14 day countdown to the end of our expat journey

We're on a 14 day one month countdown to the end of our expat journey.

It's been a bit stressful trying to relocate during a pandemic, I'll be honest, upping sticks and moving thousands of miles is very stressful regardless of where you go and when.

We've both moved a lot in our lives and since we met in 2000 we sold both our homes and purchased one together in 2002 which we still own and is the home we are returning to.

We left the UK in January 2011 for South Africa, with a 20ft container, we then relocated to Dubai in December 2014 with a 40ft container and in September 2020 we sent approximately 10ft in groupage followed by a 20ft container this morning May 2021. We will follow on in a months time. Originally it was going to be June 2nd, however there are NO direct flights from Dubai to the UK, and with both of us having experienced being prevented from travelling and in the wrong country from where we had intended to be, neither of us fancy the prospect of being stuck in a 3rd country such as Egypt, Oman, Finland etc where we are permitted to fly through currently. Either way we still have to hotel quarantine on our arrival in the UK for 10 nights, as we will have been in the UAE in the past 10 days prior to arrival.

99% of the stress of an expat move is in the build up to the packing day itself, then you sit in a trance for several months in hotels, sorting documents, applying for visas, running around to get signatures the night before you're due to submit your paperwork because someone forgot to give you something. It's the fact finding, the arranging, the booking, the handing over over money, setting up phone and utilities, trying to find internet, somewhere to live, a car, school runs, new job, how to pay for parking, navigating medical aid and dealing with HR, 3rd party agents, via your husband, through his HR department because as a 'supporting spouse' you are given no consideration from your spouses company, despite being the one person who is jumping through all the hoops and digging up long lost relatives to obtain a DNA sample to prove who you are. 

Lots of people tell me to write a book, it's entertaining, that I'm good at stuff like this and I love a challenge. Well this is all you're getting a blog and trust me, I'm not good at stuff like this, I don't enjoy it and I'm really looking forward to a simple life with Peter, our adult kids and grandkids and time to cook, garden, walk the dog up the Malvern Hills and take up new hobbies and maybe return to the workplace.

Bob and Pushkins arrive in the UK from South Africa, via Dubai

We were adopted by Pushkins in 2012

We adopted Bob in 2013

6 months later

In December 2014 we moved to Dubai taking them both with us.

Last week they completed their journey after 5 years in Dubai with their arrival in the UK, which will be their final home.

We're having a lot of fun so far, lots of walks, new sounds, smells and places. I'll update you on their experiences next week



You can read more of our Repatriation story below:

Some of these links aren't yet live and will be updated.

Repatriation or Operation Relocation

Part 1 Things we have to do

Part 2 Starting to get organised

Part 3 Transfer of Residence

Part 4 Relocating pets. Dubai to UK

Part 5 Sorting out our new home in the UK

Part 6 Bob and Pushkins arrive in the UK. What do they think of it? February 2020

Part 7 Renting an apartment in Dubai May 2020

Part 8 Vacating a Villa in Dubai May 2020

Part 9 Moving Day May 2020

Part 10 Relocation

Repatriation Part 4 - Relocating the cat and dog to the UK

We brought Bob and Pushkins to Dubai from South Africa Now we're taking them both to the UK. Entry requirements to the UK are far less complicated or so it seems at this moment in time, but as with all relocations, things do get thrown up and tend to cause a lot of stress at the last minute.

Bob in South Africa

Pushkins in Dubai

We're paying a relocation company to help us with the move, they've provided all the information we need and links to UK government websites to avoid tax and duty.

All their injections are up to date. The vets have the forms they need to complete and sign to confirm all injections have been given and that both the animals have a micro chip.

Micro chips must be implanted prior to giving the rabies jab and the pets must have at least 30 days left before the next one is due to be able to travel. Bob the dog must be treated for tapeworm and fly within 5 days of the tablet being administered by a vet.

The cat and dog need to travel within 5 days of my flight and can only fly into Manchester, Edingburgh, Gatwick and Heathrow, so I'm arranging for them to be processed and transported from the airport.

I don't know what airline they will be flying with as the relocation company will book the flights. Pets have to fly cargo out of Dubai, regardless of the airline and the price is per kilo, including the weight of the crate.

We kept the pet crates after the last move, but not sure if the dog crate is up to standard. We will attempt repairs, but it's looking likely we'll need to purchase a new one. The cat's crate has been stored indoors and is ok to use.

The dog needs to be measured.

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR DOG LENGTH _______________ cm From the tip of the nose to the base of the tail (i.e. excluding the tail itself). 
LENGTH OF FRONT LEG _______________ cm From the ground to his or her elbow (left or right will do!). 
WIDTH _______________ cm With your dog standing, and you standing over top of him or her and looking straight down, find and measure the widest part of his or her body, wherever that happens to be! 
HEIGHT STANDING _______________ cm From the ground to his or her highest point (normally the top of the head, or in some cases his or her perky ears!). 
HEIGHT SITTING UPRIGHT _______________ cm Again, from the ground to the highest point.

The cat's breed as per the booklet book and information if the cat is particularly tall or long bodied.

Pushkins has been an indoor cat for the past 2 years due to her getting in frights with strays and over eating with the food put out by neighbours. Her new home is also on a busy road and as she's almost 11, she'll continue to be an indoor cat.

I'm hoping Bob will like the UK, not sure what he'l think of the rain and cold, it's not something he's used to. In South Africa the winters are cold in the night but warm in the day and dry. It's the summer it rains and it doesn't last long.

He's never seen snow, but the UK is much better suited for owning a dog than Dubai is with this heat and ability to take him places. He adapted to Dubai, I'm confident he'll adapt to the UK and I have bought him waterproofs.

The cost for their relocation is AED 12,000 approximately £2,500

I'll let you know how they're settling in.

Sorting out our family home in the UK

We've had tenants in our family home for the past 9 years. We've had really bad tenants who trashed our house and we've had really good tenants. Our first agent really let us down and was paying our rent from his own account as the tenants were late and missed payments, then when he could no longer manage this he told us, we issued a section 21a, he messed up their eviction and in total with lost rent, mortgage payments, replacing stolen items and repairing the house, along with court and bailiff fees, we suffered badly. We also had to sort out their debts and utility bills also.
Our current agents have been brilliant, mediating payments and finding us 3 sets of good tenants over 8 years.

Our current tenants vacated the property on time, but asked to keep the keys for a further 6 days to allow them time to clean and remove the rubbish. The agents agreed, but billed them for the extra days.

I was back in the UK early December, the house needs quite a bit of work doing to it, the locks have been changed, utilities switched over, the contents from the flat are now in the house so I can live in it until our furniture arrives in May/June and the flat is being rented out to fund the running costs of the house.

I'll be writing separate blog posts on the renovations.

But for now here are some pictures of the work we need to do to return the house to an acceptable standard. The tenants are liable for redecoration, repairs, new doors, carpets, rubbish removal and the cleaning, but their deposit will only cover just over 60% of the total costs.

Fire automatic door closures were removed

A whole door is missing

What doors remain are damaged

Window handles broken

Sky cabling just lying loose over the conservatory

Sky cables everywhere

 Broken furniture and waste left behind

Pull cords and light fittings damaged so I can only shower during daylight hours

Steam mop purchased as normal cleaning won't suffice

I only cleaned 10 tiles so I could take delivery of a fridge freezer

Boxes glued to the walls, along with 101+ nails and screws removed

Damaged flooring

Broken bathroom tiles

Carpet is beyond cleaning

Oven needs cleaning as does extractor fan and cupboards are covered in grease. Hob is badly scratched.

Neighbours have been written to about their plants, shrubs over growing my property and damaging the fence

Neighbours shed has collapsed, breaking my fence, until their shed is repaired and garden cut back, we are unable to replace the fence panels.

There are several jobs we want to do also but for the meantime I've requested additional quotes for complete redecoration, new carpets, bathroom, tiling, matching all the internal doors and a new kitchen.

We're currently in arbitration with the tenants claiming this damage is where and tear or not their responsibility. The 6 new doors that need replacing, due to damage, well actually 1 door is missing all together is apparently my fault as the automatic door closures for fire safety requirements as per building regs and insurance were all damaged by the wind blowing them shut, the carpet is wear and tear, the mess in the garden is due to it being winter and that's how gardens looks, they cleaned just not to my levels of perfection and the junk left behind was furniture I left in the house in the first place and it obviously just broke.

Repatriation Part 3 - Transfer of Residence

A couple of weeks ago I acquired all the paperwork needed for Operation Relocation and my Transfer of Residence ToR and started the job of filling it all in.

I need a ToR to apply for approval to transfer my normal place of residence including animals which allows me to import goods into the UK and not pay import duties and charges.

I qualify to complete a Tor if I meet the following conditions:

• have lived outside the EU for 12 consecutive months
• have used and had possession of goods for at least 6 consecutive months
• have used the goods and are going to continue using them in the new place of residence in the UK for at least the next 12 months
• be importing the goods within 12 months of coming to live in the UK
• not lend out, pledge, give away, hire out or transfer the goods within the first 12 months after the date on which they were imported

I need to also provide the following documentation:

• black and white copy of the photo page from my passport
• a signed list of goods I wish to import
• proof of residency in the country I'm transferring from, with name and address of residency
• evidence of my right and intention to move to the UK. Contract of employment, purchase or rental agreement

In the meantime I've been to Dubai Islamic Bank to ensure my address reads as the Villa and not the PO Box number and obtained a statement to prove I've been living outside the UK/EU for the past 12 months. I will add a copy of my current visa. I'm not sure what paperwork I can provide for moving back to the UK. The family home was purchased in 2002 and is in Peter's name, not mine or joint and I won't be working.

I have to wait until I'm in the UK to obtain proof of residency there by setting up the council tax and utilities, which I can then add to the HMRC form to avoid paying tax/duty on the pets and our container.

I have to provide an itemised list of all our belongings and their replacement cost in the UK for insurance purposes. I kept the records from our first move to South Africa and then onto Dubai, some things we no longer own so they'll come off and new items will be added.

Not all our furniture is returning to the UK on this trip. Peter will need to furnish an apartment in Dubai for the next 2-3 years until he retires and as I will be splitting my time between the 2 countries it will be nice to create 2 proper homes rather than feeling like we're only half living in each place.

Storage for small spaces

We don't need storage solutions, there's my husband and I in a 3 bed house, in Dubai, with so many built in cupboards that we have the luxury of keeping the toaster in a cupboard.

However when we lived in the UK there was a period of time when we had 5 children in a 4 bed house and we had to make the most of every inch of space, from built in shelving in alcoves to storage boxes under bunk beds and regularly holding boot sales or donating items to charity.

In recent years, we bought a 1 bed flat in the UK to use as a base for visiting our families and as somewhere for our adult children to stay when we were over.

Sadly within 6 months of purchasing the flat my father died suddenly and mum had to move from her 4 bed house to a 2 bed flat as my father was a bit of a hoarder, lots of the more valuable items ended up in my flat for me to be able to sell on mums behalf at a later date.

Space in the flat is tight, with plastic storage boxes under the bed and a set of golf clubs and a suit case belonging to our middle child who is now living in Australia and my father's stamp collection in the built in cupboard and an old sewing table of my gran's in the lounge as I couldn't bare to part with it.

The 3 best buys I've had for the flat to ensure we can still live in it when we visit (up to 6 months of the year) was the wardrobe, the under sink cabinet in the bathroom and the sofa bed from Ikea.

The sofa bed stores all the spare bedding and pulls out as a double bed.

Washing is an issue and I've not mastered the art of drying things. We do have a washer dryer but the cost is high and the dryer part isn't that effective so I often do a service wash at the laundrette when anyone else is staying in the flat with me, other wise I hang bedding to dry over doorframes and chairs.

A cupboard under the sink now keeps the bathroom items on the shelf and cleaning chemicals hidden from sight, making it easier to keep the bathroom clean.

Moving my fathers stamp collection into the cupboard has freed up space in the bedroom.

I purchased a small wardrobe for this alcove behind the door to hang my clothes now the cupboard was full and our son's belongings now live under the bed.

Over the door hangers free up space in the lounge for hanging clothes to dry. This is also the cupboard housing my fathers stamp collection.

Do you have issues with storage? Having built in units in our former family home and our current one in Dubai mean we require far less furniture than we used to need and I'm sure when we move back to our former family, 6 bed, home in the UK next year with just the two of us, we won't have half the need for the furniture and storage solutions we've purchased over the years.

Repatriation Part 2 - Starting to get organised

So we're relocating to the UK over the next 6 - 36 months. Who knows when we'll actually both be living there full time, but as expats for the last 9 years in South Africa and Dubai, life has been one big adventure anyway.

It's also been very unsettled for me, not working, leaving our families behind, coping with the death of my father in 2017 and now the kids are getting married and having children of their own.

So what have I done since I wrote the last post?

I've signed up with a rental agent in the UK to deal with our flat.

Contacted relocation companies for the pets in January and furniture in May.

Spoken with our current landlord in Dubai and negotiated a 6 month contract rather than a year, at the cost of 7,250 AED (£1,500) admin fee on top of 6 months rent to paid up front.

Booked my flight to return to the UK in November/December and car hire.

Started to look for a car to buy in the UK and sell my car in Dubai.

Woken up at 4 am most mornings thinking about what I need to do.

Panicked at 4.15am every morning at the enormity of the task ahead.

Been thankful everyday that this whole move is in our (my) control and that we have the finances to do this and don't require visas.

I've also discovered I need to complete Customs clearance for transfers of residence in the UK before flying the cat and dog over or receiving our container of furniture or duty and tax is applied.

My next job is to now fill in the forms and obtain the documentation required for the cat and dog to fly out and arrive in the UK within 5 days of my arrival on January 30th. Preferably on the same flight as me or I have to find a flight buddy for them. I need to take measurements, sort crates, get the cats rabies shot done in December, book flights and arrange transport from the UK airport to the house.

I'll let you know how I get on.

In the meantime I had a relocation company visit to quote for packing and shipping. For all our moves we've had to itemise the contents and provide a replacement cost for the country we're relocating to for insurance purposes. I have the paperwork from both moves so only have a few things to add and work out the replacement values. On our first move we weren't informed of this until the container was ready to ship.

In my head I've started to plan what furniture is going back to the UK and what is staying in Dubai and how/where it will all fit.

Our family home is a 6 bed house, I'll use the furniture from the flat for the first 6 months and I'll have proper time to work out how we'll use the house fully. For now though, I'll only be using the kitchen, 1 bedroom which is ensuite and the lounge and conservatory. Once the furniture is in, I'll keep the bedroom for visitors, move back into our old room and set the rest of the house up. The 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor will remain empty and the 2 bedrooms on the 3rd floor will be used for storage rather than putting things in the attic space.

We've been advised we don't need to look for an apartment in Dubai until the first week of May and I can sort out the furniture for that then, before everything else gets packed up and shipped. As we'll cross over with 2 properties in Dubai for a week or two.

I also have to sell the fence and the garden contents before we leave.

Repatriation Things we have to do

There's lots of Things to do for this move to the UK. In many ways I'm discovering it's more of a relocation and not repatriation. There is as much stuff to do as there was to move from the UK to South Africa then relocate the the UAE.

Our move to South Africa from the UK was completed within 4 months of being asked to move to our arrival. Visas had to be in place on arrival and as we later discovered the student visas for an Afrikaans school was not our best move and it dictated where we lived. We eventually sent our youngest back to the UK for boarding for his last 4 years of education and the other child finished school at almost 19 with his Matric which was only equivalent to 5 GCSE's grade C. We stayed in a furnished apartment for 6 weeks, before moving into a house, then moving again the following year.

We were in South Africa 1 month short of 4 years.

For our move to the UAE we had to be in the UK to attest and certify our documents for the visa process and once they were in place we were able to move to Dubai and apply for our visas. However there were several surprises such as the cat and dog arrived, we'd rented a villa, but were unable to set up the utilities until the visa was in place, which was almost 12 weeks later and we had to live in hotels until then. Also we were unable to ship our air freight until visas were in place and our container sat in customs in the UAE for 9 weeks. We've also moved house after 3 years.
We've been in Dubai 2 months short of 5 years now.

Both moves were organised by the company and they were not successful. For starters when I called the rental agent or the removal company I was informed the contract wasn't with me , which meant Peter had to keep stop what he was doing to contact HR for them to call the companies, report back to Peter and then to me. it was time consuming and at one point our container in South Africa was effectively lost for 3 days.

There have been many financial surprises to deal with also. The company paid for the packing and shipping of our container. They provide a housing and car allowance in both countries and they paid school fees. They also pay all costs for visa applications, including flights. But this money is paid into Peter's salary monthly, so we had to find money to purchase vehicles, pay school deposits and fees and pay the house deposit up front. On our arrival in Dubai we had to pay a full years rent up front. When we left South Africa our visa expired along with our bank accounts and we went from the end of November until the end of January with only Rand in cash to spend.

We'd arrived in South Africa with the Rand at 11:1, when we left it was 27:1. We'd depleted our UK savings setting up in SA.

5 years on and we've recovered financially, we've had tenants in our UK home. The first set stopped paying rent in 2013 and we had an expensive eviction through the courts to recover our home. In 2016 we then purchased a flat near my parents so we'd have somewhere to stay when we visit and the rent from our home covers our running costs for both UK properties.

On our last visit to the UK in September and October we discovered our current tenants had only paid the rent owed under mediation and we were advised they weren't going to pay in October on time either, so we've made the decision to action a Section 21a and claim occupancy of the property in January 2020.

As Peter is 62 and retirement age in Dubai is 65, we don't have long left here. We'd discussed our plan of action for his retirement and our repatriation to the UK, which involved giving our tenants notice in October 2021, getting the work done in the house ready for when Peter retired and it's eventual sale after he returned to the UK, for me to find work and then decide where we were going to live.

We had hoped for one more final move back to South Africa, but it hasn't happened, so we've brought our plans forward. Peter hasn't made a decision about his retirement date yet.

I'm now having to travel back to the UK in November/December as our tenants are leaving early so I can get the locks changed, set up utilities, council tax etc and get the flat rented out to cover the monthly costs. The cat and dog will move back the end of January on my next trip. I will need to be back in Dubai in March as we have friends visiting, I'll return in April for a month, then back to Dubai to organise the packing and shipping of our furniture and move Peter into a 2 bed apartment, which will be our home in Dubai when I visit alternate months.

I will return to the UK end of May to meet the container and Peter will join me in June to help with the unpacking and any jobs in the house I've been physically unable to do.

I'll stay in the UK until the end of October, then back to Dubai till February.

So what next?

Part 1 Repatriation - Preparing for our return to the UK

Moving to a new country is difficult in terms of the language, culture and how things get done. With two international moves under our belt, to South Africa and Dubai, you'd think relocating back to the UK, our home country would be easy, but things over the past 8 years are different, things have changed since we last lived there and we are just too familiar with the way things are done in Dubai.

Each time we've relocated we've gone off into the unknown, required visa's, relied on others to prepare paperwork etc and had to re learn how to do things.

When I visit the UK, I wait in my car for the fuel to be put in the tank, wait for my shopping bags to be packed and hand over my bank card to the cashier for them to put it in the machine and since moving to Dubai, I've been known to actually give the pump attendant my PIN to save me getting out the car when it's too hot.

It takes a few moments to remember things work differently than where I'm used to.

I also have to deal with getting in the 'wrong' side of the car, pay great attention to the direction of traffic before pulling off, remembering the coins and notes and exclaiming 'how much?' after every transaction as the cost of living in the UK has definitely risen.

3 years ago we purchased a flat in the UK. I spent most of year 1 setting up accounts for water, electricity, property management, internet, council tax, TV licence, purchasing furniture, arranging delivery and equipment for the kitchen etc. Removing packaging to the local tip, finding out the bin days for various coloured bags and bins and setting up mobile phone contract.

We won't be moving back to the UK in 2-3 years time, we've started the process of reoccupying our family home and will be relocating the pets in January and the bulk of the furniture and our belongings in May. Until Peter retires, he will remain in Dubai full time and I will live between the 2 countries.

For this move we won't require a visa, which means I don't need my husbands permission as my sponsor to deal with things on my behalf and as British Citizen I've been able to provide acceptable ID, already have UK bank accounts and speak the same language. However I find myself saying on a regular basis. 'I don't live in the UK, I have no idea how these things work' which is greeted with looks of disbelief and tutting over the telephone as if I'm a simpleton.

However, I'm finding out things aren't as straight forward as I'd hoped for. I'll fill you in with further blog posts as things go.

You can read more of our Repatriation story below:

Some of these links aren't yet live and will be updated.

Repatriation or Operation Relocation

Part 1 Things we have to do

Part 2 Starting to get organised

Part 3 Transfer of Residence

Part 4 Relocating pets. Dubai to UK

Part 5 Sorting out our new home in the UK

Part 6 Bob and Pushkins arrive in the UK. What do they think of it? February 2020

Part 7 Renting an apartment in Dubai May 2020

Part 8 Vacating a Villa in Dubai May 2020

Part 9 Moving Day May 2020

Part 10 Relocation

Moving House in Dubai Part 1 - Giving notice and finding a new home

Handing in your notice:

You need to give written notice of 90 days to your landlord as per your tenancy agreement. I'm seriously hoping that a WhatsApp message to the Land Ladies daughter will suffice or we'll be staying put. The last two years we've rearranged the new teensy agreement this way and last year, it was how the 5% increase in rent was relayed to us via WhatsApp also. So far the only response I’ve had is that we’ll get the deposit back once we’ve settled the DEWA (electricity and water) account.

Our contract states we mustn’t remove anything attached to walls, so must I sssume we leave the curtain poles in place? It’s the only thing we’ve put up and that the house must be clean.

I’ve heard other contracts stipulate the house must be repainted and all plants removed from the garden. As our garden was bare other than a patch of half dead grass and 2 office chairs, I’ll be digging up our shrubs and small trees regardless.

Contacting an agent: 

Google ‘houses to rent in Dubai’ there are quite literally 100’s if agents. Set a budget, location, size of house (number of bedrooms) and be prepared to have agents a) ring you within several minutes with a list of available properties or b) not reply to your calls at all. 

Ask agents to ‘drop a pin’ on WhatsApp but be prepared that a) you’ll never find that location or b) the agent fails to turn up.

We’re moving to downsize, save money and be closer to Peters work. Downsizing and small are not words that Dubai are familiar with. Most of the properties viewed so far are bigger than where we are now, it have gardens of epic proportions. 

Some things to take into consideration when renting a new property:

Does the landlord accept pets? Does the land owners ie construction company allow pets on their land they manage? I know of a couple of areas in Dubai where pets are allowed in the buildings (mainly apartment blocks) but the land owners have declared the outside area a ‘dog free’ zone.

Will the landlord be doing any work to the property? What? Timescale? Decorating before you move in? Landscaping the outdoor area? What are the t&cs in regards to repairs? It is common that the tenant is responsible for repairs up to AED500. Make sure all this is in writing. 

Find out how many cheques the landlord will accept. It’s commercial n to pay rent a year up front. Some places will accept 2-4 cheques in advance for the year, but the price will go up if you accept this method and remember it’s illegal in Dubai if a cheque bounces and you will face prosecution if you don’t have the funds. You’ll also require a deposit. 

Agents fees? You’ll need to budget for them also, but don’t expect them to manage your rental agreement, that’s between you and your landlord. 

Getting a quote for packers and moving:

You’ll find details of removal companies in adverts on the rental agents pages. Find out if they’ll pack and unpack and if insurance is included and over how many days they’ll move you.

Here are some of the properties we’ve been looking at.

We’ve decided we want to rent a townhouse. They are 3 beds but much smaller and with less outdoor space than the 2 bed villas. Both properties are however the same price to rent.

There are only so many different styles to townhouses and villas, so preference comes down to location and quality of property.

We want to be within walking distance of the mall/shops and access to public transport and not on the front row on the entrance road.

2 bed villa

3 bed townhouse

Moving House in Dubai Part 2 and Hidden costs after a relocation

We're on the move again, but this time just down the road, not a different country. We've been in this property for almost 3 years and I suspect there will be a few new purchases to be made when we move in to our new home. 

We are moving into a new build property, complete with appliances and our only costs will be to block pave the sandpit and erect a fence. 

However it won't be as expensive as it has been when we've relocated overseas, because this move we can take everything with us, including the contents of our fridge.

I had 3 companies quote for moving, some companies have included insurance, others have had to be chased up for it. All companies will pack and part of the insurance is a requirement that they unpack everything on the day they move you, but not back into cupboards, just onto surfaces to make sure nothing is broken so you can't make a claim further down the line that can be disputed. This is a pain in the backside as it means you don't get time to rest and on our last move to Dubai, we couldn't find several kitchen items for a week afterwards until we had the oven connected. 

For this move though I have found a company who will pack, move, unpack us and put everything away and remove all the packaging on the same day. But they will not pack and transport, valuables such as jewelry or alcohol and I have to pack all fragile ornaments.

When you move house, you pack your food up and take it with you, all of it, maybe not the milk and you've probably run the freezer down, but I bet you take herbs and dried goods and probably the sauces.

At least with this move we don't have to throw a big party to consume all our alcohol as that can't be packed when moving overseas.

But when you relocate from one country to another you have to start over, from fresh and I mean everything.

You can't pack half opened jars of spices or packet mixes. You can't take the salt and pepper grinders unless emptied and cleaned. You can't take cleaning materials and laundry detergents either.

The packers are responsible for what goes in your container. Every single item has to be declared and a value given, if you try sneaking something in and your container is checked at customs, not only will the item be confiscated, but you'd be fined and it will seriously delay the delivery of your belongings.

But when you've just relocated from one country to another and you've had to give away or sell at a loss so many other things that are banned on entry, such as outdoor and garden furniture and bikes, unless steam cleaned with a certificate when moving from the UK to South Africa or you're told DVD's and books declared on the inventory when moving to Dubai can seriously hold your container up so you give them all away with a few favourites in your checked luggage.

The last you thing you want to do or can even afford to do is restock all your cupboards from scratch, knowing at some point you'll be on the move again and have to start over once more.

One Daily Positive - Week 44

I may also have been a little curt and not my usual cheerful happy self this week, but sod it. I'm fed up of smiling and saying I don't mind when inside I'm sobbing and wondering why I tolerate things so much, it's certainly not for an easy life. We're all sorted now with our current tenancy contract so we'll hopefully be signing for a new place before I return to the UK next week, which takes a lot of pressure off me.

No clock change here, but that means we're now 4 hours ahead of the UK which makes communicating back home more difficult.

I'm feeling a lot better, I don't know if you've ever had pneumonia? I had it in 2007 and was hospitalised with it for over 2 weeks. It took me several months to recover. I have been diagnosed with 'walking' pneumonia, which means I don't realise how ill I actually am. I get my blood tests back this week that will show the strain, but the doctor suspects it's where I'm run down from the summer in the UK, a chest infection that I was probably unaware of, that has been left untreated since June when my white blood cells were sky high but any infection I had, had been masked by a 9 day migraine and the identification of a lesion on my brain as well as tests to rule out leukaemia. Yes, I ignored the cough, especially after my dad died in July.

Anyway on with the week.

302 Sunday Warm. Seeing as I'm not sleeping past 3am, I made the most of the night time weather and cleared out the sheds ready for moving, caught up with a ton of paperwork, realised if anything happened to me, hubby would have no clue how to access our online accounts so made a secret, password protected file stored online. He chose the password. Walked to the local shops for coffee to stop myself sleeping during the day and dropped hubby at the airport for an overnight trip to Saudi. I was exhausted by 6pm.

303 Monday Scare. Took Bob for an assessment at a play park, it lasted 4 hours, I stayed for a bit then went off to look around the area to see if it's somewhere we'd consider living. Got my car sorted in the afternoon, needed a new battery. Driving is challenging in Dubai, if you want to turn left you have to do a you turn, unless you're at a major intersection. Today's route involved 2 x 16 lane highways, I entered from the left slowly, everyone was trying to exit right at speed. I visited a Halloween store in the evening and bought inflatable balloons and spoke with the neighbour for the 5th time in 3 years, didn't know she'd had another child.

304 Tuesday Halloween. Hubby arrived home in the early hours. Food shopped, carved a melon, it was cheaper than a pumpkin, baked some cakes for the neighbourhood kids and decorated the outside of the house. I then took Bob to a Howl O Ween party, it's at the place where he boards and he loves it there, came away with a goodie bag full of treats. Got back to hand out treats to the neighbourhood kids and ran out in an hour, tidied up and went to bed early. I may have over done it today.

305 Wednesday First. The whole day was spent house hunting, considering we have to move out at the end of the month, you'd think we'd have something sorted by now, but no, that's not how Dubai works. There are loads of places we like it's just all about location.

306 Thursday Must. Doctors appointment first thing. White Blood Cells still high, in fact they've gone up again so more bloods taken and a bit B injection in my bum. Hubby dropped me off, we had coffee and afterwards I tried to catch the bus home, but my travel card was empty so I walked to the shops and got a taxi. 2 companies came to quote for packing and moving us. Such a wonderful view from the bus stop outside the Doctors.

307 Friday Self Portrait. More house viewing, everything looks the same, everything is the same. Took Bob to a new play place in the afternoon Paw Parking, he chewed through all their tennis balls and took home a goodie bag full of treats.

308 Saturday Fireworks. Can't find any bonfire events anywhere. Found a house to rent, deposit paid and contract signed, just trying to get something in writing to confirm dogs are allowed. The front looks exactly like Day 305 but in a different location as in that location there is no shade at all.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Z is for Zoo.

Triumphant Tales - I get really frustrated that companies assume everyone has access to the internet and knows how to use it. How to get things done without the internet?

PoCoLo - It iratates me when people tell me what I can and can't do in Dubai, especially when they don't live here and only go by what they read in the media. This week we did Halloween.

TweenTeensBeyond - Parents, Teens and Alcohol. Did you allow your kids to drink? 

My Sunday Photo - Week 147 - N is for Normal

I'm back home in Dubai until November 6th, the purpose of my trip home is to find a new house to move to, we're trying to downsize. Apparently people in Dubai don't know what downsizing is and all the houses we've looked at so far are bigger than the 4 bed villa we live in now, however, we live near the beach in a prime location, so by moving a bit further inland we can save almost a third in rent and move to a much better quality home.

I'll be in the UK again for 3 weeks to finish helping my mum move, then retuning to Dubai for our actual move and won't be back in the UK until February.

I'm struggling to adapt to the time difference, driving on the wrong side of the road again (I keep getting in the wrong side of the car) and the heat, despite the summer being well and truly over, it's still 35c in the day.

It's been emotionally draining returning to Dubai. Since we've lived abroad I've always worried that every trip home could be the last time I see my parents. Sadly this year, my father died while I was in the UK, hence my extended stay and returning home has meant having to go through things all over again. Telling people when they ask if I've had a good summer in the UK and having some of his things around me that I'm rediscovering, but this time without family around to support me. I'm not looking forward to returning to the UK next month as it all seems so final, but I get one last visit to the home he shared with my mum, before she moves with some of his belongings in a box to her new home.

It's strange being back in Dubai after 3 months in the UK, but it's nice to have a break. I'm not doing anything different than normal, going out and drinking coffee and blogging, I just happen to have different scenery to look at.

I don't think I can take anymore of this

I'm sitting here at my desk having spent the morning entertaining different people as they quote for our house move on Thursday, I feel sick, I have a huge knot in the tummy and the only thing that's stopping the tears from flowing is there is a guy here removing the stained glass panels from doors and windows for repair after various door slamming incidents and the odd fight amongst the kids.

I don't want to move, I shouldn't have to move, I'm so pissed off that I'm struggling to put it all in words.

When we moved here we knew nothing, knew no one and got no help...'yeah and...' I hear you say.

Well think about how you'd go about moving house in the UK, utilities, broadband, insurance, removal firms etc, etc and then come to a country where everything you've ever known is done completely differently.

For example How do you go about changing your electric and water supply from one house to another?...take the readings, call it through on the phone....here you have to cancel one contract, take out another, pay a new deposit and all this takes 3 hours, in person because you're not the named tenant of the property and your visa says visitor, so they won't discuss details with you.

Unless you've ever made an expat move you'll not understand how alone I feel right now, how pissed off I am and why I'm on the verge of tears all the time.

Hubby doesn't understand either, because I actually get things done, I battle through the tears and the frustration, but it doesn't get any easier to manage or to do.

This is my 4th move in 18 months. Out of our house into temporary accomodation in the UK for 6 weeks, arrival in South Africa to temporary accomodation for 6 weeks, and we move out of this house where we've been for 15 months into, what will hopefully be our last move for a few years, on thursday.

In the meantime I'm surveying the damage around me, half packed boxes, can't find anything, still having to do the normal day to day stuff.

It's not my fault we are in this situation it is the companies for messing up the first time around.

I think I'm going to check into a hotel till Friday and give them the bloody bill.