Dubai may be a great travel destination, but what does it take to live and work here? Man shares an experience few talk about
ETimes | July 29, 2026 4:39 PM CST
Scroll through Instagram, and chances are you will stumble upon at least one reel showcasing Dubai ’s ultra-luxurious lifestyle. A cappuccino at the Burj Khalifa with the world’s tallest building framed perfectly over your shoulder. Champagne on a rooftop overlooking Palm Jumeirah, the artificial islands. A desert safari where the sand looks almost like gold particles, even in the photos. And nearly every picture and video is accompanied by the caption, ‘living the dream’.
Dubai does deliver those images. The question nobody asks while scrolling is what it costs to stand in front of that building. Not the cappuccino. Everything else. Charles Kevin, a content marketing specialist, tried to show what that ‘everything else’ looks like. In a video shared on Instagram, he tried to paint how life looks once that perfect photo op ends. He isn’t trashing Dubai, but sharing his personal experience of trying to make a living in the city that’s home to the world’s tallest building.
Life beyond the bling in DubaiExpats make up more than 80% of Dubai’s population. Tax-free income, career opportunities, and an ultra-safe, luxurious lifestyle are some of the major attractions for them. In the video, captioned ‘The truth of living in Dubai ’, Kevin talks about the unglamorous hard work that doesn’t make it into the reels most of us consume. “Everyone told me Dubai was a paradise. No one told me what it could cost. You work 10 times harder than the locals,” he said.
The man also spoke about navigating life in Dubai, trying to learn the language, and living a life that is anything but glamorous. “You learn a new language just to get by. And it is not Arabic; it is English. Because here, people only treat you like family if you speak their language. And your pay cheque isn’t about how good you are at your job. It is about what passport you hold. If you come from a rich country, you get paid more. If you come from a poor country, you get paid less. No one says this out loud, but everyone knows it is true. You share a room with 20 strangers and they call it ‘bed space’. Back home, I had my own room. Here, I had a mattress and a curtain.”
He further spoke about how one can live in Dubai for decades and still not feel at home in the city. “This city moves fast. The tall buildings, the fancy lifestyle, all of it was built by people from other countries, not the locals. The locals are actually a small group in their own home. Every time you renew your visa, it reminds you of one thing. You can live here for 20 years and still not truly belong.”
Kevin also spoke about another unspoken tax of living in Dubai: visa anxiety. “If you lose your job, you only get 28 days before you have to leave. But before you blame Dubai for that, ask yourself, is any other place really better?”
Kevin concluded by asking something he doesn’t fully answer: “When are you coming home?”
“Every place has its problems. The hardest question isn’t how much money you make; it is when you are coming home. You never really know how to answer that because home was never just a country. Home is everywhere you find happiness. That’s it. So yes, you will struggle. You will doubt yourself. But if you stay patient, if you keep trying, if you keep your faith, you will make it. Not because Dubai became your home, but because you learn who you really are,” he concluded.
The reel has gone viral since, garnering over 240k views.
Dubai does deliver those images. The question nobody asks while scrolling is what it costs to stand in front of that building. Not the cappuccino. Everything else. Charles Kevin, a content marketing specialist, tried to show what that ‘everything else’ looks like. In a video shared on Instagram, he tried to paint how life looks once that perfect photo op ends. He isn’t trashing Dubai, but sharing his personal experience of trying to make a living in the city that’s home to the world’s tallest building.
Life beyond the bling in DubaiExpats make up more than 80% of Dubai’s population. Tax-free income, career opportunities, and an ultra-safe, luxurious lifestyle are some of the major attractions for them. In the video, captioned ‘The truth of living in Dubai ’, Kevin talks about the unglamorous hard work that doesn’t make it into the reels most of us consume. “Everyone told me Dubai was a paradise. No one told me what it could cost. You work 10 times harder than the locals,” he said.
The man also spoke about navigating life in Dubai, trying to learn the language, and living a life that is anything but glamorous. “You learn a new language just to get by. And it is not Arabic; it is English. Because here, people only treat you like family if you speak their language. And your pay cheque isn’t about how good you are at your job. It is about what passport you hold. If you come from a rich country, you get paid more. If you come from a poor country, you get paid less. No one says this out loud, but everyone knows it is true. You share a room with 20 strangers and they call it ‘bed space’. Back home, I had my own room. Here, I had a mattress and a curtain.”
He further spoke about how one can live in Dubai for decades and still not feel at home in the city. “This city moves fast. The tall buildings, the fancy lifestyle, all of it was built by people from other countries, not the locals. The locals are actually a small group in their own home. Every time you renew your visa, it reminds you of one thing. You can live here for 20 years and still not truly belong.”
Kevin also spoke about another unspoken tax of living in Dubai: visa anxiety. “If you lose your job, you only get 28 days before you have to leave. But before you blame Dubai for that, ask yourself, is any other place really better?”
The brighter sideIn the reel, Kevin also talks about the brighter side of Dubai. Here, women can walk safely at midnight. The infrastructure just works. And corruption is low compared with many places. “Can a woman walk alone in Paris at midnight and feel safe? Can’t you watch her back on the train without worrying? Here, she doesn’t have to,” he said.
Kevin concluded by asking something he doesn’t fully answer: “When are you coming home?”
“Every place has its problems. The hardest question isn’t how much money you make; it is when you are coming home. You never really know how to answer that because home was never just a country. Home is everywhere you find happiness. That’s it. So yes, you will struggle. You will doubt yourself. But if you stay patient, if you keep trying, if you keep your faith, you will make it. Not because Dubai became your home, but because you learn who you really are,” he concluded.
The reel has gone viral since, garnering over 240k views.
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