On the search for oil and culture

I was talking to another Dad a few months back and he asked me what year our daughter moves into this next year at high school. Junior (11th grade) I said. ‘Oh just two more summer’s with her then’ he replied.

Wow, I thought. I’d like to think she may want to come on holiday with us when she’s older, and I am aware that will depend on where we go and who pays, but time is running out and on the basis she regularly denies or forget’s she’s been to any of the places she has, then I thought this summer we had to do something different.

The problem with going too far afield, esepcially far east, is with our daughter’s swim schedule we really only get about two weeks to do something and that began this week.

With the increasing risk of her turning very American, we wanted to expose her to a completely different culture, and also find somewhere we could fly to directly. That place was Qatar.

I know Qatar is not India or China, but Qatar is noticeably different in terms of religion, social behaviour and community. I’ve always been intrigued by the Middle East although it’s been 20 years since we were in Dubai and Oman and this geopolitical region is always topical.

Mind you, a few weeks ago for about a day or so it looked like we’d have to cancel, but anyway we fly from Miami airport on Qatar Airways tonight. It’s a 14-hour flight to Doha.

Hamad International Airport (photo) is meant to be one of the world’s finest, but once we arrive it will be hot. 40°C (104°F) temperatures, but we are quite used to the heat, and I believe air-conditioning inside and out is plentiful. It also means fewer people, and cheaper hotels.

I became quite immersed in the 2022 World Cup. Outside of the football, I was very fascinated by the venues and listened to the more cultural aspects of the tournament on podcasts.

So, I’m looking forward to properly immersing ourselves into this small sovereign Arab state where desert, ancient traditions, history and oil’s riches commingle.