Kiran Ali
Making friends was much harder back in the US, as people mostly had their groups of friends from school and were not inclined to include new friends. Because everything was so scheduled in the US, finding someone to watch our kids and take time for ourselves was also more difficult.
But making friends has never been a concern in Dubai. Living in an expat city, where 92% of its 3,655,000-person population is non-Emirati, everyone’s very open to meeting. Once you’re plugged into one network, you’ll also meet all the other people there. And there are so many interesting and new people to meet here with different perspectives than we’re used to.
We travel more as a family
Before we moved to Dubai, we were already avid travelers. But with Dubai being a global hub, we travel more now. Many affordable destinations, such as Kazakistan or Beirut, are within a five-hour flight. These vacation destinations were just out of reach when we lived in the US because of the cost and length of flights.
A decade since I last lived here, Dubai has expanded its footprint. Now, you can find people from all over the world and eat all different cuisines — it truly is a cosmopolitan city.
Everything here is also designed to make life easier. Anything from anywhere can be sent to your home in 15 minutes if you need something delivered.
For now, we plan to go back to the US to visit every summer, but we’ll continue living here as long as Dubai will have us.
It’s just weird to think about how one freak accident changed the rest of our lives.
Do you have a story about moving abroad that you want to share? Get in touch with the reporter, Erin: eliam@businessinsider.com.