It was great to end 2013 with the news that I had won the Silver award for the UAE in the annual Expats blog awards, and I am so grateful to all the people who supported me and this blog by commenting, sharing and liking my submission.

My post offered advice for expats moving to Dubai for the first time, with key tips to adjust quicker to life in the UAE. You can read the full post here, but in summary the five tips were written to give suggestions to help prevent common pain points, rather than giving advice on what/how to prepare (these are offered by experts, forums and websites such as Expat Echo and ExpatWoman).

The tips were focussed around ensuring energy levels are kept high and stress levels low in advance of the move, ready for the hectic lifestyle we all have here; ensuring that this energy is put to good use and the excesses controlled to keep the infamous ‘Dubai stone’ at bay; putting some money aside for the move (we may not have many rainy days in Dubai, but we there are certainly plenty of other demands!); developing patience for those tedious admin processes and red-tape procedures we all have to go through as part of the Dubai initiation; and finally being flexible enough to allow for curve balls and changes to the initial plan for life in the sandpit.

I’m not looking duplicate the post here however, more detail can be found on the original, but I wanted to take the chance to acknowledge the support and encouragement, as well as the many compliments posted as comments on the original award submission post. I am planning to try to put more time aside to blogging this year, starting with developing the look and feel of the site, as well as increasing the frequency of posting from weekly to bi-weekly, and I hope the support and advice will continue to flow as these changes occur. Thanks again everyone!!