9th Feb - Dubai Du's & Don'ts



As I prepare to appropriately flap my travel wings over the course of the coming year, I can finally see March on the horizon, which marks a real positive step for a flurry of reasons. January and February, through their bitter mornings and early sunsets, have proved difficult to most, I'm sure. Though throw in a complete absence of trips/foreign travel over these past 60 days or so, and they've been somewhat unbearable as I've found myself grounded to U.K soil like a diseased pigeon awaiting a limb transplant. 

Next month marks the return of (slightly) warmer weather, but also, many more hours of sunlight due to a switch between GMT and BST (sunset will occur at 7.37pm by the end of March), and of course... My own personal return to the airport(s) of our exhausted, Tory-soaked, damp cardboard house of a country. There are boarding passes with my name on already printed for March (x2), April, May, June, July, August, September, November, and soon-to-be, December (I'm looking at you, October!). Though undoubtedly, one of my most intriguing trips will arrive in the tail-end of 2022, as I head East to the World Cup in Qatar. 




As part of this journey, I'll also be spending some time in Dubai & Abu Dhabi - for the Grand Prix - and I was shocked to research some of the societal rules in place at the former. These days, Dubai seems to cement a reputation as a dazzling 'Vegas' of the Dunes, clad with with Instagram influencers, Love Island wannabes, Footballers on vacation, and OnlyFans moguls. But despite Google's returned offerings when looking deeper into the 'Dubai Porta Potty' craze, it would seem that the UAE state is still rather stringent in enforcing discipline on many areas deemed 'acceptable' by Western culture. 

Perhaps the most surprising fact I uncovered, was that swearing is strictly prohibited and that dropping the F-bomb could even land you with jail time. There are, of course, other well-publicised laws such as forbidden public displays of affection (fine with me, I tend to feel a little nauseous watching couples snogging in U.K bars etc), and avoiding dancing or drinking in public. Though, I was also surprised to hear that your left hand should not be used for eating, greeting, opening doors etc. The reasoning? Back in the days before toilet roll, the left hand was typically used in UAE culture to do the wiping, and hence is deemed - all these years later - as culturally 'unclean'. Luckily, I just sniffed my left hand, and it doesn't smell like...




... Well, I could get arrested if I finished that sentence. But you get the idea.



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