When I first went to Dubai in February last year from Qatar, I thought "Wow!" - it's a cosmopolitan, bustling and busy city with lots of expat action and loads to do and visit...however, be aware of the process of "Emiratisation/Qatarisation/Omanisation" creeping throughout the Gulf in response to ungrateful Western residents and the tumbling price of Brent crude. Essentially, expats have a limited time span in this region. Several generations of excellent,oil-funded education programmes for the locals means that they can/will/be forced to do the jobs that we currently do. Persona non-grata doesn't even cover it - all over the GCC expats are having contracts terminated/not renewed/not even offered to them anymore.

Dubai is glittery, shiny and fun. It's also incredibly expensive. Whatever you do, don't be encouraged to buy property there - like so many of my colleagues. The last real estate crash paid out less than 15 cents on the dollar. This is boom town gone bust, the cost of living is skyrocketing and many Western families are limping back to freezing homelands with very little/or no savings to show - living a good life is always more expensive than you thought.

Plan carefully, talk quietly and carry a big stick.