I Lived in Dubai for 3 Years. Here is the Truth.

I've lived in Dubai for 3 years now. And in this video, I'm going to give you my honest take on what it's actually like to live in this city because people online seem to have very strong opinions about Dubai. They either really love it or they really hate it.

There's a lot of misconceptions going around about Dubai. So, I did already do a video after my first year here, my first year impressions, as well as my [music] second year impressions after my second year. So now after my third year, there are still things that I have been learning about living here that I wanted to share with you.

So in this video, I will go over some positives that I've learned living here, but also some negatives, some things that I think not that many people talk about. So we won't talk about the obvious things like, oh, it's super safe, it's tax, like the obvious reasons why people come here. We'll talk about some of the things that you might not hear about unless you're speaking to someone who has actually lived [music] here.

here. So again, as someone who has actually genuinely lived here, I'm going to give you the truth and the reality of what it's actually like to be here so that you can make the best decision [music] for you on whether it actually makes sense to move to Dubai. And the first realization that I have come to is that Dubai is not really all about the glitz and glamour.

And I think the first year you come here, especially if you haven't come here or especially if you've only been here as a tourist, you might think that Dubai is all about this like glamorous, super like Instagrammy lifestyle where you're doing all these cool things. You're going on brunches. You rent super cars.

You live this super flashy lifestyle. And this is what attracts a lot of people Dubai. And this also makes a lot of people dislike Dubai who are not into this lifestyle at all.

And after now living a proper real life here for 3 years, I've come to realize the life here for most people who actually live here is not like that at all. Like that like glitz and glamour lifestyle is really only exclusively based in a couple of areas. If you go to downtown, you go to JBR or you go to Palumera.

Pretty much those three areas. And that is what you will see when you look at Dubai on Instagram. That is what you will see when you come as a tourist.

But the real Dubai is so much more than that. Like for me, Dubai is actually an excellent place to live a nice, peaceful, normal life. And to me, Dubai is even optimized for this type of lifestyle where you don't want to do all that fancy stuff.

You just want to live a life where you are focused on your business. Perhaps you're focused on your family. You just want to live a nice comfortable life in your apartment most of the time, ordering food, things like that.

Because the consumer conveniences here are so insanely nice that you can literally live your entire life just in your apartment. And it is so insanely safe that if you have a family here, it is amazing for that. Dubai is actually, and this is something that people will not realize and people who haven't lived here will not even believe me when I say this, it is extremely familyfriendly.

Like Dubai is built for families. There's so many kids play areas. I see so many families walking around with kids.

It's like kids running around on the streets. Like it's so nice actually. And it's so opposite to what many people believe life in Dubai is like, but that is actually what long-term life here is much more like.

So I would definitely not just look at Instagram and people's perceptions of Dubai and imagine that that is actually what life here is like. Sure, you can also do that stuff. You can also rent your supercars, like do this and that.

If that is the lifestyle that you want, that is absolutely also available. But for me, I've realized that I actually don't really care about that lifestyle. I don't care about most of the materialistic things that are often associated with Dubai.

But that doesn't really matter because I don't live in the areas where I hear supercars every night. I actually started finding that quite annoying. I actually don't even like it anymore.

But I don't have to deal with it because I live in a nice residential community. And this is what life in Dubai actually looks like for most people. And overall, I live actually a pretty normal and just like nice comfortable life here, which is what is the reality for most people.

The second realization I've come to is that Dubai is expensive and also not expensive at the same time. It's kind of funny. Like some things super super expensive, but some things are not expensive at all.

And if you know where to look for good value, you can always find that here. Like for example, yesterday we ordered Pakistani food for myself and my girlfriend from Noon Food and the total cost for two people for two meals was 30 dirhams. that's less than $10, like $8 or something like that for two meals.

Those kinds of meals are often the best meals you will find here. And on the other hand, obviously, you have very expensive fine dining restaurants. Those going to be very, very fancy, very expensive.

And again, that is the kind of side that people expecting to buy. They expect everything to cost like that. But that is not all there is.

So, you can always choose if you want to spend and you want to get the high quality, which you do spend a lot of money for, you can also find very, very affordable things. Some of the best food in Dubai is going to be found in local fish markets. This is actually a very local tip that I recommend everyone does.

There is a fish market in Dera close to Dubai Islands. I forgot the exact name where you can find the freshest, most delicious seafood that's been directly sourced by the ocean. You can buy it there raw and then you take it to uh like a restaurant which is going to cook it for you.

Extremely affordable. Some of the most delicious food I've had in Dubai. And also talking about other things, taxes are actually quite affordable, which is why still to this day in Dubai, I don't own a car.

You know, a misconception. People say, "Oh, you need to own a car in Dubai. " Sure, if you're commuting every single day, but for someone like me who works from home, I don't need a car.

Like taxes here are so convenient. Rent is actually not bad compared to western cities. This is again an area where there's kind of two different sides.

There's very, very expensive condos if you want to go for those super luxury ones in the top areas like where I live for example. But you can also find very nice condos in like the areas that are like the tier below those very top areas where you can again still enjoy all of the safety. You get very modern amenities.

You're probably going to have a gym, swimming pool, everything like that. Apartments are usually quite spacious here. The prices to buy here are still much more affordable compared to other first world cities, which is also why I bought my own property here.

And of course, again, when you consider tax, if you're a high earnner, I always say if you make above $8,000 a month or thereabouts, even if the cost of living is a bit more, you are still better off overall because you get to use your money in the way that you actually want rather than having to pay to some government that is, let's be honest, not using in the best way, at least not for you. Before we move on to the next thing, if you're looking to relocate to the UAE yourself, something that you need to also understand here, which I've also learned, a lot of agents here who will sell you company setup, visa setup, things like that, will just sell you very aggressively. They will tell you whatever you want to hear and then once you pay, the service goes bad.

They might not even give you your company or they might give you a company some very cheap free zone. You might not get banking where there's going to be a lot of issues. So, make sure that you work with people who actually know what they're talking about.

And if you want my recommendation, I will always recommend the people from Gen Zone. I know the founders personally, they have helped more than a thousand people at this point set up in the UAE and they are by far the best people on the market. And you don't have to take my word for it.

Literally, just go look at their reviews on Google on every platform and then go look at the reviews of all these random agencies that you're going to find on Google. And let's just say that that is probably going to make your decision for you. So, if you're interested in relocating to the UAE, you need to work with the right people because this is a process that has to be done properly.

And I cannot recommend the people from Gen Zone highly enough. And if you're interested, you can even speak to them for free before you decide from the link down below in the description where you can get a free consultation with someone from their team. They can ask any questions you have.

They can explain the process and if you're comfortable after that, then you can move forward. So, book that free consultation if you are still on the fence about relocating to Dubai as an entrepreneur. The next thing I wanted to talk about, and this is going to be a hot take, is that I actually kind of like the summer.

Now, the first two years when I was here, my plan was always I'm going to live here half the year, and I'm going to go away for half the year because the summer is just too hot. I didn't want to be here for the summer. This year, I actually came back early in August.

And I actually kind of liked it for quite a few reasons. Now, I will still continue to not spend the summers here because I still prefer the winters. I would still prefer to not be here in the summer.

There are so many other places in the world that I like that I don't want to live my entire life in Dubai just for that reason. But if I had to live here the entire year or if there were not so many other places that I want to spend time, I actually wouldn't mind spending the summer here because while the heat can be intense, there are quite a few benefits they're going to get in the summer. The main one is going to be that there are so many less people here, which number one brings prices [music] down.

So if you are renting short-term or something like that, you're going to get a much much better deal. You're going to live quite affordably here. there going to be so many deals in so many places and also there's going to be much less traffic the whole atmosphere of Dubai it's completely different in the summer it's a much more peaceful place whereas in the winter it's a very busy very hectic place so if you like that you might actually really enjoy the summer and it's going to be a great time to lock in work and if that is the main reason that you're using Dubai as part of your base it wouldn't be the worst option to actually live the summers here now if you're a new resident I wouldn't recommend that if you want to actually experience Dubai I would still prefer to do that in the winter, but let's say you are already been here a couple of years, you've already kind of experienced most of the outdoor stuff in Dubai, and most of the time you live indoors anyway, you're going to get better value actually in the summer.

And if you are worried about the summer, I wouldn't make that a [music] reason to not come here. Another point which I wanted to mention is that the safety and convenience is really, really unmatched here. And it really does kind of spoil you and I know that this is not a new revelation.

And everyone who lives in Dubai talks about this, but it really cannot be understated just what a big impact this has on your quality of life when you are here. You just don't have to worry about anything like nothing is going to happen to you. You have a family, you have a partner, you don't have to worry about anything happening to them.

You can just focus on enjoying your life rather than worrying about your safety. And also in terms of the convenience, like there are a lot of places that are convenient. I'm not saying Dubai is the only one, but it is on a whole another level here.

And something else which I really noticed is when I bought property here. This property I'm in right now is the first time I've owned property in my life. And something I was kind of worried about, which a lot of people who own property have said that when you own property, it's a lot more hassle when things go wrong.

You need to figure it out yourself. You need to find someone to fix things and it takes a lot of your peace of mind. But being in Dubai, I have not found this to be the case at all.

Because here when things go wrong, they're so easy to fix. For example, when I arrived, the water heater was not working and I was like, "Oh, now we're going to have to be a few days without water. " Turns out the next day, someone came to fix it.

And when anything has happened, we wanted the AC clean. The guys came and cleaned it the next day. So, so far, any of these issues, they've been even easier for me to handle myself compared to handling them through a landlord because it's so easy to find someone to fix something.

They literally come either the same day or the next day. Whereas if I was renting, which in many cases people will say is more convenient because you just tell the landlord. Then I would have to tell the landlord who might take a long time to actually set it up themselves.

So it would actually take longer for me to do it by a landlord. So I've actually found it super convenient to also own property here. And again, it just allows you to lock in, allows you to focus on the things that actually matter in your life rather than having to worry about these inconveniences or worry about your safety or something.

and it really does spoil you. Doesn't mean Dubai is perfect but in this area there is no other place which is better. Now to talk about some downsides which I have learned here.

The first is that the culture here can be quite transactional. This is something that a lot of people said. At first I didn't agree with it but now I do kind of agree with it and this isn't a huge issue but I'll just give you a couple of examples on what I mean by this.

Like for example when you go to a restaurant here it's very very common that you will receive amazing amazing service. The service here is really really friendly. And then at the end they will ask you to review the place and they will ask you to name the person who was serving you in the review.

And it just gives you this feeling like ah so they weren't really friendly to me because they wanted to be friendly to me. They were friendly because they wanted to get a review because that's going to help their career which obviously makes perfect sense. They are here to make money so that they can send money to their family.

That is the only reason why they're here. They are hustling. Like that is why they're here.

So, they need to do everything every single day to help their career as much as possible, which obviously helps you as the customer because you get that good service, but it leaves you this with this feeling of, okay, they weren't really genuinely nice. They were just nice because they wanted something in return, which again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it's just something that you will realize when you're here, which is in contrast to, for example, when I am in Southeast Asia. For example, when I'm in Bali, where I spent three months last summer, there the service staff is also extremely extremely friendly.

But that doesn't come with this expectation of, okay, please leave me a review, say my name. So maybe it is the same. Maybe they're just better at hiding the fact that they're also transactional.

But at least in those countries, it seems like it's more genuine. I don't have the biggest issue with that. Actually, where I do have a bigger issue is with a lot of local companies here that have a very shortterm mindset.

Because again, you need to understand Dubai is the kind of place where people come and go. people come here for a couple of years and they leave and a new set of people comes in. So, companies here are not as motivated to really give a good long-term service because they know that even if they give a bad service as long as you've already paid like a lot of these business setup companies, then it doesn't matter if they give bad service afterwards.

It doesn't matter if you have a bad experience because eventually you're going to leave and there's going to be new people coming in and they are not going to know. A lot of people unfortunately when they're getting set up here, they get their first taste of this when they use some terrible agent where the per person is just getting commission based on how much they sell and they don't care at all about getting giving good service. They will just give you the cheapest possible service possible.

So this is something that you need to keep in mind when you're here and that you will encounter. But if you work with the right people, the like right companies and obviously you have the right friends who are not like this, then you're not going to have an issue. But something that I haven't noticed here.

Another downside is that sometimes Dubai even feels too international. On one hand, a pro and in another hand also a con. It's a pro in the way that when you come here, no matter where you're from, immediately you kind of feel like home because everyone else here is kind of in the same boat as you.

It doesn't matter if you're coming from the west, you're an entrepreneur, very successful, or you're a taxi driver coming from India. Both of you are here for the same reasons. You are here to make money and you came here because of opportunity.

Actually I have a tremendous respect for the people who come from Pakistan, from India, from Philippines to work as taxi drivers, as service people. They have essentially the same mindset as I did when I came here. I looked at the world and saw that this is the best opportunity that I have right now.

The best opportunity to achieve what I want to achieve financial success to achieve freedom for these people. It was the same the coming to the UAE working these jobs. While they are very difficult jobs, this is the best opportunity they have and that is why they're here and I have a lot of respect for that.

But the fact that Dubai is so international, so many people are coming here from everywhere because it is so easy to come here. Obviously, because it's so amazing here, it almost makes it too international to the point where there is a lack of local culture. Something I've realized being in so many countries that for example, when I'm in Thailand, what I really love about being in Thailand is that Thailand feels like Thailand.

I'm interacting with Thai people who speak Thai. There's Thai everywhere, Thai food, everything like this. And I really feels like I'm immersing myself in this different culture.

When I'm in Dubai, everything is so internationalized and especially westernized. It's made so comfortable for Western people that it doesn't really feel like a different interesting experience. Now, it does.

It is still a very different experience and it's different in its own way, but it doesn't have that deep local culture in the same way as when you go to Thailand or Indonesia or China especially. Overall, as a conclusion, there really is no place like it. Like when I spend time in other countries, which I still do a lot of the time, half the year I'm kind of still a digital nomad.

I'm always keeping my eyes open for like, oh, could I live in this country? Could I live in that country? And there's always pros and cons in different countries.

And there's pros and cons in Dubai. We've talked about a lot of them in this video, but still at the end of the day, when I really think about it, there is really no other place that offers most of the things that I want and least of the things that I don't want like Dubai. The financial benefits here for someone who is earning a lot of money like myself are unmatched.

Like I could go to a cheaper cost of living country but then they would have taxes and I always want to actually pay the taxes if I owe them. So financially it is clearly still the best place. Whole environment just pushes you so much.

So for someone who is young, someone who wants to build wealth, who is very ambitious, there is no better place than Dubai. But that doesn't mean it's best for everyone. You might not be the perfect in every metric, but if you take the average of all the metrics that matter for someone like me, it still gets by far the best overall score for lifestyle reasons, for tax reasons, for health reasons, networking reasons, everything like this.

Now, if you yourself are interested in relocating to UAE, I made a full guide as someone who has gone through the process on exactly how to relocate to the UAE as an entrepreneur by setting up a business. So, if you're interested in that, you can watch this video right here. So, we're start next and I will see you in the next video.