A Season in Saudi Arabia

Exactly three years ago, I landed in Dammam Airport, surfboard in hand, in the midst of a second mobilization to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If you've followed my story up to now, you'll already know about my surfing, family, teaching and sand boarding exploits in Arabia. It all started in 2012 with a year in Sakakah with a dubious recruitment company. Then, after two years back in the Philippines, I began my current journey on the coastal road from Dammam Airport to the Kuwaiti border. Of course I’ll never forget the date of mobilisation: 9/11/2015. How can anyone moving to the Middle East forget that fateful day in New York? It’s shaped the region so much, especially America’s war on terror in Iraq and beyond. While this Saudi-Season blog is no longer updated as regularly as previously, I’ve decided to do quarterly updates just in case anyone is still reading. Of course my main blogging focus these days is www. rafsworld .com, a new project designed to encourage families...

No, my Saudi season is not over yet. Final exit might be days, months or even years away. But it feels right to archive all but the most popular articles on this blog and focus on my next project: Rafsworld . Why am I archiving? Simply not enough real readership out there. 147,000 all time page views, 3000 monthly page views but little or no interaction with anyone who regularly reads or just stumbles upon the blog. Actually, I’m not even sure anyone other than Russian bots and my Dad are even reading it. In contrast, our family  Instagram and blog seem to be attracting far more real readers, comments and interest. If there are any genuine, passive readers out there, you can follow my family's ongoing journey on IG or check Rafsworld .com for articles about Saudi lifestyle, family travel and Siargao, Philippines. While I intend to update this blog with real-time quarterly updates, saudi-season.blogspot.com is essentially over as a regularly updated, diary-style blog. And if ...