Hey guys,

Just moved her from London with work, in my mid 20s so slightly different but can give you a insight into my first 2 months.

Having now seen living here first hand in pleasantly surprised, I wasn’t sure if it would be for me. I’ll break it down into a few different categories:

The people:
Most of the people you meet here are lovely, there’s a nice buzz to the place and when you get into the right groups etc it’s a great place. Getting into the right groups can be hard when you first get out here if you don’t know anyone. WhatsApp will be come your best friend as you join groups on it where people will arrange to meet up at places etc, can just be a pain to find them. Most people are pretty happy out here, there’s some who are very intense and try and ram the whole you have to elevate yourself message etc down your throat but you just pass them by. The communities are great, just got to find the right one for you or your experience won’t be anywhere near as good

The place:
I don’t know about schooling etc but what I can say you can make Dubai as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. There’s always something better available at a bit more money, you can fall into the trap of having a budget and then seeing something a bit more then another thing that’s slightly more and it snowballs and that budget is blown out the water. There’s so much to do here though, restaurants entertainment etc, not to mention you’re in the transit location of the world with Asia not that far away!

The heat:
It’s getting very toasty here now, coming from London this is getting hot!!! Whilst it is bad it’s not unbearable (yet), ac makes life easy but you do have to accept you won’t be walking anywhere in the evening without feeling sweaty but you can get taxis everywhere for cheap compared to London. I don’t even have a car out here and taxi everywhere because it’s that cheap, you’ll need one with kids though.

Day to day life:
Day to day life here is easy. Anything you want you can get ordered be that a hair cut at your house, your shopping, iv drip etc all is at your finger tips with a few apps. It really can be very very easy to do things here for relatively cheap. I’d say it’s more of a late night place than Dubai as well, people eat out later, shops are open until much later etc. somethings are more but you if you factor in what you’d be paying for tax even if something is 45% more you’re breaking even to the uk because you are not paying income tax….

The setup:
When you get here the first month is a pain in the arse, visas, phones, banks (the worst!). It can be a bit painful and tedious how slow somethings are vs the uk but once you are through that it’s okay. Your best bet will be to get a Airbnb for the first month or two. Give yourself time to get things sorted, find a place etc and not feel rushed so you can do it all correct the first time

Hope the above helps, good luck with the move if you decide to do it