Those were not words I expected to type at the beginning of this year. 2020 was the year Expo would start, it's a year we've had as a milestone since moving to Dubai. Never did we imagine it would be a milestone year for so many other reasons. We were never prepared to leave Dubai this year, there were still so many things I wanted to do.
A huge part of our leaving Dubai checklist was making sure our cats were ready to leave too. When I started preparing everything for our unexpected move home I had no idea about the process of shipping them home. All I knew was it was possible and we could find someone to do the whole process for us. That was exactly what we needed with the limited time and short notice of the move.
In July 2020 we flew from Dubai to London on a one way flight home. It wasn't a flight I'd thought I'd be taking so soon and with COVID-19 still very much around, it was a flight I was particularly anxious about. For anyone else having to flying during this global pandemic, for need or pleasure, I thought I'd share my experience flying during COVID-19 with Emirates to help you out a little.
Before leaving Dubai there were a few places I wanted to try before leaving that I'd have my eye on way before lockdown began. We all know I'm a sucker for a cute cafe or pink restaurant so many of these will come a no surprise that I wanted to visit. Although I hadn't stepped foot in some of these places until the last month I would say they are some of the best places in Dubai to eat out in.
For our final few days in Dubai we decided to treat ourselves to a little luxury staycation. After the hassle of completing the leaving Dubai checklist we decided we were in a need of a little R & R before the move back to the UK. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic there were plenty of deals on staycations in Dubai. After spending hours looking over at least a dozen hotels in Dubai we opted for one of the Jumeirah hotels located by the Burj al Arab. We actually booked the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, however, less than 24 hours before check in we received a call to say our reservation had been moved to the Jumeriah al Naseem. I would actually call that an upgrade... the reason was Jumeriah Beach Hotel was still closed.
Leaving Dubai can seem like a daunting task even with time to plan the move, however, with the current global pandemic happening many people are leaving Dubai with very little notice. We were some of those people and managed to organise leaving in just over 9 weeks. Today I wanted to share my ultimate checklist for leaving Dubai for anyone else in a similar situation.
La Mer is a relatively new area in Dubai to become popular but for very good reason, when I first visited here I was pleasantly surprised by the whole area and the beach vibe it had. It almost felt like you've stepped into another city and left the skyscrapers behind. We arrived as the sun was beginning to set and this certainly showed La Mer off in the best light. There were people relaxing from a busy day on the beach while others who'd just arrived were taking in the gorgeous street art and dazzling fairy lights, it was a vibrant atmosphere.
This post has been going around my head for a little while now so I thought I'd finally type the words up and share with you some observations I've noticed about my life since moving to Dubai.
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