said, you won't save anything really and that's the main reason western expats come here. Check propertyfinder for rents to get an idea and note that travel times from cheap areas to city are nowadays absolutely fucking ridiculous. Food can be super expensive (Spinneys, waitrose) or affordable (nesto, union coop) and many locally grown veg.

I always roll my eyes at "it's fake". It's not fake, it's just new. It's like saying new built areas in UK are "fake". It has plenty to do but you need money for most of it unless you are mainly into locally very popular bbqs and camping (for which season will end soon).

Unless it hurts your career I would probably do Australia in this case.

Australia. No contest x

Really? You're going to bring up that nonsense again? I spent nearly 2 decades in the UK. Australia is more forward thinking in a few ways when compared to the UK. (UK better in other ways.) When I first moved to the UK an Aussie girlfriend warned me about the type of sexist interview questions I could face that would have had someone sacked in Australia for asking.

I know both locations and for me Australia wins. That salary won't allow you to live the fun, expat style lifestyle in Dubai (I almost passed out the first brunch I did there- obscenely expensive yet everyone did them every weekend, twice on particularly hedonistic weekends!) Silly flashy cars, great but expensive restaurants, sporting tournaments to watch in the VIP - not a chance I could live enjoyably there on that.

Australia also isn't super cheap in places, but a lot more reasonable than Dubai. And it sounds like it's only a couple of months minimum commitment there, not 2 years, so if you hate it, you can come home.

Another vote for Australia

I’m not keen on Australia personally and wouldn’t voluntarily go back but if the choice was Dubai or Australia, it would be Aus without a shadow of a doubt.
You couldn’t pay me enough to go to Dubai.

I’ve lived in both and I’d probably go to Australia in your shoes. The salary in Dubai isn’t really high enough and it sounds like this is a new initiative by your boss? In which case things might be slow to start with so I wouldn’t count on the commission.

The only thing with Australia is to check the terms of the working holiday visa. I went a long time ago so this may no longer be true but when I went it was v much for casual short term jobs- I did do a professional job ( audit temp to help cover year end) but they were clear that it could only be 3 months or so as otherwise they’d be breaching the visa. Therefore if you want to be settled and earn a comparable wage to uk it might be tricky. It might have changed, but just check.

It's not nonsense. I saw it first hand many, many, many times.

I didn't see racism in Dubai. Not saying it's not there of course but I didn't see it - I wasn't there long..sexism seemed rife though.
Like I said, neither place is a choice I'd make.

I've visited both and would 100% pick Australia.

Dubai is expensive. As in, extortionately so and 32k won't even touch the sides even if you're paying reduced rent.

As for the racism in Aus - I've been going on extended holidays there since I was a baby and I've never experienced any racism, or even heard any.

I have to agree . Spent 9 months in Australia and tbh they just hate everyone 🤣 poms (british) , Chinese, the indigenous people , Americans .... the list just goes on and on. I'm irish but I was sick to death of being called a pom. I'd a great time over there but I wouldn't go back

Then you were lucky.

@Bondibeechtree or you were unlucky 😉