Leaving Dubai Episode

In the Old World we would drive to Sharjah tomorrow, to catch the ferry to Iran and drive our way home from there with our FJ.
In the Old World our last days in Dubai would have been filled with farewell parties and sundowners at Dubai’s prettiest places.
In the Old World we would have been waived goodbye from the port of Sharjah by our dear Dubai friends.

But this is the New World now.
In the New World we are being repatriated today through the Dutch and French embassy.
In the New World our farewells have been messages over Whatsapp.
In the New World we leave our FJ in a warehouse to wait for a new owner to take him on great adventures in better times.
In the New World we are waived goodbye by our new friend from the Warehouse who is so kind to drop us off at the airport.

Almost 5 years ago we embarked on our Dubai adventure and we look back at wonderful years in Dubai. We have experienced, learned and grew so much and got to know so much more about the Middle East and all other cultures that we encountered with, here in this big melting pot. We made fun, wonderful, sweet and crazy friends here, from all over the world. Old World or New World, these friendships are rooted deeply in our hearts and we hope to see many of them again, inshallah.

So this is how season 1 ends. We started the year feeling we were in a Netflix series. And boy were we right. But in a different way. We thought we knew what was coming, we thought we had a whole year planned out for us. But like in television shows and movies, you need to be prepared for the unexpected. We had highs in season 1, full of joy with the outlook of embarking on this marvelous trip. And we had lows, when Corona turned the whole world upside down.

For the long term our thirst for adventure has not been quenched, but for the short term we are looking forward to a little cabin in the woods in the Netherlands, were we can recuperate the madness of the last few weeks and reconnect with our family and friends there.

Stay safe all, see ya!

Bye bye house, bye bye friends, bye bye Dubai!