Ma'Sallama Abu Dhabi 
After five and a half years in Abu Dhabi and 5 years writing this blog, it is time to say goodbye. We have decided it is time to move back to the UK and get back to some normality and our families (they are not normal :-) ). I quit my job in the early part of December, so I have had a nice few weeks de-stressing. Next week I fly back to the UK and start a new job for the company I worked for here in the UAE for 5 years, with the same boss who moved back home last year. Caz will stay to complete her notice period and then we will move back into our home in Kent.

As we reflect on our time here in the UAE we will leave with some very happy memories, with some great new friends and some experiences we will never forget. Working in the UAE is no cake walk. The stress and exhaustion we have experienced has been unparallelled and was the main reason for going home. We have reached a burn-out point and feel we need to regain some balance and normalcy again. Abu Dhabi is a great place to live (well, except for the summer!), but for westerners it is in many ways alien, strange and frustrating. We have tried to embrace the culture and always accept that we are guests in their country, so we respect their way of doing things, their laws, their norms. But the feeling that you are only one finger gesture away, or one wrong word to the wrong person away from jail, when you think about it, is a stress you don't need.

So we return to the UK looking forward to seeing our family (especially our grandson Alfie) and our friends again. If only for a short while, we will enjoy the cold, wind and rain and snow - and also the greeness, trees and wildlife. Archie will be coming home with us and we are looking forward to walks with him in the fields and woods around our house in Kent. I'm sure once he gets over the cold and wet (!), he will love it too.

Whilst I will not be writing any more entries on the blog, I will leave it up for viewing. Although my up to date knowledge will soon diminish, I am happy to field enquiries about anything you have seen on the blog or anything in general about living or working in the UAE. Many things will change in Abu Dhabi in the coming years, but some things I'm sure will never change.

To those of you that have regularly read the blog, I thank you for your interest. I have been pleased that so many people have been able to enjoy the entries. Below is a screenshot I just took of the stats from when I started the blog...

 

 

Above all else though, this blog will be a lasting account of an amazing time of our lives here in Abu Dhabi, for me and Caz to look back at. The first 3 years or so, has already been printed into a hardback book for keeping, so now I need to print volume two!

So it just remains for me to say farewell, Ma'Sallama ...