AFT(Annual Family Travel) Visited Dubai in August 2022
Our travel to the Middle East was another adventure that I would always thought of as a life-changing experience. My goal to level up for my Genius Level at booking_dot_ com was what I am looking forward to.
Given the opportunity to be able to travel even pre and post-pandemic, I must say I am so grateful and blessed.
It may not be my first time in Dubai yet this country amazed me to the hilt.
I was in Abu Dhabi in December of last year however Dubai brought so many splendored things an Arabian Peninsula can offer.
Let me start with my two main experiences in Dubai that I tried to control yet couldn’t do anything about it because the temptation was so strong when it came to….
Shopping Spree at DCC (Deira City Center)
I guess Seychelloises' blood and nature on a holiday were always "shopping" whenever they were out of their country, hence, going to Dubai most of the time was the most convenient option. Apart from Mauritius which was 2 and half hours flight, shopping in Dubai was the next best thing. As an experience of working in the Middle East, August if not December were the best month for shopping.
Why?
Due to the mega sale that could go insanely so affordable even with 100AED could get you shoes, bags, shirts, perfumes and anything you fancy when it came to apparel. You can also get a voucher worth at least 40 AED should you purchase 500 AED at RedTag specifically!
"Brands for Less" was by far my favourite LOL! I like their tagging when it came to branding.
Keep your standards HIGH and your spending LOW!
Managed to buy my Cherry Blossoms perfume only for 9AED! Fair enough right? rather than the 300AED! tsk tsk!
Glad that buying Sage’s essentials and necessities for his upcoming creche at the International School would mean that school bags, lunch bags and pencil cases all animated much more it can be purchased at a reasonable price. Apart from the items bought, their sales representatives were the best in terms of giving service so I opted to stay at the shop to buy all that I needed for Sage! I think the best part was when she asked,
“Maam, what else do you need?
What about this? Would it fit?
I think this one is the better option!”
Couldn’t be more thankful that our shopping was hassle-free checking for items that we truly need. Assistance was highly appreciated when shopping for toddlers' kinds of stuff.
Adding up together it would go down to 572 AED which was around 2232 SCR! I am the financial planner of my household so based on my computation it exceeded our daily spending of at least 200! And so I thought I am done with shopping.
"What about spending 300AED all for perfumes?"
Princess, smell this? For you all 5 boxes for 200?!
Hmmm, the marketing strategy of that guy who sold us those boxes of perfumes was quite good! I told my husband the endearment "princess" worked effectively! Lol!
He won’t let us go unless we spent what we have! Even upon writing, remembering the 8 boxes of perfumes all for 300 AED still a question I kept on asking myself,
was it even worth it?!
Patrick loved the Arabian-Paris-touch-fresh-from-the Expo2022-made from the UAE Arabic perfume so I obliged yet I won’t deny the fact that I don’t think it was so practical to buy those items.
Remember at Brand for Less where my Cherry Blossoms cost only 9AED?
I mean in Dubai you can bargain with so many things when it came to perfume but since he adored the way the guy presented those things, he doesn’t bother at all that our total spending of 200 daily was now part of history!
Hotel Hopping for Genius Level 3 (Booking_dot_com)
When we travelled to Abu Dhabi in October last year and Mauritius in April this year later did I realize that I could have maximized my stay to level up to Genius level 3 for a 20% lifetime discount. I made it my goal to travel annually with Sage and Patrick, likewise, a solo adventure for myself as my ME-TIME to relax from the workplace, I could have achieved by now the 15 maximum stays within two years to be able to level up!
Usually, our travel of two weeks maximizing it into 5 would have been 15 all in for three times travelling since 2021!
When we went to Mauritius, I managed to book 3 stays and the rest were two! added to the one we just had in Dubai for 15 days which got me 7 stays, now I am left with three more.
Considering the two weeks but the most adventurous one knowing that every three days, we have to pack to transfer hotels.
Sage on the other hand had been very helpful when it came to our hotel transfer because he tried to carry his luggage with 10kg in it and I can see that he’s very much apt into travelling at an early age.
By the way, you may ask why I used booking dot com when Travala is already existing and you can pay using cryptocurrency? I realized that when you book hotels, so far by experience, booking_dot_com is the go-to website and no further questions were asked apart from the reservation number! I have made an inquiry regarding the Travala website and by far what they acknowledge is mostly booking_dot_com.
This may refer to hotel basis hopefully in the next years to come the transitioning of hotel booking as well as payment will be integrated with cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin Cash as a Mode of Payment.
What’s the Rationale? ( oh Don't forget to give TIPS too)
Travelling is a form of education that you can learn from a real-life experience, and probably go out of your comfort zone. How you immerse yourself to be able to see the grandeur of the world so you can truly understand how culture from another perspective can truly be an amazing place.
The narrative of our adventure especially in the other country can be transformed into a more happy and fulfilled framework for our lives. Are we not supposed to take the risk?
Lewis Howes once said in one of his podcasts, that " we have to be “intentional” with our life goals!" Being able to travel during pre and post-pandemic gave me a transcendental outlook that life is really so uncertain and we just had to face our fears! so just travel!
I would admit it was quite scary. Extra precautions especially in crowded places as wearing masks are still mandatory in Abu Dhabi yet in Dubai it’s freer. Hotels and airline prices also skyrocketed however I was so determined to find my way back into recalibrating my life's goal.
I am more convinced now despite the expenses I incurred in my bank account and my so-called social experiment of giving tips to anybody on the road because I felt like giving and it's fulfilling!
The joy of seeing those people when you gave them tips was more than enough to work hard the next time so I can share a few of my financial blessings with them. For example, the taxi driver, the cleaner, the receptionist, and the pool guard, the waiter at the restaurant, the room boy who helped us with our luggage, therefore agree with Zen Master Ken Honda when he wrote,
If you are going to save money, save it while you imagine the many fun ways to spend it.!
Of course, apart from saving, investing your money is also a wiser option.
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Compiled our Dubai Holiday here
Let's connect https://cointr.ee/patjules
images used are mine edited on Canva!If we can print our own money the better for the economy!
You're so lucky to travel anywhere you want 😉