What it's really like living abroad? Dubai and South Africa.

Every now and then a little thought passes through my brain and I ask myself

'What am I doing living in Dubai?'

'How did this happen?'

Sometimes this thought is triggered as I drive past the Burj Al Arab or the Burb Khalifa and I think 'this place is a dream holiday location for a lot of people and I'm just going about my daily business'

Usually I'm on the way to or from the vets, the doctors or a food shop.

The other times I'm ironing or sweeping endless piles of sand out of the house.

Life isn't actually any different from living in the UK or South Africa. But there are many things to take into consideration when you leave the UK shores.

In the UK I worked and studied full time, we had 5 kids at home. In South Africa we were down to 2 kids and I didn't work or study. By the time we came to Dubai, there were no kids, but I did work full time for our 2nd year here.

In South Africa I had to deal with issues around personal safety, worry about armed robberies and car jacking on a daily basis. So all trips out were planned, someone was notified of where I was going and when I would return. But I had the most amazing experiences from camping in townships, taking the kids to Kruger National Park. Catching the train from Joburg to Cape Town with the then 12 year old and travelling alone to see the Spring Flowers in the Western Cape.

In Dubai I have the freedom to go anywhere at anytime on my own, walk, drive, use public transport, but my world is much smaller and contained to Dubai which is a huge city, but I also have to contend with the oppressive heat, which does limit my activities.

Temperature in car after parking for an hour.

Living abroad means I spend a huge amount of time on my own. Peter is out the house at work from 8am till 5pm every week day and he also travels a lot which means I'm completely on my own. Whilst I'm safe here in Dubai on my own, compared to South Africa, I still have the odd fleeting moment of panic when I realise if I had an accident or was taken ill, that I'd have to manage in it alone.

In South Africa that happened a few times, but we had a wonderful network of support to turn to. In Dubai I pretty much have only one person who I could call on in my hour of need.

Living abroad is lonely, you're isolated from family back in the homeland. In South Africa we had issues with the internet and even lack of electricity at times. In Dubai all voice over internet is blocked. It makes communication difficult. But at least the postal system works in Dubai unlike South Africa.

We now consider the flight from Dubai to the UK as short haul, despite it actually taking 7 hours to reach and another 4-6 hours to get to and from our homes. From South Africa it would take 24 hours door to door, with a direct flight taking 12 hours, or a stop in Dubai involving 2 x 7 hour flights and a minimum 2 hour stop over.

So what do I do all day as a none working mother of 5 whose kids have all left home?

Well I do the house work, washing and ironing. I food shop. walk the dog, scoop dog poop and clean the litter tray, load the dishwasher and cook dinner. I visit the dog park, get my nails done once a month and pretty much do the same things as I did when we lived in South Africa and the UK, just minus having to go to work.

We're not here on holiday, this is our life. In South Africa we lived on a golf course over looking a small river and the 16th green. In Dubai we live in a villa near the Marina.

My instagram feed is a mixture of an photos of daily activities just with a glamorous backdrop.

I drop Peter at the train station when he travels for the week and after parking i'll get the tram to the beach and the ferry back to the Marina. To me that is just normal life now. I get used to seeing the big buildings, tripping over the tourists, coping with the heat, buying bleach to clean the toilets with from the mall and having a Mcdonalds for my dinner in the food court.

I post the pictures, rarely do people read the comments, they just see me in a holiday destination, having fun or showing off. Being envious of my glamorous life style. But the reality is I just popped to the local shops, I could've been sitting in a park in the UK, instead of a beach in Dubai or a nature reserve in South Africa. I go where I need to go to do what I need to do, it just happens to be 'exotic' in many people's eyes.

We rarely do brunches, we save them for when the visitors come, as they're expensive. We go out for dinner with friends occasionally, but we're not dining in 5 star restaurants. We go to the World's largest Mall on the weekends so we can get out of the house, but stay cool indoors and go for a walk.

It's 8am and I can only sit out in the garden till then or after 8pm when the sun has gone down. The air con is on, set at 25c, you'd not heat a house that high in the winter, the bills are huge. My cold water tap doesn't run cold, even in winter it's luke warm. So I go to the pool over the road for a swim. It's lined with palm trees and sun loungers. It's £400 a year membership. If I swam in the UK 3 days a week for 30 weeks of the year, I'd pay £360, so while it sounds luxurious to have gym membership, it isn't really.

I'm not complaining about life abroad, I guess it's more about expelling myths about how glamorous it is. At the end of the day it's still the shame shit, just a different City and a bit harder to get home when I need to.

Earth Hour 2018 Dubai

Dubai joined in with Earth Hour again. This year we watched from our friends roof top. Sadly not many residents turned their lights off, but the government switched off street lights, public buildings and malls and hotels joined in also.

Burj Al Arab and Jumeriah Beach Hotel with Dubai Marina in the background.

Business Bay and the Burj Khalifa. Some lights had to remain on for safety reasons, aeroplanes, helicopters and for the 24/7 construction works.

Dear xceltic3 Dan. Am I posting too much stuff online?

Hi Dan

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog posts recently. I'd like to thank you for showing such an interest in my blog and taking time to comment and sticking me with for so long. After all, I've been rabbiting on for almost 9 years now.

But you've got me thinking though about whether I share too much stuff online as I don't know who are you but you seem to have been reading my blog posts for quite a while, especially as you commented about my completing my Open University course and the time we spent in South Africa.

I must say it did cause me a bit of alarm, put me on the back foot. There's photo's of me and family on here and I'm sure it wouldn't take long for anyone to actually find me at any given point in time.

I started a while ago to only post pictures when I was travelling of places after I'd left the area on social media, now I'm wondering if I should stop checking into places also, or saying in advance where I'm planning on travelling to and when.

I get quite a few comments on my blog from strangers, people I've never met and a fair few number of likes on other Social Media accounts, but I can always reply, I can click on their name and even if their google account is new and unused I can usually find theme on twitter or someone else in the blogging community, especially in the linkys, will know who are they are.

But Dan. I've drawn a blank with you. I can't place you anywhere, you don't exist online anywhere with the name you use on google comment. I have a feeling I may actually know you. Often people who comment anonymously, will sign off with their twitter handle.

I'm wondering now should I be posting less personal stuff, less photo's, you've unnerved me, it's probably not your intention, but it would be great if you could/would identify yourself just to put my mind at rest please.

Regards

Chickenruby.

10 things not to do in Luxor, Egypt.

Spend Money.

Apart from your flights and hotel room, you'll be hard pressed to spend money in Luxor, unless you allow yourself to be ripped off or wish to buy pashminas and replica relics. Everyone will try to help you with everything, including pointing at something for your to photograph and then ask you for money for what they did, be firm and polite and say no.

A taxi from the airport is LE 80, around £4, ask and confirm the price before you do anything and check it's LE (Egyptian Pounds) and not $ (Dollars).

Expect to pay up to LE 700 per person for a full day tour of the West Bank, to include the Valley of the Kings, a couple of temples and the tour guides, brothers, Alabaster or Papayas shop. You will have to pay extra to visit Tutankhamen. You can however do this cheaper yourself, but I'd recommend a tour guide a) to tell you the     history b) to stop you being hassled and c) to get
                                                                                    you back to your hotel.
You have to pay your hotel bill in foreign currency, you are not allowed to pay in Egyptian Pounds, but you can withdraw local currency from the cash machines. Banks are heavily guarded, but don't let anyone try to assist you and preferably withdraw money in pairs.

No one will have change anywhere, and will delay giving you change in the hope you won't bother waiting.

Bring Kids.

Don't bring kids with you unless you are prepared to keep a very close eye on them 24/7 and entertain them yourself. While the hotels have pools, they are a long way from the rooms, terraces, life guards are rare. There are no facilities in Luxor aimed at entertaining children, whilst there is a MacDonalds, there isn't a play area, there are no swings and slides to be found or public parks and internet is scarce.

Use the Internet.

Leave that laptop at home. There is little if no wifi in public places and in the hotels, you are limited to two devices per room. Wifi is often limited each day and costs around $10 per 250mb. Your mobile phone provider will sms on arrival with cost of calls, but if you wish to buy a sim card, you can only get this at the airport.

Drink coffee.

I found one coffee shop that served anything that resembled the coffee I like to drink. Nescafe seem to have the monopoly over here and a latte is 2 powered tubes and over heated milk, not nice. Ask for a cappuccino, it's likely to be from a Nespresso machine.








Drink the water

We've travelled to many locations around the world and we often forget to check if we can drink the tap water. To date we've never been ill from drinking the water, but one of us, usually Peter, has had food poisoning. Brushing teeth is ok, but avoid ice in drinks, ask the waiter to give you the bottled water to open, so you can check the seal and personally I avoid foods with high water content such as watermelon and cucumber.






Shop

There are NO high street stores in Luxor, all you'll find are local shops, souks and markets, mainly selling souvenirs and replica, tacky and low quality, clothes and bags. You'll be hard pressed to find a supermarket, corner store, pharmacy, so bring all your toiletries and medications with you.




Queue

December and January are the height of the tourist season, but don't expect to have to wait in long queues for anywhere, there are sadly few tourists coming to Luxor since 2011, due to the current political climate.

Get tired

Luxor is a relaxing place to visit, tours start early morning, 3 days minimum stay to visit all the sights, take a trip on the nile, fit in a hot air balloon trip and enjoy leisurely drinks and meals in the hotel.


Walk anywhere

Don't expect to walk anywhere in Luxor, the second you step out your hotel you'll be inundated with requests to use taxi's and horse and carriages. If you do get a taxi, the driver will tell you he will wait for you at your destination, until you've finished, so don't pay them until you get back to your hotel.





Relax with personal safety

There are many warnings about travelling to Luxor and Egypt in general. The biggest risk is around mosques at prayer times and if you see large groups of people forming, then it is advised to leave the area and not hang around to see what is going on. Use the hotel safe for your passports, laptops, etc and only carry with you cash and cards that you think you'll need each day. Keep your bag in full sight at all times.

109 My Sunday Photo L is for Luxor and lack of tourists

We're in Luxor for a long weekend, it's the height of the tourist season.

What is the first thing you notice in the photo?

The lack of tourists.

I didn't have to wait, till the coach load filed by, or for the children to run in-between the pillars. I just took the shot and 100's others like it, undisturbed, no one getting in my way, just peace and quiet, a photographers dream.

Whilst the lack of tourists is good for me, it is not good for the local economy. Luxor is a city built 1400BCE. It is already a ruin, but it doesn't need to become run down as well. The Egyptian Pound has devalued so much, that people are struggling here, desperate for the tourists to return.

So why don't the tourists come here anymore?

Personal safety when Solo Travelling in South Africa

There are many countries I've travelled alone to or visited with hubby. With the UK, it is where I grew up, where I know and where I slot back into with relative ease. I've travelled freely in America with hubby and 4 of our children, I also visited Canada on my own earlier this year. I've driven across Europe and quite a fair bit of it on my own and flown to many cities to meet up with hubby while he's been working and travelled around in the day on my own also.

I've always been more cautious when travelling to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, but that has been due to the political unrest of these countries.

Having lived as an expat for 5 years, I've done a lot of exploring in my local area both in Pretoria and now in Dubai, where I travel freely and without fear. I've also travelled freely around South Africa, on my own and with hubby as well as taking the train from Joburg to Cape Town with the teen boy and flew solo to Cape Town and explored the Western Cape as well as numerous trips to Kruger and Durban on my own by car or with the teens and hubby.

I wrote this week about my return to South Africa for a 5 week visit to work with charities as a volunteer. Having lived in Dubai for the last 10 months, personal safety is not something I've had to focus on daily. I am very aware of this since my arrival last week, but not frightened like I was when we first arrived here.

I'm staying with various friends in and around Pretoria. I have access to vehicles to get around in as apart from the Gautrain, which I caught from the airport, there is no public transport. I'm driving into Joburg tomorrow and will be visiting townships within a 200km radius.

I'm finding it a little unnerving living behind security fences and bars on the windows and doors, but also find it reassuring to know that I am safe when I sleep at night. Something I gave little thought to when I lived her, it just takes some time to readjust to.

I'm not really doing anything different in regards to my personal safety here, but I am having to think a bit more about it. Here are some of the things I'm doing to ensure my personal safety while I'm solo travelling in South Africa.

• Purchase a sim card at the airport as if you do in outside you'll be required to provide proof of residence to register your card.

• When leaving friends house, let the next person know I'm on my way and call the person I've just left to let them know when I arrive.

• Give friends a copy of my medical aid/insurance so they know what to do if required.

• Keep handbag in the footwell under the drivers seat.

• Carry a spare phone.

• Keep all valuables locked out of sight, especially in the car. I tend to carry my laptop and camera with me when I go to a mall as we had our car boot broken into in a security car park.

• Have a copy of passport and ID in suitcase.

• Only carry the cash needed for each day and leave a bank card at the place you are staying.

• When driving remember to leave a hijack space at the lights.

• Plan your route in advance, there are plenty of routes that are safe to drive in the day, but not at night.

Why visiting 'home' feels different after you leave

I've been thinking all morning about what I write this post about. For people in South Africa reading this there is the fear I'll come across as a scare monger. For people who know that I lived here, they may think that as its only been 10 months since I left that surely nothing much has changed.

Well so far I've been back 'home' for 4 days and not a lot has changed. I'm back to work as a volunteer which you can read about here.

So far I've been to a meeting, seen nearly all my friends, had my hair and nails done at my usual place, different hair stylist, watched the rugby in a bar wearing my Wales shirt, eaten out and drunk wine. My favourite coffee shop has altered its lay out. There's now a cover over the security gate at the golf estate where we used to live and a few new layouts on a couple of roads.

The cost of living has increased, enough to really notice, but otherwise, everything is still the same. I had a school run to do in the afternoon and a physio appointment at 4pm. 

What I'd forgotten was how much open space there was and clear blue skies, how I can spend all day outside instead of being under noisy air conditioning units.

But what is different for me is my safety. I feel slightly anxious when I'm driving around. Not scared like I was when I first moved here in regards to my personal safety, just aware of it, none stop.

By the time we left here in December 2014 I was used to keeping myself safe. It had become second nature to me. I left a hijack gap at the lights without thinking about it. Kept my handbag under the front seat, automatically drove certain routes at night time to get home. I was aware 24/7 but I wasn't aware I was doing that.

I've done a lot of solo travel this year, to the UK, Canada where I explored Toronto on my own and of course getting to know my new home in Dubai. Hubby has traveled far and wide this year and I've spent a lot of time completely on my own in Dubai. 

But Dubai is safe, I often discover that I haven't locked the kitchen door some nights. I think nothing of going anywhere, using public transport, driving miles to explore new places without any idea of where I'm going before I set off.

I've relaxed, my whole way of life has changed again, not for better or worse, just different. I get asked where I prefer to live. 

I can't answer that other than say that I'm sure in a few days second nature will kick back in and I'll feel at home again in South Africa and won't want to go back to Dubai. 

Solo Travel - Top 13 Tips to Staying Safe

As an expat I travel often and alone. My solo travels have taken me round South Africa, The UAE, the UK and more recently to Canada. I’ve also travelled with hubby to most of Europe and to America when he’s been working and I’ve spent the days exploring various cities on my own.

In South Africa I lived in Pretoria and worked as a volunteer, which involved frequent trips into townships and driving late at night. I also travelled to Kruger, Durban and Cape Town for holidays as well as trips into Johannesburg to explore the city.

In the UAE, I’ve explored every inch of Dubai on trains, buses, taxis and on foot.

The UK which is my home country, my employment took me to remote areas as well as city centres late at night and weekends, as well as camping trips, days out and more recently using public transport up and down the country to visit family and friends and to and from airports usually last thing at night or before sunrise.

On my recent trip to Canada I stayed with a friend I met online 3 years ago, went camping with them in the wilds and stayed a few nights in Toronto prior to flying home to Dubai.

Living as an expat has changed the way I live my life both with my family and when I travel whether with hubby or on my own. After 4 years in South Africa I’m on high alert whenever I go out, not fearful for my safety but aware of it.

When you’ve lived in a country where the risk of harm and death is a daily occurrence you can’t help but change the way you live.

Many of these practices I learnt in South Africa are what I now consider best practice when travelling especially when I travel alone.

1.     Make sure your phone is unlocked and purchase a local sim card, air time and 3G

2.     Always put your hand bag in the foot well of your seat when driving or as a passenger and ensure doors are locked when driving.

3.     Keep your hand bag in full site of you when in cafes/restaurants etc.

4.     Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan on returning to your hotel or base.

5.     Switch off  location finder on your phone when taking photos

6.     Upload pictures to Social Media after you’ve left your last location

7.     Don’t announce on Social Media where your next destination is, City or town is OK but not the name of your hotel, café, activity etc

8.     Write your email address on your luggage label, should you be separated from it and not the name of your hotel

9.     Make sure you keep bank cards and cash to a minimum and in separate places when travelling alone. If everything is in your hand luggage/bag in case you lose it or it gets stolen.

10. Keep a written list of emergency phone numbers separate from your phone or hand bag. The bank, the next location you are staying in, the emergency number for police, fire, ambulance. Your next of kin

11. Carry a copy of your travel Insurance documents in your wallet in case of an accident or illness.

12. Spend time in advance working out how the public transport system works, where you want to go, the cost and length of travel time. This will save you getting lost, although from getting lost I’ve experienced so many more things than I would have done if I’d stuck to my planned route.

13. Confirm hotel bookings at least 24 hours in advance and give them your expected arrival time. I arrived at a hotel in Cape Town late one evening and they’d double booked…it does happen

Where can I walk my dog in Pretoria?

There aren't many places you can go with your dog in South Africa. A lot of open spaces contain wildlife of some description and the rules can change from one week to the next. I've found several places I can walk Bob on a lead, including the golf course that with live on, but there are few places where I can let him off the lead to run free.

Our favourite place is Magalies Sleepy River, we've been there for day trips and camping, but it's an hours drive away and I need somewhere local for daily walks.

I love taking Bob to Irene to Jan Smuts House which is a 5 minute drive from our house. Entrance is R5 to park, there are toilets and lovely tea gardens. There is also a museum that charges R10 for entrance, but you can't take your dog in there and the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month there is a market (dogs welcome)

You have to remember and you are warned about the dangers of walking on your own and there have been a few incidents in the past, but there have also been incidents inside the security estate that we live in. 

There are places on the walk where you are requested to put your dog back on the lead, but they are clearly signposted. Walk as far or as for as long as you like and I always stop for a pot of tea and give Bob some water before we leave.

I'd love to hear from you if you know of other local places where a dog can run off the lead in safety.

How safe is it where you live?

I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago ‘How safe is South Africa’ and I’ve been thinking about it and realised that it should’ve been entitled ‘How safe is Gauteng?’

We’ve just returned from a 17 day road trip from Centurion to Cape Town, via Durban, The Wild Coast, The Garden Route, Cape Town and back to Centurion via the Karoo.

We receive and entertain many visitors, family, friends and colleagues and I’m sure they all think we’re being over dramatic with our instructions/orders on the do’s and dont’s of life here.

A twitter friend who I’ve met and reads my blog asked me to give his parents a few pointers about their upcoming holiday here and my mind went into over drive with the do’s and don’ts till I found out their trip is to Cape Town and the Garden Route only. My advice was to enjoy their holiday and treat the trip in the same way they would when going anywhere on holiday. 

On our journey to Durban, slowly the security disappears, there were still security estates and individual security around houses, but not as evident as it is up here. By the time we arrived in Addo, North West of Port Elizabeth almost all signs of personal security had disappeared.

We drove through Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, it appeared that every man, woman, child and goat was out in the town that day, endless queues at the fuel stops for the bathroom and not once did I consider my personal safety. The biggest risk came from hitting a pot hole or a cow whilst driving. None of the places we stayed in had any kind of security other than maybe a fence to keep the wildlife out, even staying in the middle of the Karoo on our journey home.

South Africa has bad press and most of it with good reason, but it doesn't mean to say it's all bad and like everywhere you go on holiday you should always exercise care and caution. You wouldn't leave your door unlocked while you popped to the corner shop, so why would you do that on holiday? You wouldn't leave your front door open at home for some fresh air while you slept at night, so why would you do that on holiday?

Few people who arrive at OR Tambo, unless they live or have family or business here, just wander out the door with no idea of where they're going or staying, usually met by a tour guide, on a package holiday with a full itinerary scheduled. More people should come here, book their accommodation, hire a car and explore this beautiful country.

Fight or Flight? What would you do?

I wrote a blog post which was published on Monday about How safe is South Africa?

Today we were victims of a crime and all the advice we have been given about maintaining our safety in South Africa went out the window and I experienced 'fight or flight'

I always said I would I would run the opposite direction and I'd let a thief take what they wanted to, to protect myself, but until you're actually put in that situation you really don't know what you'd do.

I fought back, I chased a thief.

MIL arrived from the UK this morning. We sat and drank coffee while waiting for hubbies flight from Dubai, which landed an hour later. We walked down to the parking lot, paid for the ticket and as we opened the boot a guy insisted on helping us with our luggage. We told him no, but he grabbed the cases and put them in the car, then he started rearranging the cases. I told him no more and gave him R5 to go away.

We closed the boot and got into the car, but something stopped me, made me check the boot.

My first thought was he had marked the car and was going to phone ahead to hijackers, to intercept us on our way out of the airport.
Then I noticed hubbies hand luggage case was unzipped on the side. I asked hubby if he had his passport, he said it was in the side pocket of his hand luggage.

As I closed the boot and looked towards where the man had gone, I saw him start to run. I yelled at hubby, 'he's stolen your passport' and before he could get out of the car, I'd taken chase.

I ran up the escalator, looked left and right and saw him at the top of the next escalator, I ran after him, out the door, across the 2 roads, towards the long stay car park and the hotels.

For a split second I thought about running into the police station, but I really didn't want to lose him and go through the hassle of replacing a passport.

As I caught up with him I grabbed him on the shoulder and yelled 'Give me my f***ing passport back, NOW'

He removed it from his jacket pocket and said he'd found it on the floor. I snatched the passport and yelled 'you f***ing liar, you stole it' and turned and ran to the police station.

It was only as I entered the building that fear spread over me like a big wave. He could've had a gun, this is South Africa, Johannesburg.

I had no control over my behaviour. I fought, it was a natural instinct, one that I will have to learn to supress.

If the incident was captured on CCTV it'll look like I was the one who committed the crime. I was so bloody angry.