A Season in Saudi Arabia

  What should have been a period of peaceful contemplation has, in typical Saudi style, been super stressful. Naively, I thought I’d just be checking CNN Philippines for travel updates and waiting for an EOSB bank transfer. Instead, a potential showstopper came out of nowhere: my final exit visa wouldn’t issue as it showed I had two visitors left in KSA. Suddenly, the fact my company hadn’t even bothered to pay me hardly mattered at all, especially when the local HR contact abruptly informed that me my wife and son would have to leave the Kingdom ahead of me and there were no alternatives.  In normal times, this issue would have proven only mildly inconvenient. I would have booked a flight to Dubai for my wife and son, and they would have waited for me there before flying in together to the Philippines. But these are far from normal times. First, any passenger coming from UAE is currently red listed for onward travel to the Philippines. Second, all flights into the Philippine...

Yesterday, a few of my colleagues kindly gave me a leaving present and my manager spoke for a few minutes about how I would be missed and how much impact I had had on my trainees across the years. It was delightfully low key and the perfect way to end my time at the polytechnic.  Today, on my very last day at work, I feel so relieved that’s it’s all over. Work conditions have deteriorated sharply in recent months (six hours a day in the classroom, hectic exam schedules, compulsory masks and distancing, mandatory vaccination from August onwards etc.), so I don't think I'll ever regret packing up at this particular time. Also, I'm not exactly getting any younger here in Arabia and a stressful life only does one thing to your health: ruins it!  A couple of days ago, HR sent me my end of service bonus ( EOSB ) calculation, which was a little higher than I had expected. I guess working two more months boosted it up, along with cash in lieu of a travel ticket and pro rata holiday...

After such a lengthy second season in Saudi, it's very difficult to believe that I'm now just 14 days away from final exit. Of course, my family and I can't take anything for granted given the volatility of travel protocols across the world and, in particular, in the Philippines. Indeed, two days ago, the Filipinos spotted a Pinoy traveller from Saudi positive with the Delta variant , but they haven't introduced any new flight bans yet. Overall, things are looking quite positive right now with a stable epidemiological situation across the Philippine Islands (5000-6000 "cases" per day) and a spat between the Cebu mayor and the Philippine President seemingly resolved. Cebu Airport has just reopened and our Emirates flight booked for July 7 should be a go if nothing unpredictable happens in the next two weeks.   Despite the general sense of optimism in the air, I've already been deprived of a glorious final exit. It's mostly my own fault since I've...

When I accepted a two-month bespoke contract extension a few weeks ago, I already knew it included a two-week religious holiday. While we could have hit the road on an expensive mission to check out Saudi's premier sights (like Mada'in Saleh and Umluj ), I decided on a destination a little closer to home. I guess the main reason for this was financial. I had already seen Saudi's Red Sea coastline and Mada'in Saleh during my first Saudi season based in Sakakah. The idea of a mammoth 20-hour taxi ride, with associated expenses, just to see the newly touristy Hegra just felt like too much, especially with a potential ordeal to reach our destination this year: Siargao. Therefore, we spent the first twelve days of the Eid vacation in Khafji enjoying beach, cafe and restaurant life before taking a taxi 250km south for a staycation in the city of Jubail on the last four days. The trip couldn't have started off any better. After a swift 2-hour ride, we checked into luxurio...