Dubai has this capability for crafting a compelling narrative. When you think of the city, images of towering skylines, luxurious lifestyles, vast deserts, and endless opportunities probably come to mind. Those snapshots show a glamorous side that’s hard to ignore, the luxury hotels, shimmering towers, and exotic adventures captured perfectly for Instagram and travel blogs….
If you hang out in the desert areas of the UAE for a while, you start to notice something. The dunes dont hold still. Wind keeps shifting the sand, making small adjustments every day. A hill that seemed steep last time might look flatter now. Shapes made overnight fade by midday. Sunlight affects the scene…
Small on the map, the UAE covers little ground when measured by miles. Far off places pop up fast when you ride a little ways out. The land shifts without warning once you’ve moved past familiar streets. A city start could shift fast into open stretches of sand and sky before long. Through high passes,…
Every place has little things that the locals end up ignoring. The buildings they see daily. The landscapes they drive through without noticing. The small characteristics that seemed nice at first but then became a normal part of their environment. But visitors notice every little thing. In the UAE, new arrivals quite often highlight things…
Standing far away, people around often picture the UAE as one uniform place. Desert. Out beyond the edge, golden dunes roll on without end. Rising heat blurs the ground beneath a motionless sky. Through it all, camels step forward, slow and steady, one after another. The land breathes warmth under their feet. A vast stretch…
Early in the morning is when cities typically show their genuine selves. Prior to the start of rush hour, before workplaces become busy, and before the din of the day fades into the background. These early hours might feel nearly serene in the United Arab Emirates. It’s colder outside. Streets that will subsequently see a…
The lights of the city are stunning. When looking at the city’s skyscrapers all lit up against the dark sky, the cars driving on the highways with their lights and well-lit landmarks feature photographers from all continents all descend on the city. However, the lights of the cities hide something else. The stars in the…
Dubai is often in the spotlight for the spectacular architectural styles that are considered futuristic. It has glass towers soaring over highways, man-made islands changing the shape of the coastline, projects which are so ambitious that they make you think that a city can have such different appearance to the one that you’re used to….
From afar, the desert looks almost devoid of features. Just vast expanses of sand that reach the horizon, shining in the sunlight like gold. To a hurried traveler, it might even seem monotonous. However, if you spend a whole afternoon moving at a slow pace through the sand dunes you will actually start noticing something…
Most arrive in Dubai expecting a gargantuan city. One with skyscrapers so high that they seem to touch the sky, packed roads, and cranes that stick up like trees all over. It felt huge to me during those first few weeks almost too much. What was surprising was that after living here for a while,…