Thousands of Brits have ditched the UK for sunnier climes in Dubai – drawn by the promise of luxury living and city glamour.
But for Emma Flicc, who works in marketing, the reality of life in the city is often very different to how she imagined.
Though the 31-year-old says she would ‘never’ move back to London, she said that living in the UAE is ‘very different’ to how it’s portrayed on Instagram.
Emma said that the vast majority of people she knows in Dubai – including influencers – still work regular Monday-to-Friday jobs and commute to work.
As for her own situation, she works in a ‘claustrophobic’ box room next to a warehouse and will either need to drive to a food court for lunch, or bring her own food and sit in the car.
Taking to her TikTok account, where she has more than 100,000 followers, Emma filmed herself eating leftover takeaway from the night before on her lunch break.
She explained in the video: ‘People just associate Dubai with people who have obscene amounts of wealth.
‘But I would like to remind you that obscene amounts of wealth exist everywhere in the world. If you’ve worked in big metropolitan cities – London, Paris etc, you can see that quite easily.
Emma Flicc, 31, says her move from the UK to Dubai was not as glamorous as she thought
‘The vast majority of us work Monday through Friday in our office jobs. We commute to work – whether that’s driving or getting the metro. And then after work we’re hanging out with friends or loved ones, going to the gym, whatever.
‘That’s it – that’s my real Dubai and that’s the real Dubai for everyone I know.’
Emma has lived in Dubai for more than two years after moving in the middle of 2022 and ‘falling in love’ with it. She’s also earning more money than her London salary, even before tax.
But, for many residents, the reality of daily life in the city is not how it’s generally portrayed online.
She added: ‘I don’t wake up and shower myself in gold and then go ride out on a camel and get picked up by a Lamborghini and lounge out by the pool at the Bulgari [hotel]. We’re just in a place that’s not viewed as normal in the media.’
Viewers soon rushed to the comments to share their own experiences of living in Dubai, with some branding it ‘hell’ and a ‘dump’.
They wrote: ‘I really don’t like Dubai at all. Didn’t enjoy it at all’; ‘You’ve really sold it to me! Dubai is hell’; ‘Same where I work. There is no proper food. So I end up going out’.
Emma will eat lunch in her car as there’s ‘nowhere’ nearby and her office is ‘claustrophobic’
Viewers soon rushed to the comments to share their own experiences of living in Dubai, with some branding it ‘hell’ and a ‘dump’
Others said: ‘Not a fan of dubai- all that glitters isn’t gold, it’s like an amped up Disney land’; ‘As much as everyone glamourises Dubai as in luxury terms etc. In my eyes, it just doesn’t have a soul’; ‘Dubai is a dump.’
Moving from the UK to the United Arab Emirates has become a well-trodden path for Britons in recent years looking for a glitzy relocation and a better quality of life.
Aside from feeling safer, Britons are also attracted by a range of factors such as the warm climate, tax-free income and high-end restaurants, property and shops.
More than 240,000 British expats are now estimated to live in Dubai, with many attracted to the city by the 5,000 British companies now operating in the UAE.
There has been a 420 per cent rise in the five years to 2024 in enquiries from UK nationals wanting to relocate to the country, according to John Mason International Movers – with a 45 per cent surge in the 12 months to March last year alone.
However, prices in Dubai have risen 124 per cent since 2020 according to Knight Frank – with some British expats said to have been priced out as property is bought up by wealthy Russians after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Emma also believes that the UAE is ‘more accommodating’ to Westerners than expected, as she’s allowed to drink alcohol and go ‘wherever’ she wants, including pubs and clubs.
She says you can live with your partner unmarried, even if you have a child.
She added: ‘It’s safe, it’s clean, there’s so much to do here. The service is incredible and everybody is so friendly.
‘There’s so much more to the place than what you see on Instagram – there’s so much culture, so much heart and so much soul.’
Dubai is among the top destination cities for millionaires leaving the UK, along with Paris, Amsterdam, Monaco, Geneva, Sydney, and Singapore. Florida, the Algarve, Malta, and the Italian Riviera are also attractive as retirement hotspots.
Last May, MailOnline featured the story of a Catherine Earl who left university in Sheffield before landing a low-paid job in recruitment at Boots in Nottingham.
Eleven years later, the 33-year-old now earns more than £200,000 a year, jetting around Dubai harbour in a speedboat and sipping cocktails in exclusive bars.
Dubai is seen attractive thanks to factors such as tax-free income and high-end restaurants (stock image)
Luxury restaurants are a major draw in Dubai, including this one near Burj Khalifa Lake
She said: ‘I moved to Dubai for the sun. I was literally getting out of bed in the dark and walking 20 minutes to work in the cold. Now it’s sunny every day and I feel motivated because Dubai is such a nice place to live.’
Ms Earl featured in a Channel 4 series called ‘Dubai: Buying The Dream’ which took viewers behind the scenes at British agency Betterhomes as they compete to close deals with super-rich clients on a portfolio of stunning properties.
But the UAE is also known for its ultra-strict laws, with an 18-year-old British man sentenced to one year in a Dubai jail last month for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
Marcus Fakana, of Tottenham, north London, was with his parents in the UAE from the end of August when a ‘holiday romance blossomed’ with another Londoner, who has since turned 18, the campaign group Detained in Dubai previously said.
After returning to the UK and seeing pictures and chats, the girl’s mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel, it is alleged.
UK consular officials are said to be in regular contact with Mr Fakana, his family and his legal team, but the Government is not able to interfere in the judicial system.
Have YOU moved to Dubai and had it not meet expectations? Email eleanor.dye@mailonline.co.uk