This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kiran Ali, an American who relocated to Dubai with her family. She works as a director of partnerships in a Fintech company. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When a 150-year-old pine tree toppled and fell through my roof last April, my family of four had to relocate temporarily while it got fixed.
My husband and I had to find a place where we could both work and have childcare for our two kids, who were 6 months old and 4 at the time. We also saw it as an opportunity to explore somewhere new. We considered New York and San Francisco, but then thought this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pick up and go somewhere farther, and decided on Dubai.
I had worked in Dubai in 2013 and enjoyed my time there. My husband is an entrepreneur and had opportunities to work there. So, we thought: “Why don’t we just go to Dubai?”
Our trip was supposed to be three weeks — but that turned into eight, and then 10. My husband started work in his startup in Dubai while I shuttled between the US and Dubai, applied for jobs, and prepared our house in Washington, DC, to be rented.
In March this year, I found a job in Dubai, and we were able to relocate there permanently.
I like who I am as a mother in Dubai
As a mother in the US, I didn’t have much support. I worked, did the laundry, and ran around for my children’s activities. I didn’t have that much quality time left over for my kids because I ran the household and worked full-time.
In Dubai, however, the culture is built around quality time with your family. When I come home from work, our part-time nanny, who we pay 4,000 AED, or $1,089 a month, has already done the laundry, cooked the food, and bathed the children.
At 6 p.m. I’m done with work. There’s no expectation that I’ll be checking my emails. So when I come to my children, they’re not getting yelled at because they are not getting a distracted parent. They’re getting the best version of me.
I am more relaxed here
In the US, we were often overscheduled. I knew three or four weeks in advance what we would be doing every single weekend — spontaneity died at the door.
But in Dubai, we don’t stress over booking restaurant reservations or worry about a place being too crowded. We figure it out as we go.
Because of this, I spend more quality time with my spouse, new friends, and children. My weekends are truly relaxing. When I return to work on Mondays, I am the best version of myself in the corporate setting.
At work, face-to-face relationships are valued. As a result, the lines between professional and personal can be slightly blurred. A lot of networking is done via WhatsApp. And so, you can set up a meeting, and at the same time, send memes or talk about traveling. There’s no facade that everyone has to be very serious all the time.
It’s also easier to make friends
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.
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