Last time I posted I was in the process of exiting from the Kingdom. I’m happy to say that I did finally receive my clearance and have been back in Australia for about 6 weeks now. For those who are interested, I have been writing up my experiences of the exit procedure and I will post what will likely be a 4 part series in the not too distant future. My one problem is that re-living the experience is almost as frustrating as when it happened so it is taking me some time to complete to my satisfaction. I can understand why people don’t write about exiting from Saudi Arabia because it really can be quite a traumatic experience. To help me in this matter I could really do with some editing assistance, so if any of my lovely readers have experience, send me an email, otherwise I am going to have to do it myself and it is taking a lot of time.
In the meantime, I’m actually days away from stepping onto another plane and flying over to Argentina. From here I plan to travel all the way down to Antarctica, along with some extra time spent in Argentina and Brazil. You can follow my adventure at Stacy in Antarctica if you are interested. I promise many photos of penguins and icebergs in the coming weeks. For those who don’t like penguins and icebergs (surely there can’t be many), there will also be photos of South America in the first and last weeks, including a magnificent waterfall that makes Niagara look like a mountain stream (or so I’m told). Either way, I think it will be worth a read.
I’m also working on a new blog layout that I plan to release in the new year. I’m excited about it and I’ll let you know more when its ready. For now, just enjoy the new header I put up while I was mucking around. For a bit of context, the photo was taken during a rather aggressive sand storm I found myself in while camping just outside of Riyadh. The photo hasn’t been edited in any way. I promise to tell the story one day.
While I am dishing out news, I just happen to be catching up with two of my bestest Saudi friends, A and D, this weekend! We all left at different times over the past 2 years so I can’t wait to hear what they’ve been up to. I’m sure their stories will help me write about what it is like to return home after a few years abroad and what is defined as ‘reverse culture shock’.
oh! good to hear from you again!! well all the best to start an exciting life ahead!!!! argentina, brazil then antartica it sounds very exciting!!! please please dont stop writing about all these places u go!!! i have not done any editing work before but i could really be glad to help you state down your "exit from saudi" experience!
It’s a shame we never got to meet in person while we were both in Saudi, but I’m excited that you’re on to new adventures. I love the new blog layout!
Thanks! It is a shame, but you know how us Westerners are when it comes to our personal interactions with strange people in Saudi Arabia. There’s a Haia member lurking behind every post ;).