Expat Travel Mom

I answered a Craigslist ad that changed our lives forever.

At the time, I was working from home for Western Governors University, chasing three kids under 5 around the house, and quietly dreading the impending crash, my husband was working in home loans, and we both knew what that meant. And then, scrolling through Craigslist one afternoon, an ad presented itself. Move to Abu Dhabi to teach. No taxes, housing paid for, flights paid for, essentially everything taken care of.

I texted my husband: "Want to move to Abu Dhabi?"

"Sure!" he wrote back, already looking up where Abu Dhabi actually was.

After an interview in Southern California that April, complete with a spontaneous trip to Disneyland for the kids, we got the news: we'd be moving to the UAE that August. Everything got real, fast. We packed our entire house into storage, found long-term renters, and told everyone we'd be back once our two-year contract wrapped up.

Five anxious people. Eleven bags, one overweight. Five carry-ons, two overweight. A goodbye that felt bigger than any of us expected. Twenty-three hours of travel later, we touched down, checked into the InterContinental (thank you, ADEC), and settled into our large adjoining rooms. The kids somehow made it through the entire flight without a single meltdown, thoroughly enjoying Etihad's service, endless snacks, movies, and a game console at every seat. The Wi-Fi back at the hotel was slow and expensive, but none of that mattered. The relief of actually making it here felt great.

Two years, we told everyone. That contract ended up stretching into four. We had absolutely no idea, standing in that hotel lobby with eleven overweight bags and three exhausted kids, just how much this one Craigslist ad was about to change everything.