British expat in Dubai has ‘cheaper lifestyle’ but misses ‘one thing’ about the UK

Influencer shows incredible views from her Dubai hotel bathroom

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Cara Swann moved to Dubai last year and works as a teacher. The Scottish expat told Express.co.uk she loves her life in the buzzing city.

Cara told Express.co.uk: “You can live a cheaper lifestyle here. I can fill up my tank with petrol for under £20.

“When it comes to drinking, you can’t just go for a casual drink in Dubai because it would cost a lot.

“But the cheapest way to drink is to go for brunch. Brunch is more of a concept here rather than a time of day.

“ You can have brunch every single day, from one to four, or four until seven, then seven to 11, you can even do three brunches in a row!

“You can get ones that cost 70 dirhams (£14) and you get unlimited drink for three hours.”

Cara said that although the working week is shorter in Dubai, expats do “have to work really hard”.

The expat said: “I work in a private school, so there are certain expectations and the standards are very high.”

She told Express.co.uk: “Every workplace has to be shut by 12 on Friday in Dubai for prayers.”

While Cara said she plans to extend her stay in Dubai, there is one thing she misses about the UK.

She said: “It can get very humid in the summer, so most people, such as teachers, leave in the summer to travel.

“Although it’s so well air conditioned, I’ll still be wearing cardigans and jumpers at work because it’s cold.

“The humidity can be very intense outside. You wouldn’t want to walk in it but then again nobody really walks about Dubai.

“It’s not like London, you need to have a car to go anywhere. One thing Dubai doesn’t have is a good public transport system.

“You can get taxis quite cheaply but it all starts to add up.”

In the last few years, Dubai started cloud seeding. The state of the art tech involves using drones to cause rain to address water challenges in the Middle Eastern city.

Cara said: “It sounds like a conspiracy theory but it’s true. What they do is put chemicals into the air because it doesn’t naturally rain here.

“I feel like they’re trying to up their game again this year! It does give you a very increased appreciation for how the UK deals with the rain.”

Without cloud seeding, Dubai would usually get less than 100m of rainfall per year.

Cara told Express.co.uk: “There’s no natural drainage here really. So when it rains, it pours.

“There’s a sign that they use on some roads which made me laugh that warns people to ‘watch out for water ponds’.

“They don’t call them puddles here.”

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