FAREWELL....FOR NOW

In a months time, I will be hopping in a taxi to Hamad International airport, and boarding a flight back to England - this time, on a one-way ticket. My Arabian adventures have almost come to an end, after what will have been two years and one month of riding this intense rollercoaster of emotions.

Two years and one month of incredible ups, and desperately painful downs, forging lifelong friendships with some truly special girls, and eating amazing food in the finest restaurants I will ever dine at. I developed the best tan of my life, learnt to accept myself without makeup because sometimes it's just too damn hot to wear it, and developed a newfound love for red wine, sushi and English breakfast tea. I fell madly in love, but unfortunately my relationship, like my time in Doha, has come to an end. I've faced so many personal challenges in just two short years (and one month!) but the experiences, both positive and negative, have only served to shape me and make me a stronger person...with a lot of support from the people I am so, so lucky to call my family and friends.

So what's next?

Once my belongings are boxed up & shipped, and my notice period at work is finished, and I touch down in London town...there is no real plan at the time of writing. The one thing I do know, is that everything I do going forward will be with inner happiness and well-being in mind. If there is one thing I have learnt from the Doha experience, it's that life is precious and life is short, so if ever there was a time to take care of myself and work out what truly makes me happy, that time is now.

It's time to start a whole new chapter of my life, which includes starting afresh with this blog.

This will be my last post on The Blonde from Doha, but I'll be back. For those of you who have followed my adventures in Doha, thanks so much for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for what comes next.

Farewell....for now :)

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESSERT #23

I have to admit that this has been one really quiet week.

I've barely left the house except to go to work, so my evenings have mainly been spent...

LEARNING A LANGUAGE
I have been saying it for so long and it was on my list of New Years resolutions, but I really want to learn French so I have been getting home from work and launching myself into this. I have been using the 'Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1' audiobook that I downloaded from the app store onto my iPad. For me, his method of learning really works. He doesn't start off with the basics of hi, how are you, my name is, etc. He launches straight in to teaching you how to construct sentences with easy rules for adapting these sentences into different tenses. By teaching me to say 'I have prepared the coffee', I can also say 'I have decorated the house', as he explains that English words that end in 'ation' (preparation, decoration for example), are spelt the same in French, and can easily be changed to the past tense. As this is an audio book, I am also supporting my learning with '15 Minute French - Learn in just 12 weeks' which is a handy book that I picked up from the airport. This book covers a vast range of topics and has an English to French and French to English dictionary in the back so that I can always look up how to spell the words that I am learning from the audio book. I've actually loved spending my evenings this way and am really enjoying my language learning experience so far.

DATE NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Matt and I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think this is the first Marvel film that I have seen and I really enjoyed it! Really want to see the rest of them now. It was just an easy going action film so it was easy for someone like me, who hasn't seen any others, to follow the storyline.

GLASSES SHOPPING
Matt hated my RayBans (and maybe he's right, maybe they didn't suit my face but not many glasses do!) so he took me off to the mall to scout out a new pair. There was a Buy One Get One Free sale at one of the stores in the City Centre - he spotted a pair he wanted so encouraged me to also look for some, and I ended up walking away with these beauties from Gucci...

I have also ordered some glasses to use whilst I am on the computer at work, and on the laptop at home, as lately I am really feeling the strain on my eyes from staring at screens. These just help to take the glare away and give my eyes a little extra protection, so I am looking forward to picking these up next week.

GYM
My health and fitness has never been the best, but I am trying to keep on top of my diet and eat as healthily as I can. Mainly, this is being aware of not repeating my food groups too much (if I have a carb heavy lunch, go lighter for dinner and vice versa). It would not be realistic of me to say that I will cut out chocolate, that will never happen (especially because my boyfriend keeps sneaking bars of my favourite Lindt Cookies & Cream chocolate bars into the shopping bag!!) but a little treat every day can't hurt, surely. I have also been enjoying getting back into the gym. As you may remember from my post about anxiety, I don't always find it that easy to pluck up the courage to go, which is daft as it's two minutes downstairs in the lift. Lately, however, I have been trying to beat the fear and go, even if it does mean going after 9:30pm. It is my favourite time to be there, as it usually looks a little something like this...

Perfect for antisocial little old me!

As I say a pretty quiet week. I am trying to save my pennies as there is lots coming up over the coming months - various trips to save for, and a big old lifestyle change on it's way that I need to be financially stable for (that totally sounds like I am expecting a child, I assure you it isn't that!!!), but of course I'll update you all when the time is right :)

As always, I hope you had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from!

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #21

WINDING DOWN
A relatively quiet week after coming back from Dubai with Matt. The football season is nearly at an end so the first part of my week was spent at work, tying up loose ends from the season and awaiting news on the Copa America tournament that we will be covering over the Summer

BOOKING FAMILY TIME

I finally booked my flights home to the UK for June! I am so excited to be heading home for two and a half weeks - can't wait to be back with my family and to hopefully catch up with all of my friends who I didn't have a chance to see last time I was home.

TENNIS WEDNESDAYS

The girls and I played probably one of our final games of tennis until later in the year. It is SO HOT to be outside now, even in the evenings. Such a shame as I really liked the idea of setting aside Wednesdays for tennis - the psychiatrist I went to see for my anxiety suggested organising my week into a routine so I always know what day to expect certain events, and this week I know that Wednesday is our day for tennis so I can look forward to it rather than subconsciously worrying about it. Routine is something I will definitely adopt into my weeks going forward.

A MINI BREAK TO THE UAE

I went to join my mum and her friend in the UAE for a couple of days. It was so lovely to see my mum even if only briefly - but that is a blog post for another time :)

As always, I hope you had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from!

EXPAT LIFE: THE HARDEST PART

Without a shadow of a doubt, the hardest part about being an expat is receiving bad news from home, when you are thousands of miles away.

On a daily basis, there are things that are 'hard' about living in another country - generally being away from family and friends is hard. The language barrier can be hard. It can be hard to do your job when there are policies and practises in place that can get in the way of what you are trying to achieve, that are unlike anything you are familiar with from your home country.

Like anywhere in the world, you also face the daily frustrations - the little things that annoy you, or make you think 'are you kidding me?', or cause you to have a rant and moan to your friends.

These are all things that, particularly when you are living in the tiny expat bubble, are entirely magnified and seem so much bigger than what they really are.

Receiving bad news from home suddenly puts all of these things into perspective, and serves as an unwelcome reminder to never forget who and what in your life is important.

Channel everything you have only into the things that matter.

Treasure every moment with the people you love - life is completely unpredictable and entirely precious.