I have always said that one of the best things about being an expat is the people you meet. You have the opportunity to make life long friendships with people whose path you are highly unlikely to have passed had you stayed at home.

One of those people is my friend, Justine. She recently moved back to the UK after a number of years in various countries, two of which I was in as well. I hate when people leave but it’s not as bad when you know you will see them again.

This is one of those friendships. We know that wherever in the world we live, one of us will always visit the other. Last time it was her visiting me so this time I went to visit her… and I totally get the better end of the deal!

I live in the city in Dubai. There is traffic 24/7, and it’s never dark.

Justine lives in the countryside-ish. There is no traffic, and when you go to bed at night the only light you have is from the moon and the stars. This isn’t something I thought I would ever appreciate but it is the tonic to my real life that I thought I would only ever find on a beach on an island. I was wrong.

I woke the first morning to this incredible view from my window:

So then decided to look around the other sides of the house to see what it looked like as I had arrived in the pitch dark the night before. I wasn’t disappointed:

Despite the cold (it was about 2 degrees centrigrade, if that), I was practically hanging out the windows to smell the clean air and see all there was to see. It was heavenly and probably the best I had felt at 6am in a very long time!

About an hour later, Justine woke and suggested we went for a walk around her neighbourhood. I will write about that shortly, but to “whet your whistle”…