Off into a new adventure!
Our process of relocating from the USA to the UAE really played out over a period of approximately 15 months –
I had in my heart that there would come a day when I was doing business in Dubai – long before I actually was.
We went to Dubai three times of varying lengths before making the jump completely. The first 2 trips were less than a month long each – and the third we stayed for a couple of months to get a feel for family life in the area.
In those early trips we started to learn:
- Communication norms
- How to find food
- How to get around
- What parts of the area would be the best fit for our family
On our third trip I finalized my residency – and then we returned to the USA to tie up loose ends there.
When we actually moved – we started in a serviced apartment for a couple of months during which I got my drivers’ license and started house-hunting.
We found a great place to live that is well-suited to our family and “shifted” after being in-country for a couple of months.
The process of finding, leasing, cleaning, and then auditing/repairing the townhouse was definitely a learning experience. We were the first residents in our unit and discovered that it is typical to need a number of repairs (small and large) before being able to actually move/live there.
Before you can even start on cleaning a unit for move-in, it is necessary to connect power and water in your name – this is when I came face to face with the inability to use my American debit/credit cards for basic services. Initially I would just constantly withdraw cash from my my USA bank account, and go pay in person – but ultimately I discovered the prepaid Visa debit from Al Ansari Exchange, and switched to that.
While the repairs were in progress I started ordering furnishings (so grateful for IKEA and Home Centre), and got a great deal on custom curtains for all of our rooms.
Have you ever tried to sleep in the desert without blackout curtains?
Me either.
Buy curtains.
I decided to have a custom loft bed built to allow me to use the narrow master bedroom as a bedroom and full home office – and was amazed at the incredible quality of work and professionalism I found with this one contractor.
Three cheers for WoodLoft.
Overall it took approximately 14 days from signing the lease to being able to live in the townhouse – and around 4 weeks after that to have all of our beds and appliances, and other furniture selected and delivered and assembled.
We really enjoyed specifically selecting each item – and although I had major decision fatigue, I would not trade the experience. By furnishing the house exclusively from our new country – I felt more deeply connected and for sure more confident in navigating processes that are slightly (or hugely) different from our home country.
All the while of this going on – I was working on the visas for my kids, lots of back and forth with the document attestation process and eventually the immigration offices of the UAE – but we made it!
At the time of me writing this – we’ve been “settled” for maybe 2 or 3 months – and it definitely feels like home.
Questions? Feel free to ask!