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Living overseas

Whether you're considering emigrating or an expat abroad, you'll find likeminds on this forum.

Original poster

DH just got a job in Dubai

148 replies

FitbitAddict · 07/12/2017 22:30

I'm delighted and dismayed all at once, as I'm in a job I love where my skills are really needed. However, relocating to Dubai has been our long term plan for the last three years and now it's coming to fruition. He'll go in March and I'll follow in August.

Any tips for packing up your life and moving overseas very welcome!

OP posts:
becotide · 07/12/2017 22:32

Don't go to Dubai.

www.lonelyplanet.com/united-arab-emirates/dubai/women-travellers

Being a British woman, you may have become accustomed to not being treated like a pet dog. This will not prepare you for life in Dubai as a woman.

becotide · 07/12/2017 22:36

Also if he divorces you there, you're fucked;.

iggleypiggly · 07/12/2017 22:37

Good luck. You are brave. It like going back hundreds of years. Please be safe Flowers

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:37

Becotide, have you lived in Fubai out of interest?

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:37

Dubai!!

Changednamejustincase · 07/12/2017 22:40

Yay! You can live in opulence surrounded by extreme human rights abuse and exploitation.

becotide · 07/12/2017 22:40

www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/19/slavery-now-migrant-labor-in-the-persian-gulf-and-saudi-arabia/

Built by slaves, and maintain by exploitation.

No, I have not lived in Dubai. I am well aware that as a white britsh woman, I would be treated more like a shitzhu than a mongrel, but I still would not set foot in Dubai with a gun to my head.

AnneLovesGilbert · 07/12/2017 22:42

I wouldn’t be going. There’s no money in the world you could give me to convince me. Not a chance. I’ve had several friends work there and a family member lived there for 4 years.

Have you ever been to visit and/or know much about it? What will you do if you can’t work? Do you ever plan to come back?

walnutwhip88 · 07/12/2017 22:42

You'll probably be miserable

feral · 07/12/2017 22:44

Way to piss on OPs fireworks!

Why are you assuming OP is white?

I've no advice other than I hope it works out for you.

Worldsworstcook · 07/12/2017 22:45

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

AstridWhite · 07/12/2017 22:46

iggley have you been to Dubai?

Because I've been quite a few times and I know several people who have lived or currently live there. It may not be perfect or to everyone's taste, but to say it's like going back hundreds of years is truly one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:53

I've lots of friends and even close family there currently. I've been there. It's not my favourite place to be an expat but it's certainly exciting and fun for a few years. I know lots of white women who've lived there for many years and a lot of what people are saying upthread is bullshit. It can be very hard to get any kind of work as a trailing spouse but if you're ok with that, there's a great expat community.

iggleypiggly · 07/12/2017 22:55

My husband used to go lots on business, I know families that have lived there and swiftly returned. I wouldn’t set foot in the place if you paid me. Women being treated like 2nd class citizens... barely any rights, women being screwed over with kids being taken away, separate women areas on public transport, men of far higher importance. If that’s not stepping back hundreds of years then what is?

Justcallmecaptainobvious · 07/12/2017 22:56

Congrats OP. Yes, there are big issues with Dubai, and you should research them, but for some reason people get absolutely hysterical about it on here compared to just about anywhere else.

Have you got DC? Probably the biggest factor in packing up! And is accommodation/shipping arranged by his employer?

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:57

Have to laugh at people's uninformed opinions on the place. There are things you need to be careful of and I'm unimpressed/enraged by the treatment a number of immigrant groups receive typically in Dubai but I feel the same about the way some people are treated here in the U.K. And Dubai has a lot to offer. Tax free earnings, great expat communities, a new experience and environment, great travel nearby. An interesting cultural experience.

CougheeBean · 07/12/2017 22:58

If you fancy working out there your DH would have to write a letter to say you’re allowed 😂

Do me a favour and spare a thought for the exploited labourers forced to work 14+ hour days in blistering heat for a pittance when you’re out and about in shopping malls and skyscrapers

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:58

Iggley, sounds like you're talking about Saudi....no? You sure you're not mixing them up?

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 22:59

Coughee, do you spare a thought for all the many people in the U.K. In desperate situations, working 14 hr days while you sip your Starbucks?

iggleypiggly · 07/12/2017 23:01

zigzag I’m sure Smile I value my children and my rights as a woman far too much to entertain going to such a backwards place!

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 23:02

You must have a very different experience if the place than me then! No wait, you've never actually been...

Rooooooood · 07/12/2017 23:03

It wouldn't be my first choice but I've known lots of friends who have lived there as expats and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

BarbaraOcumbungles · 07/12/2017 23:03

Why would any sane modern woman want to move to a country like Dubai??

iggleypiggly · 07/12/2017 23:05

zigzag I’ve had many opportunities... you simply couldn’t pay me enough.. women segregated and lesser than men? No thank you Hmm

ZigZagandDustin · 07/12/2017 23:06

I honestly think half of you are mixing up Saudi and Dubai.

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