10 Things You Miss About Home When You’re A British Expat Living In Dubai
Oh for a good cup of Clipper tea with a roaring fire on, easy access to bagels and crumpets for breakfast, wearing tights with Chelsea boots to work…just some of the things we miss about home.
Well, you could be home soon enough as we’re giving away a pair of Virgin Atlantic economy class flights to London. All you have to do is scroll to the end of the article for details. But before you get there…here’s some of the other things we miss about the UK…
Walking…
Sounds simple enough, but we miss streets where you can just put one foot in front of another to get to places, you know, without having to cross over a huge pile of sand and then a bridge over a main road. And don’t even get us started on walking in the countryside and stopping for a pint at a country pub…sob!
Sunday Papers…
Waking up with a sore head and going out to grab the papers, an orange juice and a Lion Bar…the typical Sunday. Then spending the day trying to read every page of the broadsheets and supplements but all you really want to do is flick through The Sun.
Greggs…
Yep, we went there. Admit it…everyone loves the option of popping in to the cheap-as-chips bakery/sandwich shop/weird pizza stop/master pasty maker. Come on…a cheese and onion pasty and a cupcake, and still change for £2!
Greetings cards…
One of our greatest joys, is stumbling across a new little boutique shop that sells cards, ones with a proper sense of humour (yes, we mean rude words). Yeah, we’ve got a Paperchase at Dubai Mall but we need a Joy, or Urban Outfitters or one of those millions of little seaside shops that line the beaches of the UK.
UK Supermarkets…
Oh the joy of going home and walking into Asda! The choice is insane: rows upon rows of cereals, cakes, chocolates and you can easily get a bag of spinach and two avocados for less than AED 10. Don’t even get us started on Sainsbury’s.
Festivals…
Big ones that last at least three days and force you into camping. They feature the biggest acts in the world on one stage and amazing unknowns on another. Glastonbury…we’re looking at you and weeping.
Charity shops…
Bestselling books for AED 5, a new designer dress for AED 15, a lovely set of china for AED 25…you get the idea. One person’s trash is another’s treasure.
Bagels and Crumpets…
If you look hard enough, you can get these now and again. But we don’t want to look hard, we want our breakfast carb-fest on tap!
Old people…
Yes…really! We love seeing them wandering the streets, sitting next to them on a bench or the bus and listening to their stories. We like making sure they’re ok if they drop something, we love their badass attitude towards the cold! Legends!
Primark…
It might be to get a big pile of cheap t-shirts that you’ll be able to wear twice before they’re ruined in the wash, it could be to get cheap undies, hair bobbles, christmas onesies…no matter how snobby we are, everyone needs Primark, because everyone needs cheap socks!
Now read: 13 Simple Rules To Live By In Dubai
