I Lived in Dubai for 1 Year - My Honest Review

Just about a year ago I moved my life from London to Dubai, and today I want to give you my full 1-year review of what it has been like to live here from the perspective of a European expat living here as a content creator, entrepreneur, and software engineer.

OTHER VIDEOS:

CHAPTERS:
0:00 I Lived in Dubai for 1 Year - My Experience
0:45 Why I Moved to Dubai
2:40 Safety
4:37 Weather
7:05 Lifestyle
9:17 Finances / Taxes
11:20 Culture
13:27 Is Dubai strict?
15:05 Will I Leave Dubai?

Tags: moving to Dubai, dubai life, dubai cost of living, how to move to dubai, moving to uae, uae visa, uae residency, dubai visa, bubai company formation, how to start a company in dubai, is dubai expensive, why i moved to dubai

[Viperever]

I have a friend who lives in dubai, she goes for walks in the middle of the night and she never gets paranoid!

[millinytslifestyle]

I have been to Dubai 2 on holiday, I love it. I felt safe walking alone at night, no one was harassing me or cat-calling me.

[Romanroman]

Been to 34 countries and lived in 4 (Kazakhstan, Russia, US, Turkey). It’s my 1.5 year in Dubai and this is truly best place to live. Safe, modern, accessible, interesting. It caters to all. Really Love Dubai

[knightmm]

to be honest as a Iranian who has relatives in Dubai, I like Dubai the only reason that I don't want to move to Dubai is because I'm more of nature guy, I love rain and lush forest, and one thing I don't like is heat but other than that Dubai is an amazing place to live in so far that I know

[YourFinancialPlaybook]

I went to Dubai for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised.

As for a USA comparison, it’s more like an improved Vegas. Nothing like Los Angeles in my opinion respectfully.

No gambling, way way less drunk people, & more of an international crowd… but that larger than life everything brand new with the build outs was super noticeable. I know it was touched on in this video, but way safer feeling in Dubai compared to the majority of metropolitan cities in the USA.

[michaelj]

I've lived in the UAE and Dubai specifically for 19 years now.
Ex London and Birmingham, am very happy and safe here, yes the summer gets warm, but I'd rather have the heat than the damp grey skies of the UK any time.

[AnthonyPerot]

I lived in Dubai for a bit less than 3 years but I couldn’t take the summers heat anymore. However since I moved to London I often miss the quality of life and the safety of Dubai. I guess there’s no perfect place.
Anyway good video full of truth!

[me-gxzw]

I grew up in Canada. Beautiful sunny winter days. Freeze your nose off but the fresh air was like an elixir.

[striker]

Born and brought up in dubai, lived there all my life. The worst thing about being there is no sense of belonging. They never give passport so in a way u never really are a part of the country. Giving fines heartlessly: thats another problem. For a small mistake you would be given a huge fine. I have seen people cry because they earn 4000 dhs and the fine they get is 800 dhs for a small traffic violation. You can't protest: yea good luck trying that. Two dubais: You probably dont know but have u seen the way labors and menial wage workers are treated. I have seen 20+ people living in one hall in deira sharing a single washroom and kitchen and every morning they would be lining up for their 10 mins washroom time. Life in dubai for blue eyed blonde haired guy is very different to someone coming from Bangladesh.

[dawn]

You did not talk much about Dubai being a concrete jungle...heavy traffic and bldgs everywhere. Youtubers just show the beach, water and swimming pools. Traffic is a mess. Also very dusty, you balcony will be covered in dust everyday, no matter how often you clean it. Youtubers make it look like a tropical paradise with beach, boats, water, etc.

[hachim_therapy]

Favourite part of the video ? The WHY, growth is so important! It is not everybody's drive but it is defenitely mine. I am looking to do the same move from London to Dubai and it reassures me to see young educated people feel the same way! All the best for the future

[pumpkinspicyy]

I’m a flight attendant at Emirates. Going there very soon, so excited!
Thank you for the video.

[kq]

The growth part is important. The best part of dubai, singapore etc is that the people are all focussed on growth - people are trying to chase their dreams. They say you are the average of 5 people you surround yourself with.
Being around a society that chases growth will eventually influence you in good ways.

[ricardochristie]

I've been in Dubai for 8 years now. I used to love it, but the quality of the people coming lately is lower than before, and this impacts the overall feel and class of the place. Genuinely talented expats are getting priced out, and there just aren't as many financial incentives (other than zero income tax) as there were before, because most people don't need to be "convinced" to move here as much as they did previosuly. (Inventives for those wondering would be things like housing transport allowances and shareholdings, etc. which were commonly very high a few years ago). The pollution is also insane, partly because of the number of cars that have come, rising by about a million each year! Also, Dubai burns its landfills and has no sustainable way of getting rid of biowaste and garbage. So for 8 months of the year in "summer" the lack of wind to blow away nasty fumes means Dubai is consistently in the top 10 worst polluted cities in the world, with thousands of deaths caused by pollution each year, listed among other developing countries where you'd think Dubai should not belong. BUT, I'm still bloody here! That's because I agree Europe is in the past and slowly falling apart, so I'm in a total dilemma in terms of where to go.

[madinmex]

Way back in the sixties, I was in a small team that surveyed (hydrograpic) this area, it was a proper desert. I often wondered who this survey was for, I now know, and what a beautiful area. Great video.

[sarcophegus]

The major problem I have with these Gulf countries is that your salary is pre determined by your Passport. If you're not a westerner, you'll get paid alot less. Unless you're an entrepreneur, then it don't matter where you're from.

[safiahnd]

Wow .. I grew up in a Mediterranean city, sunshine all Year long .. I never thought about it as a great advantage..

Hearing you describe it makes me appreciate it more

[AlanCohenalco]

Wow! I have ben in UAE now three times already, I loved it.. much of your points of view and observations extremely accurate.Thanks for sharing

[lvseka]

Growth is good and all, and I understand people and places that fully dedicate themselves to that. However for me, there’s somethings that I care for obsessively and focus on but I don’t think a total obsession with growth is mentally healthy. It’s okay not to be perfect or the best.

[zakirh]

i recently visited Dubai. Its a clean developed country, however for all the hype i would not want to settle down here. Housing rent is expensive, traffic is bad especially during rush hours, everything is expensive here. Spoke to some local immigrants and they said things are expensive and they dont save any money, they cant bring in their family, the only reason they are sticking around here is that they no other options as back home in their home country they have a high rate of unemployment. unless one has a high paying job you are ok, otherwise its not affordable or feasible to live here long term. With the hype about Dubai made people come here, however the city i saw as is over crowded