I returned back to the USA on October 26th and have been spending time with friends and family across Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington DC.
Since my return, I have had a several people ask me how much I spent traveling the world the last 5+ months, and every time I tell them, they’re shocked by how little money I spent.
I’ll tell you a secret right now; traveling doesn’t have to be expensive.
Once you know how to look for the right deals you’re on the right path. If you’re okay with basics over luxuries, your money will go even further!
For example, when looking for flights, Tuesdays are typically cheaper days to fly somewhere than Thursdays because there are a ton of people looking for “weekend getaways” which drives those prices up.
When looking for accommodation, take into consideration how much time you’ll actually SPEND in the room, and book according to your comfort level. I tend to spend very little time in my accommodations, so I typically book dorm style hostel beds. After a few days or weeks in a hostel, I’ll get myself a proper room just to reset, and go back to hostels again.
If you look now, Frontier Airlines has $15 US domestic flight deals. The offer ends tomorrow, the 13th of November, 2019. The airports and dates are limited, but if you play your cards right and pack minimally (no checked back or carry on; personal item only), you can book yourself a getaway of your own. If you’re not a light packer, be prepared to pay extra for a carry on or checked luggage.
Traveling is not easy. Whether it be domestic travel to a city or town you’ve never been before, or a foreign land where even the language is unfamiliar, it’s always a challenge. Recognize there will be a challenge, and embrace the challenging moments, because when you get though it (which you will), the feeling of self accomplishment is indescribable.
You got this.
While traveling is a passion of mine, after 162 days, I am very much looking forward to the quiet serenity of my personal sanctuary. I will be home around this same time next week and I can not wait to settle in and begin to share with all of you the beauty of my experiences.
When I began this blog, I had every intention of taking time out on a regular basis to write about my experiences.
Then I got to India and realized that getting reliable Wifi was sometimes a bit of a challenge, and that enjoying my experiences meant spending every moment in the present and not having much time to sit back and reflect.
I finally have found time to sit back and reflect in a hostel with reliable internet, and WOW.
My mind is exploding, my cheeks hurt from smiling, my heart pumps with more joy than I can even begin to explain and my eyes are brighter from the beauty I have seen with them.
I have been so incredibly blessed with the people I have met and the opportunity I have been given in India. I would never have guessed that my trip would be this way. My loose plan got looser and my friendships grew stronger.
And now I am sitting here attempting to reflect on it all and the joy brings me tears.
I will sit down very soon and write out the highlights of this journey in India, but for now I have only two more days to enjoy it and I can’t bare the idea of spending that time with my nose in a computer instead of in a conversation with someone who will be a complete stranger today and a valued friend tomorrow.
India: Ganesh Chaturthi or ‘Ganesh Festival’ image of the elephant-headed god Ganesh
I’ll pour myself a glass of Scotch before I write this one….
WARNING: This is a blow off post… there may be choice words some may not appreciate.
I was losing my mind this week. I was filled with so many emotions that no matter how far I ran in this disgustingly humid yet desert-like heat, I couldn’t arrange my thoughts into comprehension that I was comfortable with.
I felt like I got hit by a rogue wave and the bowl of shiny cherries I had been carrying around with me fell out of my hands and into the sand. The pieces all scattered in the sand or being washed away by the sea, and I couldn’t even find the bowl to put them back in… fuck!!
I could say it was frustration, but my frustration was in layers like a shitty cake.
I could say it was anger, but my anger stemmed from the past and the present and everything in between.
I could say it was confusion, but I was too confused to know why.
I could say it was even a little sadness, but I try to never admit my weaknesses…
So here I was.. losing my fucking mind.
Where do I start… breathe in… breathe out…
As you all know, taking any kind of risk has a certain monetary value. As you can imagine, quitting your job and taking off for months at a time means there is a bit more risk. Unless, of course, you’re blessed with one of those “WFH” jobs that allows you to really “Work from anywhere”… don’t get me started on my jealousy.
I thought I had all my “money” things in line. I had someone living in my place and paying my rent who would also send me my bills as they arrived so I wouldn’t miss any payments, money in my checking account to last me a few months of paying said bills/ traveling/ having some fun, money in my savings account for any emergency that may come about, and cash in my pocket.. My plan was set, but it all revolved around the first piece of the puzzle going down on time before the rest of the puzzle could fit into place.
As you can probably assume from my tantrum, the rent money didn’t come in on the 1st (and still hasn’t).
I, of course, paid my rent on the 1st, when it was DUE.
POOF: $1150 over budget.
I made contact with the individual* a few days ago who sayid they paid the rent and put all the blame on Wells Fargo for not ‘initiating the payment in time’.
They said it should arrive in my account no later than Wednesday..
*Nothing disgusts me more about a human being than one who can’t take responsibility for themselves and their actions..just simply say, “I waited until the last minute to pay the rent so it will be late this month, sorry”.
Puts me to my next money topic, my bills…
The same individual in my apartment was supposed to be sending me my bills as they came in. My routine was that I would receive the email and then I would go online and pay the bill…easy enough.
So why when I went to rent a car the other day to drive to Dubai did my card get declined for non payment!!? I went though the emails, nothing.. I made a 300 dollar payment on the card hoping that the large amount would open the availability of the card up to me sooner… no such luck. Luckily this country is so willing to accommodate they rented me the card without a deposit..
I’m sure my interest rate just went up over that garbage..
I spoke to a friend who agreed to grab my mail once or twice a week to send me my bills so hopefully it won’t happen again…ok, another positive.
So here I was, all week, trying to plan my next move (I have to leave UAE by August 18th because my visa expires, again), and I had almost no fucking play money to buy my plane tickets with and my credit card was being declined due to “missed payment”..so I was dipping into my savings account and giving myself a damn anxiety attack in the process.
Because time is sensitive and the days of waiting last minute to purchase tickets on the cheap are over, I purchased my ticket to Mumbai. I booked accommodation for a few nights there and booked a 11 hour train to Goa because after being on “vacation” the last few months, I decided that I need a fucking coastal party in India to relax these nerves, I also booked my accommodation there (I hope 5 days isn’t too long..or too short..).
All booked, still no rent deposit into my account.
I contact my bank… maybe there is an issue on their side??
NOPE.
Stop. Breathe. Call an Arabic friend because instead of puff, puff, pass, they’re full of positivity, positivity, pass.
My Arabic friend 1. got me to breathe and remember “life is good”, and 2. set me up with his personal driver in India and promised me that this guy would take good care of me.
I called his driver in India who informed me that there is currently a taxi strike in India** , but that he would be sure to pick me up wherever I needed him.
**Looking at you, Ganesh!!*
Ok, a few weeks out are booked, money should deposit any day; why did I still feel like shit?
I called an old lover and friend and confessed that my excitement of traveling alone has dwindled down to anxiety. Confessed that this kind of an adventure that I used to crave and feed off of now feels like such trouble and that I’m feeling all the feels about leaving my family and traveling alone and that every step just feels so daunting all of a sudden. I told him that “giving up” and going home seemed like a better option right now.
He told me, “It’s not giving up if that’s what you want to do, but let’s talk though your other options…”
We did.
I decided to stay….
Today I took a break from the travel planning to spend some quality time playing pretend with my niece and nephew, and then went to the pool to drown in the heat and some crappy teenage book that was left in the house from the previous family that lived here.
I began to feel better…finally.
After the pool I took a hot shower, shaved my legs (it sometimes just makes me feel like a new woman), and jumped back on the computer.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
My productivity came back!! My anxiety dwindled.
I got the paperwork together and applied for my India Visa and I booked myself to stay in India through Ganesh Chaturthi (The festival celebrates Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence..If you know me, you’ve seen my home and my tattoo) and then began to forward think from there…
I started to stare at the map… Thailand? Vietnam? Cambodia? Indonesia???
I woke up at 7am. Considering I went to bed around 8:30pm, I think it’s safe to assume my body was exhausted from the previous day’s adventure.
I looked at my phone and there was a Whatsapp message from my Airbnb hosts. The ladies had made a traditional Malaysian breakfast called Nasi Lemak, and wanted to share it with me! I was so excited and suddenly extremely hungry!!
A quintessential Malaysian favorite. Nasi Lemak features fragrant and rich coconut rice with spicy sambal, topped with crispy anchovies, crunchy peanuts, hard-boiled egg, and cool cucumber.
After a delicious breakfast I packed up my bags said my goodbyes. The days single goal was to cross the Oman border successfully and get a fresh stamp in my passport. I had done visa runs before when I was living in Mexico, so I had a general idea of what I could expect:
To be asked a lot of questions when I exit UAE. Wait around for an undetermined amount of time… perhaps pay exit fee’s.
To be asked a lot of questions when I enter Oman. Wait around for an undetermined amount of time… perhaps pay entrance fee’s and temporary visa fee’s.
To be asked a lot of questions when I exit Oman. Wait around for an undetermined amoutn of time… perhaps pay another fee to exit.
To be asked a lot of questions when I enter UAE. Wait around for an undetermined amount of time..perhaps pay for a visa again.
In each step of this process the typical questions revolve around, “Where are you coming from?”, “Where are you going?”, “What will you be doing during your visit?”, “Where will you be staying?” and “How long are you staying?”. If you don’t have answers for these questions, they tend to look a little suspicious..that’s the look you want to avoid when you’re attempting the border crossing for only a visa run.
I had decided that I would attempt my border cross at Mezyad Border Post. Of all the places to cross the UAE/ Oman boarder, I had read though several different peoples experiences that this one was pretty quick and easy.
Also, let me just clarify why I say “attempt” a boarder cross.
In my experiences, as well as the stories I have heard from other friends who had to do these “visa runs” to stay in a country for an extended period of time, sometimes a boarder patrol officer will decline your renewal because, by law, you must exit one country for 24-48 hours (depending on the country) before you can return to it. Other times you’re expected to have a bus or plane ticket to prove your plan to exit the country you’re entering. If the officer declines your renewal, you can expect to be stuck for the 24-48 hours necessary before you can return. This, of course, comes with unexpected costs for accommodation and car rental extension, and the most expensive thing ever, your time.
The drive to the Mezyad Boarder meant driving straight past the Al Ain Camel Market, so of course, I planned to stop. This camel market is the last souk of its kind in the UAE and is an excellent opportunity to see all different breeds of camels up close. There is also plenty of other livestock such as goats, sheep and cattle. As you walk around you see and hear traders discussing the price and merits of their animals.
It was about 9 am when I arrived at the camel market. I parked my car and began to walk around. My Airbnb hosts had warned me that the traders would offer to take my photo with their camels but then expect me to give them money, but they didn’t quite express how aggressive the traders could get.
At first I just smiled and said, “No, thank you”, when I was asked if I had a camera and wanted a photo. When that stopped working they took out their phones and then wanted to take pictures of me and with me. They kept saying they wanted a photo with “American Girl”, which lead me to walking around with my hand over my face telling repeating the two phrases, “No, thank you.” and “No, please stop”.
A few nice traders recognized I wasn’t there to buy a camel or get the best Instagram photo, and so they took me around for a “Camel 101” crash course. They were two men who looked to be in their 60’s, and they showed me the Arabian Camels, the Oman Desert Camels, Saudi Camels and a few breeds of racing camels. From what I could gather with the language barrier, they use the different traveling camels based on weight of what they plan to carry and distance they plan to travel. Overall, camels are amazingly resilient in the desert heat and so they have been used for several centuries. I also learned that some camels are a “smoother ride” than other camels, much like different breeds of horses.
The men also brought me inside one of their camel pens and let me bond with a 3 day old camel they had brought to the market. Despite it only being 3 days old, the camel was still bigger than me! After about twenty minutes I snapped one photo and took off to the refuge of the air conditioned car ready to get this visa run done.
Al Ain Camel Market
I began to head south with the radio turned up playing Arabic music I didn’t understand but still enjoyed and the air conditioning on high. I knew there was no need to look at any map, I just had to keep driving until I got to the border.
The drive was only about twenty minutes. As I got up to the boarder I had a pleasant surprise!!
Camels from the camel market crossing the UAE border in front of me.
As I exited the UAE I was asked to pay 33 Dirhams to leave, sure.
As I entered Oman, the officer began to ask me how long I was staying and where I was headed (exactly what I expected). I told him I was visiting Oman simply for a day trip and that I planned to go to the mountainside town of Dhank.
Considering my brothers status in the UAE, I felt it would be in my best interest to be honest about my intentions. I figured if they asked me questions about why I wouldn’t be staying longer on my way out, or why I had only been gone a short time on my way in, I would simply tell them about my brothers family relocating and my role of helping my preciousniece and nephew get acclimated to the desert life (I’m not above pulling out some cards to help myself out a little).
The border officer looked at me a little sideways and asked me to park the car and go inside. I went inside and there were groups of men hovering over the counter. I figured I’d wait patiently until the chaos subsided before standing in line, but as I wandered around the office looking at maps and reading about the history of Oman, I realized the “line” wasn’t dwindling at all… In fact, more men just kept piling up behind the other men. Zero sense of order…so, I jumped right in. Neglected my personal space and held my ground until it was my turn.
When the officer asked me what I needed I told him I wasn’t sure… I was just told to come inside. I gave him all the paperwork I had and he asked me to pay 33 Dirham. I told him I had just paid 33 Dirham and showed him the receipt. He advised me that this was different, and that this one was for my travel visa… Ok, whatever, the reality for me is it is less than $10 USD, I can afford that.
Exiting the immigration building and crossing into OmanAnd just like that, I was entering Oman
As you can probably tell from the photos, the Mezyad Boarder Cross is all under construction. I don’t know if that’s why people claimed this was a pretty easy boarder to cross, or what, but after only about thirty minutes, I was in the country of Oman.
The drive to Dhank was just short of an hour from the border. Because of the thunderstorm from the previous day, the two lane highway into town was narrowed into one lane for much of the drive. Sand-slides and standing water occupied the other lane.
When two lanes become one
I drove into Dhank and grabbed a cub of Arabian Coffee (it’s becoming my addiction since alcohol is such a chore to get around these parts), and found a nice spot along side a quiet road to stare into the mountainside and enjoy my coffee.
Mountains of Dhank, Oman
After finishing my coffee, I figured it was time to try the drive back again. If I wanted to return the car and have at least two hours to enjoy some drinks with my New Zealand buddies at the hotel bar on Yas Island, I would need to get movin’.
I did stop to take a few photos on my way out of town.
Ummmm…. Is that why this is such a safe region to travel?In this region of the Middle East, families often times live in ‘compounds’, which are luxurious living grounds, likely mocked from the original forts built by the Sheikh’s. This is one.Oman Family compoundsAnother beautiful family compound
As I drove toward the Oman/UAE border I had to keep changing the radio station. No station was coming in clear except the reading of the Quran, and that was only in Arabic. It was then that I noticed a bluetooth symbol under the radio display. Really!!? I could have been jamming out to my own music this whole time!? While simultaneously driving 120km/hr and fiddling with my phone and the audio display, I managed to hook up to bluetooth and play my favorite playlist I made on Spotify, Turnt Up Ladies (If you have Spotify, feel free to follow that station of mine, it’s the best!).
The drive out of Oman was a little daunting. As I pulled up to the boarder crossing, I encountered the same officer who I had spoken to when I exited.
“Oh, only one hour you spend in Oman!?”, he says to me with a troubled look.
“I was there more than one hour! I took a whole driving tour of Dhank! What a beautiful countryside”, I say with a smile and a hint of over the top enthusiasm in my voice. He stamps a piece of paper and tells me to take it to the next gate.
Pulling up to the border post to exit Oman
When I get to the next tent I have to drive though what appears to be an x-ray machine and then I’m asked to pull over for them to physically inspect my car. Sure… no problem.
The officer asks me for my paperwork, and tells me to pull over into the parking lot and go inside.
Ugh…… again!? Good thing I have nothing better to do… Like drink an ice cold beer with a whisky on the side.
I pull into the parking lot and go inside. There are two ladies sitting at desks at the front and people sitting in chairs all facing these two desks. It reminded me of being at the DMV. I didn’t see anything that suggested I “take a number” or anything, so I walked up to one of the women and asked her what I needed to do.
“Just have a seat, we will call you”, she told me.
They’ll call me? I didn’t give them my name or anything… I guess the other officers must have communicated it with some computer or something… I sat in the back.
Waiting inside the immigration building to enter the UAE
After about fifteen minutes one of the ladies waved me up. She asked me for my passport and the piece of paper I was given at the Oman exit. I gave her the requested items, and she stamped the piece of paper and sent me on my way. One more step until I’m officially back in the UAE and legal for another 30 days!
Hoping to get though this next step without a hold up!
I drove to the next post and presented the officer with my passport and paperwork. He handed me back my passport. I asked him, “I’m good for another 30 days now, right!?”. He looked at me confused. I asked him again. He responded, “I don’t know what you ask me.”…ah, forget it…I’m sure I’m fine, I thought. I drove into the UAE.
As I was driving back I got a sneaky suspicion that something wasn’t right… I pulled out my passport to verify that I got a fresh stamp. I flipped though the pages. I saw my original entrance to the UAE on June 18th. I saw my exit of the UAE on July 20th. I saw my entrance into Oman on the 20th with a Visa giving me 8 days to travel Oman (must have been that 33 Durham I paid…) and I saw my exit of Oman. I didn’t see another stamp showing I had re-entered the UAE!! Ugh!!
I called my brother to tell him I was pretty sure they didn’t stamp my passport back in. He assured me that we would make the necessary phone calls and figure out what I would need to do next. He told me he had heard that sometimes even when the passport doesn’t have a physical stamp that the computer systems are indeed updated correctly.
I then called a friend I met a few weeks prior, who lives in Dubai and works for the Immigration Department. He told me a similar thing and assured me that he would get it resolved.
The rest of the way back to Yas Island was about an hour and 45 minutes. I rocked out to my Turnt Up Ladies radio station the whole way flying down the nearly empty highway going 160km/hr stopping only once to fill up the gas tank.
When I arrived back to the island I returned the car to Edgar and told him about the whole passport stamp fiasco I might be in. He pulled out a special light and scanned though the pages on my passport. Lo and behold, there was the stamp!! It was stamped with a very fainted blue ink that blended in way too well with the background of the pages of my US passport. Phew!!!
Crisis averted, yet again!
So, naturally, after returning the car, I called up the boys to meet for a drink at Stills, the bar attached to the Crown Royal Plaza Hotel.
The boys (Uncle Kelley and Chris) and I had some drinks and celebrated another 30 days!
And we celebrated!
I have a video of Chris dancing under some awning on our way to a neighboring hotel bar. If I knew how to post videos on here, I’d share it! It’s pretty precious.
So here I am again, home again at last!!
Well, at least for another 30 days.
I’ll plan my next visa run in advance… where do I want to go next!!? India? Thailand? Turkey? Philippines?
Leaving for my first solo adventure in the Middle East
Our move from Yas Island to Al Reef was smooth and within only a few days we got the apartment cleaned up, furnished the way we want it, got internet set up and running and the place looking and feeling like our family home.
Never underestimate the power of fresh linens!!
Within a few days of settling in, I began to feel an internal nagging that told me I needed to do a little bit more research on my travel visa status here in the UAE. I had talked to people from other countries about the number of days they were allowed to stay in the country before having to go for a Visa run and the general consensus was 30 days, but for some reason I felt that I had read that I had 90 days (Americans tend to be quite privileged in our allowance of time to travel compared to other countries). By the time I actually got around to looking into it, I had four days before my status here would expire! I had done two visa runs in the past when I was living in Mexico, so the process wasn’t new to me; just the location. It was time to buckle down and do some research. Where would I go!?
I consulted with a few friends I’ve made here who have done plenty of these runs themselves, and decided that since I was limited on my planning time, making plane tickets a little too expensive for my budget, that I would instead look into renting a car and going somewhere that is a reasonable driving distance. I had heard about the city of Al Ain, an Oasis in the desert, and I had wanted to check it out, so I figured, now is the best time to make that trip!
Technically Al Ain is on the border of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the country of Oman. As I began to look up where to stay in Oman, I was coming up mostly empty handed for anything in the city of Al Ain. There were very few hotels on that side of the border to begin with, and the ones that were there were expensive and would require almost an hours drive to all the places I wanted to see in Al Ain. I decided to change my course of action. I would stay in the city of Al Ain on the UAE side, and cross into the country of Oman for a day trip to get my necessary stamp.
I began the hotel search again. In this search I found beautiful resorts with elaborate pools and high-end bars and night clubs. While it all was quite tempting, my pocketbook wasn’t trying to have a fancy vacation, it was trying to get my passport a fresh stamp to allow me another 30 days in the UAE.
So, I signed up for Airbnb.
Okay okay okay…. I know!! I have heard all the bad things too about how Airbnb is taking over cities and making it harder for locals to find homes in these said cities. I also recall being in Nola and reading int he newspaper that they had just made Airbnb illegal in the French Quarter because it had become such a disturbance to the residents of the neighborhood.
I wasn’t keen on supporting their community and network, but I was getting a little desperate and thought it would be a good idea to at least see what they had to offer.
I signed up, typed in Al Ain and the dates of my travel, July 18-July 20; JACKPOT!
I found a studio style room that had a queen size bed, fridge, microwave, work desk, couch and private bathroom in the center of the city hosted by two women who ONLY host solo female travelers and married couples!! Safe, clean, convenient… and cheap!
The front door of the flat I booked in Al Ain, UAE
I booked it.
Then I called up the car rental to arrange for me to pick up a car. That was an entire process on its own because the country of Oman requires special insurance to drive in their country. When it comes to having a rental car, you also need a letter and the registration of the car and all these documents that require extra steps to show that you are, indeed, allowed to drive that car across the border (apparently the cars GPS systems don’t work once they’re crossed into Oman and there were a number of cars “rented” that were never returned to the UAE so most car rental companies here don’t allow you to cross the border).
After about two hours (research and booking combined), my trip was booked to go to Al Ain and I could now breath a little easier and start creating my itinerary for when I get there.
It’s almost time to move out of the extended stay hotel and into an apartment. The hope is that we will begin to move on Thursday or Friday of this week.
While I’m excited to move, I’m also a little bummed since this extended stay hotel offers breakfast every morning and dinner four nights a week.
In the new place I’ll have to cook all my own food…or perhaps just eat less.
The new apartment is larger than our current accommodation and also has a gym and a pool (actually two). Something the apartment offers that the hotel doesn’t is several grassy areas with jungle gyms and swings and things for the children.
One thing that doesn’t exist in that neighborhood, however; a hotel. No hotel = no bar. So, I will have to get more adventurous and learn a few more bus routes!
In the meantime, I have four or so more days here on Yas Island, so I will do my best to inhale it all in before we depart.
Right this moment I am sitting in the extended stay hotel dining area. This is the hotel that we have been living out of since our arrival on June 18th.
There is a small American flag as the centerpiece on each table, red, white and blue balloons beautifully displayed around the dining area, and even large glass vases filled with water and dyed for our patriotic pleasure.
The hotel served up hamburgers, french fries and mac and cheese for dinner last night in celebration of America’s independence. They also brought in a popcorn machine just for the night.
This morning, as I came down for breakfast, they had pancakes available; also in celebration of the 4th of July.
To top it all off, shortly after I sat down I was graced with the company of two American Marine’s I have come to know the last few days. Perry, who just arrived two days ago, and David, who has been here one year and is having his going away party tonight (He leaves Saturday night).
I couldn’t help but have a little laugh…. There is nothing quite like sitting with two American Military men eating pancakes to celebrate the 4th of July while in Abu Dhabi.
Also, all awhile the news on the TV’s rattle on about the potentially extremely high shock of the cost of our presidents parade on the tax payer…
Needless to say, Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans.
May your celebrations be filled with fun and true reflection.
There is that saying, “The grass is always greener…”. I’ve heard it a million times, and I am sure you have too, but did you ever sit down and think about what that means? Like really think about it….?
In the last year or so I’ve come to realize that the grass is only green where you water it.
I had a similar routine for years; I would spend a few years single and having a great time. I would party without a single care in the world, take spontaneous trips at a last seconds notice, and talk openly about how I loved my freedom and didn’t need anyone else to make me happy. I felt grateful that I didn’t have to report back to anyone or ask permission to do anything at all. If I wanted to stay out all night, I would. If I wanted to stay in all night with a face mask on and a glass of wine, I could do that too.. I could do whatever I wanted, and I loved it!!
And then eventually I’d meet a man I wanted to invest some serious time into and I’d suddenly stop and spend all my time with that man. Before too long I would realize I felt alone and secluded from all the fun, and I would begin to think about the grass all my friends were frolicking in and I’d want that back. So, without warning I’d break another heart and jump back over the fence.
And then the cycle would begin again. This went on for years.
In 2010 I moved to San Francisco after a pretty dramatic break up with a guy I had been dating for several years. When we met he was amazing, but as the years passed by I began to feel completely taken advantage of. He was in a band and his band came before anything else and often required the assistance of my pocketbook. He also was mostly staying with me in my one bedroom apartment but was never contributing to rent, utilities, or groceries. He eventually began making a documentary that circled around a bunch of conspiracy theories and little by little I began to feel unsafe in my own home (He insisted on keeping a loaded shotgun in my home!!! WTF!!). Needless to say, I had to end that and get far away. So I took off to California.
When I began my journey in California I was living on a couch on 18th and Shotwell and googling (literally) “where to make friends in San Francisco”. All signs pointed to a park in the Mission District called Dolores Park, so I set out to find it. After a few days of wandering the city trying to find this park (this was before smart phones), I found it.
The first day I spent at Dolores Park I was wide eyed; observing. I saw people laying on blankets, reading books and magazines, drinking water and beer, listening to music, and even smoking joints (I was not in Pennsylvania anymore, that was for sure!).
So, the next day I went back to the park with a blanket to lay on, some beers to drink, and my journal. I did this nearly every day for about a week when I finally met a group of men who were on a blanket next to me. There were about 7 of them, and then me. They were all highly educated and very friendly and vowed to show me the city. And boy oh boy did they!!!
From using public transportation, to partying in the Castro District, the Mission, the Tenderloin, and Downtown, to every single street festival and drag show we had a BLAST! They showed me love in ways that I had never felt before. They quickly became my San Francisco family and I will forever love each and every one of them. They taught me the importance of watering my own grass, and that is something I’ve been working on ever since.
I have, of course had bumps in the road. Gave some men too much of my time who didn’t deserve it, gave other men too little of my time that did, and through all of those experiences I have learned a lot about myself, and what my grass needs to stay green, yet I never really put myself first to keep it that way. I spent my time having fun and not necessarily nurturing my own soul.
I traveled and worked and traveled and worked until eventually I began to feel that dissatisfaction with my life again. I did what I always have done and began to look for a new place to live. Where would I want to go next? What would it take for me to pick up my life and move it again, now at 33.
And that’s when I was approached with this opportunity to live in Abu Dhabi for 3 months.
The universe has shown herself again!!!! In my moment of need, she showed me a promising path!!!!
So now, here I sit, in Abu Dhabi.
Currently living in an extended stay hotel, life has been wonderful. I’ve been running at the gym nearly every day, eating healthy, drinking tons of water, rotating my time between the beach and the pool, meeting friends and enjoying the occasional scotch or whisky (as opposed to my previous routine of over indulgence).
When I talk to friends from home they all mention that I seem to be ‘beaming’. That my Aura has changed and that I appear to be so happy here.. and it’s true.
Yas Beach, Abu Dhabi
I’m watering my own grass.
In 15 days we’ll be moving into our new apartment in a neighborhood of Abu Dhabi called Al Reef. Life will certainly change for me as the feeling of being on ‘vacation’ will surely come to a close, but I hope to take that opportunity to get the house set up, continue on my road to good health, and begin to really explore this city as I will be closer to town and therefore closer to public transportation.
There is a list of places I want to see and things I want to do while I’m here in Abu Dhabi, and its just about time to start exploring those places.
As each day goes on, I remind myself of how important it is to water my own grass. No snarky text message or projections from other peoples personal dissatisfaction can take me down right now. I’m on a cloud of self care and I don’t intend to come down from it anytime soon.
Even if you’re not in a position to check out completely like I have pretty much gotten the chance to do here, please remember how important your own grass is. It needs watering, and even the occasional fertilization (not always the easy part of grass care, but necessary non the less), and of course, gentle touch and lots of love.
It has officially been one week since landing in Abu Dhabi and starting this new journey of exploration. Since getting here, every day has been hotter than the day before. This is a trend that is expected to continue though the summer, and as of yesterday we finally hit 101.
With this extreme heat, efficiency of appliances is very important here. From the air conditioning to the escalators.
I have spent the last week observing these different machines and am absolutely fascinated every time I notice another little built in efficiency that I hadn’t noticed previously.
The first thing I noticed was the air conditioning.
I remember hot and humid summers as a little girl growing up in Pennsylvania. I remember our house being freezing cold, and then stepping outside into the summer sunshine and it being thick and hot, and then going inside an establishment and being blasted with cold air the minute you walked in (the “cold section” of the grocery store was always the worst!). There was never comfort, just two extremes; hot and cold. I never understood why people kept the temperatures so drastic… but I was a child, so I didn’t have a say in it, so I just had to deal (I had these kinds of feelings a lot as a child…perhaps that is what has made me so “controlling” as an adult).
Here, in Abu Dhabi, it is hot and, believe it or not, insanely HUMID (yeah, I thought the desert would be a dry heat too)!! Because of the intense hot weather here (and, if I’m being honest, probably because of the amount of money this country has), they have several appliances that are much more efficient than anything I ever saw in my travels before. Yes, you walk into a business and it’s cooler inside that business, but it’s not ridiculously cold. In fact, after a few cups of tea, one might even wish it was a tad bit cooler. They also do not have air conditioners blowing on high the second you walk into an establishment the way they do back in the USA. The air is circulated thru the buildings in a way that not once have I even felt my hair blowing in any kind of air conditioned breeze. Indoors is simply a nice, reasonable well circulated temperature.
Early Morning Humidity in Abu Dhabi
Also, outside they have air conditioning too! Back home in the USA every time I would sit outside in the summertime at a business they had these giant misters that they would turn on that would keep people cool by keeping them well misted with water. Here, they have a machine that is on wheels to keep it mobile and has a large filter on it to catch the water droplets. So they simply roll it to where they want it, plug it in and pour water into it and voila!! The machine blows out cool air instead of a wet mist because it blows through the filter. Nobody sits soggy.
The washer and dryer in our apartment is also amazingly efficient. First, it’s ONE unit!! One machine that does the washing AND the drying. It’s ideal to me for two reasons; 1. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, so even people with small spaces likely have room for one (back home in Oakland, California I live in a 650 sq. ft studio), and 2. There is a setting on the machine that will put the items into ‘dry’ mode immediately following the ‘wash’ mode, so no soggy mildew smelling clothes if you get distracted during your laundry time! Genius.
Dual Washer and Dryer!Wash&Dry functions
The kitchen also has a gadget that I think is awesome!!! It’s a conventional oven that is built into the cabinet (I love when appliances don’t take up counter-top space), and it has a setting that turns the conventional oven into a microwave!!!! Never in my life have I seen a multi-use appliance like this! I have, instead, gone into many homes over the years and noticed how many appliances people have. Usually they have a microwave, a conventional oven and a toaster (the list goes on and on and on when it comes to appliances Americans “must have”) resulting in cluttered counter-tops and/or cabinets. This is a single appliance that can toast your morning bread, heat up last nights dinner leftovers for lunch, and cook a casserole for dinner! It’s awesome!!!
Conventional oven and Microwave
It also really makes me wonder what else can be created that can have multi purpose….
Malls are very popular here in Abu Dhabi. While they do have services for delivery (Uber Eats and Amazon.com to name two that are likely familiar to most of you) like we do in the USA, as well as online shopping available from all major retail stores, their malls are thriving here unlike ours. Back in the USA our malls are now mostly closed store fronts and empty parking lots, but here, its totally different. It is a place to gather, socialize, eat, pray, and shop. They have prayer rooms all over the mall so no matter where someone is, when the clock strikes at a prayer time, they can go.
Lunchtime at Yas Mall
So here we are, in the middle of the desert, with these giant malls. How is that efficient, you might wonder. Well, here is the thing; The temperature, as I mentioned above, is cool and well circulated. Also there is very little need for artificial lighting because there are so many skylight style openings in the roof that allow the sun to light up the walkways (the lights are on sensors for gloomy days), the escalator even has a sensor on it that (get this!!) slows down to nearly a crawl when it’s not being used, and speeds up when someone is about to walk onto the escalator. I literally sat on a bench and watched this process with pure excitement for way to long…
There are also many other efficient things that they do here in the UAE that I have not seen in my previous experiences, and I will continue to observe and share with you as I can.
For now, It’s 1:30 in the afternoon and I just got back from the gym so I’m going to throw on my swimsuit and walk over to Yas Beach with a friend I met a few days ago. It will be both of our first times vising the beach despite the fact that I have been living here for one week, and they have been living here for ten years!!
Taking a journey to a new and far away place is not easy for anyone. But some people never give themselves the freedom to spread their wings and fly.
The first time I opened my wings to a foreign land, it was 2014 and I went to Mexico. I had been working for an Insurance Broker in San Francisco, California, but was beginning to feel stagnant. I had a conversation with my boss at the time, and she told me that when she was my age she was in the middle of a divorce and that her parents had encouraged her to travel Europe for six months.
She never went.
She was now in her 50’s and it was still a life regret of hers.
She looked me in the eyes and told me that if I really want to quit my job and travel, that now is the best time to do it. I went back to my desk, typed up my resignation letter, researched for an apartment in Isla Mujeres on Craig’s List and bought a one way ticket to Cancun, Mexico.
Over the next few days I was in correspondance with a woman in Mexico regarding the furnished apartment I wanted to rent from her for what I thought would be three months. After consistently insisting that I wire her a large sum of money for the apartment before I get there, I began to have a few reservations in my mind on the legitimacy of the whole transaction. I asked around to friends for advise who also felt that it was likely a scam and that I shouldn’t send any money.
I kept with my mantra that most people are good, and I wired her the money she asked for.
A few weeks later I was saying goodbye to my friends and jumping on a plane to Cancun with my final destination being a small island off the coast of Cancun called Isla Mujeres.
When I arrived on the island of Isla Mueres, there was a man waiting for me with a cart. The woman I was renting the apartment from had sent him to meet me so he could show me to the apartment and hand me the keys. He put my luggage in his cart, and we began to walk. As we walked to the apartment he pointed out several places to eat and drink, and told me which beaches were the best beaches on the whole island.
He showed me to the apartment and when he opened the door, it was exactly as it had appeared in the photos. I was extreamly relieved. The guy handed me the keys, and told me about a blues bar down the street that I was supposed to go to if I wanted to get a job. He said the woman who owned my apartment also owned two bars on the island and would put me to work if I thought I might want to extend my stay past 3 months.
I dropped my bags and headed over to the blues bar. I met a man who seemed to be managing it and told him my name was Sarah and that I had been told to come see him. He introduced himself as Mario, and then he gave me 40 pesos and asked me to run to the tienda to get some limes. I had just started my first job in Mexico.
Over the next several months I built many valuable relationships with both locals and tourists on that paradise island, and eventually left the island to explore other parts of Mexico. I traveled by bus from Cancun, Quintana Roo to Merida, Yucatan and back. Then I flew to Villahermosa, Tabasco and took a bus to Tuxtia Gutererrez, Chiapas. I spent several days visiting different Mayan ruins, learning about the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and hearing and seeing howling monkey’s. After about a week and a half there I took a bus to Oaxaca, Oaxaca and met an amazing couple who eventually took me into their home so that I could stay as long as I wanted without having to pay for a hostel. I fell in love with Oaxaca (and mezcal) and stayed for about two weeks. As my funds began to dwindle, I bought a ticket from Mexico City to San Francisco and promised myself I’d somehow make it to Mexico City before heading home, and I did. It was a very long bus ride, but after arriving in Mexico City I had about six days to explore Mexico City before my flight home.
All along the way I made friends and met people who were more than willing to give me advise on places to see, eat, drink, and dance the night away. I met people who provided me valuable knowledge to keep my journey going by providing me information on how to travel though Mexico most cost effectively. I even met people who took me into their homes and graciously fed me some of their favorite traditional (and non traditional) meals; and for all of that, I am forever thankful.
Despite what the media tells us, and what some people in our government try to feed us; Mexico is an amazing country with a beautiful culture and filled with absolutely kind and generous people.
By the time I returned back to San Francisco, I had been gone for 13 months and taken two trips out of Mexico to get my passport stamped. Through all of that time I felt welcome and comfortable around the native people.
I returned back to San Francisco with next to nothing, and so I began another journey, this time in my home city, of putting my life back together.
One Good Globe 