Traveling... more than just a vacation!

I recently returned from Dubai (like 2 hours ago) and this trip triggered something in me. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to travel a few times over the last several years. We make sure to go internationally at least one time but try to go twice. In the past, we’ve done the Caribbean, Mexico, Jamaica, etc… the tropical island spots. Last year we went to St Lucia and as I mentioned this year we went to Dubai. Up until now, we have always felt very blessed to live in the United States. It’s not that we aren’t still grateful for our country but after visiting Dubai, we saw the US in a new light. Let me explain.

In our previous travels to the places I mentioned above, we understood why so many people were leaving those countries and coming to America for a better life. We saw some of the poorest situations and horrible living conditions. Some of them would truly break your heart. When you see kids having to beg for money to eat in ANY country it hurts but to know that’s their consistent way of life, does something to your spirit. So, we are always mindful when we visit and never wanted to come off as better than or look down on people.

Visiting Dubai however, made me realize that AMERICA is playing second fiddle to them in some areas. The advancement of technology and the architecture of the buildings FLOORED me! I could NOT believe some of the things I saw. It was by far the cleanest place I’ve ever been. There wasn’t ONE piece of garbage on the ground ANYWHERE! We even rode their local metro train system and NOTHING! Not one gum wrapper, not one fast food carton, no cigarette butts. NOTHING! We walked down the streets and no panhandlers, no dog feces, no paper. When I say there was no garbage, I mean there was NONE, not one iota! It was incredible. Then to drive around and go into some of the attractions that overlook the city and see very few of the buildings look alike was incredible. We found out from our tour guide that currently, you can’t even get a building permit if your building won’t be unique. He also told us the average income is $5000 (US DOLLARS) per household and that the average family has a 5-bedroom home with 2 cars. If a business is starting to fail, the government helps them keep the doors open. When a person is sick and Dubai doesn’t have the necessary equipment or Doctors to help take care of the individual, the government PAYS to fly that person to a country that does to get the necessary medical attention. One of the billboards in town was a quote from Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, its Minister of Defense, as well as the Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. The quote states “The job of the governments is to create the environment in which people can achieve their happiness. Yes, the government’s job is to achieve happiness.” This wasn’t the only quote like this around town. There were many motivational quotes not only in the city but as part of displays in the tourist attractions. It just made me feel some kind of way hearing their government speak in such an uplifting manner, when our branches of government can barely come together on ANY issue to get anything done.

I don’t want anybody to think that I’m bashing USA because that’s not the point of this post. Because TRUST me, there are a lot of things Dubai could learn from us as well. And actually, the fact that I saw a LOT of American brands, franchises, etc. in the city, let me know they already took notes. But they could work on some stuff. The first thing is to LIGHTEN UP! I am very observant of people. I do it even when I’m interviewing for a job. If the people don’t look happy while I’m walking thru the place, I make note of that. And it’s not that the folks in Dubai didn’t look happy but they didn’t look like they have a lot of fun. Or at least the kind of fun we have. When I have visited other countries, although the people may have been living in the poorest of conditions, they were smiling, having fun, inviting us to have fun with them. It wasn’t that way in Dubai at all. As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion our group was asked to keep it down. Mind you, we weren’t being obnoxious or anything, it could have been just a group of us laughing and they weren’t used to that I guess. I didn’t see many groups of people, natives or visitors, laughing much. I especially didn’t see that in the women. I got the STRONG sense that women were meant to be seen (and in some cases, it was only their eyes) and not heard. Some of the men were even a little aggressive when talking to the women in our group and utterly shocked when a woman would respond to them with the same energy. Because of the Muslim religion, the native women had to cover up head to ankle. There were some women who didn’t wear the traditional dress, as a matter of fact, they were FAR from it. Some of their outfits would shock a hooker, but even those women were mild mannered and quiet. It was strange to me, but I guess it’s because I’m used to us “rowdy” Americans. Although we did run into a group of Portugal soccer supporters who were watching the game and they reminded me of home. We even joined in for a bit on cheering with them because that was something we were used to.

I’m sure there are a lot of other things that go on in Dubai, both good and bad, that we didn’t see. We were only there a week so no way could we see everything. That being said, I’d go back to Dubai in a heartbeat. I’d love to have a vacation home there. After about the 2nd day, I was saying I’d love to have dual citizenship there but it’s IMPOSSIBLE! Dubai doesn’t allow ANYBODY who doesn’t have a parent, grandparent, great grandparent, etc. to become a citizen. You can live there for YEARS and NOPE, can’t be a citizen. The folks we met who weren’t from Dubai have been there 5 years or more, but they will never be able to become a citizen. It’s kind of sad and awesome at the same time. Dubai is truly taking care of their own. But it’s sad that so many people are feeding into their economy and will never be able to reap the benefits of the Dubai people. I thought about America when I heard that. I’m totally in favor of people coming to our country to obtain citizenship but I think the current system in which they do that needs to be updated. But I’m looking from the outside so maybe it’s perfectly fine. But if it is, why do we have so many crossing our borders illegally? That’s for another post but that’s what I thought about hearing our tour guide talk about Dubai’s citizenship.

My husband and I had a conversation about everything we saw in Dubai versus what we saw in other places we’ve travelled and even compared to home. We wondered if America could reach their level of awesomeness as far as technology and providing for our people if we shut the borders for 10 years. If America just concentrated on Americans for a good 10 years, how different would it look? Would we be better or worse? Could we be on the path to greatness or would it be wasted time because we (as Democrats, Republicans, Independents) wouldn’t do anything but argue and hate on each other the entire time thus getting nothing done. We also said, it would be nice to see a happy medium between all the places we visited and home. Is there a place that’s CLEAN, technology advanced, with happy people who are allowed to express their joy in public and how have a sense of freedom? Does this place exist? Can we get the sense of home/love that I felt from the Jamaicans? The hard work ethic I saw in the people in Mexico. Can we capture the love of land and resources that the people of St Lucia have? The technology and CLEANLINESS of Dubai. And the fun and FREEDOM we experience here in America. Is there ONE place that has all of that? Not to say that all these countries don’t embody some form of all of these traits, but is there one place that has the best of it all?? I don’t know but I’m going to keep traveling to see if I can find it. If you haven’t traveled much, I encourage you to do so, especially in other parts of the world. Each time I go somewhere new, I bring a piece of them with me, and I think that makes me a little more understanding and compassionate and we could all use more of that. Y’all be safe, be blessed and be a blessing.