Apparently not all of you recognised the photo below as one from Abu Dhabi. More specifically it is taken in Kalifha City (A or B, I’m not sure) a satellite or suburb of Abu Dhabi which is growing out of the sand.
I love to travel. The mister and I used to live and earn money purely to travel. Twice, we’ve sold everything we own and ridden off into the sunset. Okay, we didn’t sell our stuff, mostly we gave it away because it wasn’t the kind of stuff you could sell. Okay, lots of it we neither sold nor gave away, because mostly our stuff was rusty and broken because we never bought anything new. Except the Trinitron which, I think I mentioned, died the other week. But twice we’ve disposed of our stuff in a variety of means (sold, chucked, stored in parents’ sheds) and ridden off into the sunset.
I have extensive travel lists. Lists of places I want to visit. Lists of places I want to live. Lists of places I want to catch the train through.
Abu Dhabi is on none of these lists.
I’ve been in Abu Dhabi for a week because we were going to move there, but now we might not, although we probably are. So we need to act both as if we are (in case we do) and as if we aren’t (in case we don’t). This is just a fantastic way to be living, because after a year in which I have moved my grandfather into a nursing home, sold his house, then watched my father die, I could really use a bit more uncertainty. Especially in December which is just the most best month to start out stressed.
All of this indecision is, obviously, because of reasons. I wrote all those reasons down (in a rather well-written paragraph if I do say so myself) then realised it was probably a little inappropriate given that this is the internet and all. So I can’t tell you. I also know the meaning of life and I can’t tell you that either.
I could tell you about Abu Dhabi, but I hardly know what to say. It is flat and dry and hot. But that’s how I’d describe Adelaide and most of South Australia.
I left the camera with the mister who is still there. He had a dragonboating appointment amongst other things. When he gets back I will show you some of the photos. Or I will get him to load them onto flickr – interestingly, between his last visit (August) and now, flickr has gone from being blocked due to inappropriate content, to being not blocked.
Abu Dhabi. The hommous is brilliant, the coffee is shit, the sound of construction is constant.
adelaide from adelaide 
You know, I think it will all be much easier in a few days when you are not so jetlagged. Tiredness is a dreadful influencer on decisions. And Abu Dhabi is quite close to Rome, Prague and Paris – in comparison with Adelaide.
Good luck with your reasons. Uncertainty will eventually end. And not only is Abu Dhabi closer to Paris, if the coffee stinks then it has something fundamental in common with Paris as well.
They must be corker reasons, if they lead to Abu Dabi. My reasons end up with ‘Melbourne or Byron?’ as the quandary.
Goodness. Yes. I thought it was either a generic desert photo, as when I clicked on it it didn’t get any bigger, or that it was some South Australian desert. Abu Dhabi, you say? i hope it becomes clearer for you soon.
But why Abu Dhabi? Is the Mister in Construction or something?
I love when you write “because of reasons” and have been meaning to work it into my vocab.
I hope it works out the way you’d like it to. For reasons.
Hey, i’m glad I caught something of you in Adelaide then. Is there much scope for women’s stand up comedy in Abu Dhabi? Will we be reading the annals of third bhurka?
Some friends of friends are there. They are making frightful amounts of money, but live a pretty isolated life in the expat community.
If I already had a place on Kangaroo Island I wouldn’t be bothering with Abu Dhabi, but that’s just me.