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An American in Qatar: Pros and Cons of Living in the Middle East It’s been almost a year since my last update and I’m still living in Qatar. And yes, I still enjoy it here. In fact, I love my new lifestyle: working in Qatar for 11 months, then going back to America for a month of vacation in the summer.
I flew back to America in August for several weeks, as I do each summer, and had a great time there (I've posted photos at the bottom of this page). It was nice to visit with friends and family again, to feel rain in my face and see white, puffy clouds instead of the constant yellowish haze on the horizon (from the sand) that's so common here in Qatar. I also loved walking barefoot through real grass because there isn’t much grass here, except the artificial kind. But for the first time during my annual trips back to America, I also missed Qatar and looked forward to coming back “home" to Doha.
When I tell people in America that I’ve moved to the Middle East, their reaction is decidedly mixed. Some Americans are open-minded, curious and inquisitive. Others, though, are cautious, suspicious or even fearful, which I think is ridiculous because there’s nothing to fear about living in Qatar. Indeed, I was more afraid of going back to America, given the endless stream of mass shootings there (despite all the “thoughts and prayers” that politicians convey) than I was about returning here to Qatar, which is one of the safest countries in the world.
But even Americans who are cautious or suspicious become more interested after I mention the higher salaries that are typical here in the Middle East. Depending on your skills and the demand here for those skills, Americans working in the Persian Gulf can make a lot more than what they earn in the U.S. – perhaps twice their salary back in America or, given that there are no income taxes in Qatar, maybe even more. In fact, after I described my positive experience here to my friends in America, some of them started thinking about moving to the Middle East to save up money, just as I did two and a half years ago.
I’ve been thinking about those comments from my friends these past few months, so I decided to create this webpage to describe, as someone who has lived here for over two years, the pros and cons of living in Qatar. My comments apply to most countries in the Persian Gulf area, not just Qatar. So please read on to learn about the Good, the Bad and even some of the Ugly of living here in the Persian Gulf.
Above left: I walk down Doha's corniche (i.e., waterfront) every weekend – except in the summer, of course, because it's too hot then. Above right: Admiring the Doha skyline.
Above left: Here's "Harvey," built a few years ago as the mascot for the Asian Games, which were held in Doha. It's supposed to be an oryx, a desert mammal that's similar to a deer. But I call it "Harvey" because it reminds me of the fictional rabbit in Jimmie Stewart's film from 1950. Above right: This guy has a lot of balls.
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