Living And Working In Dubai

At first I was ecstatic to be here, wonderful weather, beaches, English spoken everywhere, familiar foods and brands in all the shops (compared to Taiwan where I barely knew my ass from my elbow).

However, once the initial euphoria of living and working in Dubai had faded, I started to find fault with the place, heavy traffic, construction sites everywhere, some rather draconian rules, but there is always a bad side to every city.

On balance living and working in Dubai has been very good for us, and to choose to see the negative aspects would be a pity. There is a lot to celebrate about the place, and a lot of things that I can choose to connect with.

The weather in Dubai is nothing less than FANTASTIC! I love warm weather and it sure is warm here. For around 4-6 weeks in mid-winter it gets a little chilly, dropping down to around 11 degrees (celsius, all my temperatures are in degrees celsius) at night and in the early mornings, however by mid day the temperature has risen again to around 22-26 degrees.

You can almost ALWAYS sit outside in the sunshine in winter. And the cold is short-lived. By early February it is already substantially warmer, and by late February it's reaching 28-30.

Summer is pretty hot. The temperatures seem to range from 35 to 45 degrees.

Every building has air conditioning so this is a lot easier to deal with than say Cape Town in February, where it is often 40 degrees, but barely any homes are equipped with air con.

Beautiful Beaches

A major perk for me about living in Dubai is that I get to spend lots of time on the beach, and it is amazing. The water is cool (except in summer when it's more like a warm bath), crisp and clear, and the sand is soft and white. There is often amazing visibility if you are into snorkeling.

Most of the hotels have their own private beaches which non-guests can access for a fee. I go to a public beach which is just lovely. The beaches are perfect for swimming and most water sports, although there isn’t much happening in terms of waves so surfing isn’t big right now. In winter there is more to surf.

The cost of living in Dubai is fairly high, but it’s relative to the salaries here. Rents are comparable to any big city, and in fact are generally more reasonable than cities like London or New York.

Rents have come down quite significantly over the past year, and the practice of landlords demanding rent a year in advance (ludicrous isn’t it?) is falling away as people refuse to put up with these terms.

The price of fuel is EXTREMELY low, it costs me around 60 dirhams to fill my tank (roughly $16) and that lasts me for about 2 weeks. The only downside is that there are so FEW gas stations, so when you take your car to fill up you can nearly always expect a queue and a wait of anything from 15 to 45 minutes!

Working in Dubai

The job market was still fantastic when we arrived here, but of course it did take a knock along with the rest of the world. However, people are still being employed and there are still job vacancies being advertised all across the Emirate, so if you wanted to explore the option of living and working in Dubai don’t let the economy deter you, start putting feelers out.

Tax Free

A very significant perk for living and working in Dubai is that it is TAX FREE! This is pretty major indeed. What you earn, you earn. You get EVERY PENNY! So this is definitely something that entices a lot of people to come here.

Transport

Most people living and working in Dubai have cars, hence the large number of cars on the road! Taxis are cheap relative to the UK, but if you are using a slightly weaker currency you may find them quite pricey. We found the taxis very expensive coming from Taiwan where they truly are super cheap.

The problem with using taxis is the unreliability. During rush hour you can wait a really long time for a taxi. In my first couple of months before I got a car, I was waiting up to two hours in a taxi queue every evening to get home, and then paying 100 dirhams ($27) for the trip.

Considering that to rent a car costs around 2300 dirhams a month (for the cheapest model), it is more worthwhile to hire a car than it is to use taxis if you are going to be using them frequently.

The obvious benefit of a taxi is when you don’t know your way around the city. Dubai’s streets are constantly changing due to development and construction, and it is not like other cities where if you miss your turn off, you can just take the next one, or turn around. Oh no. If you miss your turn you are well and truly lost and it could take you a good two hours to find your way back.

Even though I have been living and working in Dubai for quite a while already I still don’t know my way around very well, and if I miss a turn off I break out into a cold sweat as I know how hard it will be to find my way back again. However, my sense of direction is well and truly challenged, so perhaps this wouldn’t be such a concern for you.

Walking isn’t a very good option as this city is decidedly not pedestrian friendly. It is also decidedly NOT bicycle friendly. We live just outside of the city, so it is very quiet, and we ride our bicyles every day, but I would never try and ride my bike anywhere else.

Many people are killed each year crossing the streets, as there are plenty of streets with no safe places to cross, where pedestrians have no choice but to make a mad dash across the street. So it is wiser to hire a car or a taxi.

There are buses, however standing at a bus stop in the full heat of day may not be so much fun.

The metro has opened recently and it is GREAT! For a few dirhams a trip it is cheap and reliable, and a pleasure to ride.

Parking

There is plenty of parking and it's usually FREE! All the major shopping centers have tons of parking and you never pay for it. There is usually plenty of free parking everywhere you go and if you did struggle to find a parking (such as in the center of town) you could valet park for a nominal fee.

Food in Dubai

As far as food is concerned, you'll find that living and working in Dubai you can get everything you would expect to get in any first world country, there are lots of major supermarket chains, such as Geant, Carrefour, Waitrose and Spinneys.

The fresh produce is imported in from all over the world. Food is expensive in comparison to pretty much every other city I’ve lived in, and organic food is astronomical. However, relative to salaries earned, it doesn’t seem so bad and I’ve quickly got used to the prices here.

Alcohol Ban

Alcohol isn’t sold in any supermarkets and there are no bottle stores. For those living and working in Dubai it is available to purchase for home use if you apply for a special license.

We don’t drink so we never applied for this license. For a venue to sell alcohol it must be attached to a hotel, so hotels have restaurants and clubs attached to them where alcohol is served.

As a non drinker, I actually really appreciate the fact that alcohol isn’t in my face everywhere I look. It is not that I would be tempted to drink it, it is just that I find it quite refreshing, in the same way I find it refreshing when I go to a restaurant and find that they have healthy options on their menu. It is refreshing to me that an unhealthy substance like alcohol isn’t widely available.

All the restaurants we enjoy going to don’t have alcohol on the menu as they are not attached to hotels. I also like the fact that there isn’t any worry about drunk drivers on the roads, as the zero tolerance policy means that I have never heard of anyone drinking and driving here.

Alcohol is ENORMOUSLY expensive, so for those who do like a tipple, prepare to pay through your nose ring.

Things To Do In Dubai

There is tons of entertainment on offer whether you're living and working in Dubai or just visiting: great water parks, an indoor ski slope (yes you can go skiing and snowboarding dressed in multiple layers of snow gear, while its 50 degrees outside!), and of course the lovely beaches.

There is every type of restaurant you could imagine: an enormous array of Indian restaurants, Arabic, Thai, Italian, Japanese, whatever you can think of. Vegans and vegetarians are really well catered for, raw vegans less so. I don’t think anyone here really knows what a raw vegan is! You can usually get a salad but that’s about it. For vegans and vegetarians, there is plenty and it is GREAT!

In the pictures below we're at a water park called Wild Wadi, when we had first arrived in Dubai.

The hustle and bustle of this area of the city makes you feel you are really IN the city, in the heart of the city.

Dubai is very tolerant of different religions, but it is absolutely expected that if you are living and working in Dubai that you treat the religious culture respectfully. This is especially true during Ramadan where you may not eat or drink in public from sunup to sundown.

You also need to take a little more care in dressing and keep the hot pants and tiny halters for when you're actually ON the beach, with something a little more modest for when you're walking around on the street. I like to wear short skirts and short shorts and haven't found it a problem, however I have definitely toned my style down a couple of notches.

It is also best to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum when you're out in public.

The Madinat Jumeirah is a good place to go to look for souvenir gifts, restaurants and pretty views. You have a great view of the Burj Al Arab, the most famous hotel in Dubai, from here.

I choose to connect with this city as my temporary home and to connect with the whole experience of living and working in Dubai. The city has been good to me, and if you should choose to visit or begin living and working in Dubai yourself, I hope that it will be very good to you too.