A long, long time ago when we first moved to the UAE…15 years to be exact – which has actually just felt like the blink of an eye, we bought a book about spots worth exploring.

We had a small group of friends who were also relatively new here, so we’d open the book on a Friday morning and whatever page it opened to would be our destination for the day.

Fast forward a few years – ok fine, make that a decade! Kids have been had, daily life has taken over, and we find ourselves in Year 2 of the ‘Great Corona Saga’ looking back at those days of exploring, wondering why we let it go for so long.

So, we trotted off to the bookstore last weekend and found the updated edition of the same book (not trying to sell the book, just sharing our process!) and have decided to do the same, this time with Les Munchkins.

Yes, it will need to be far more organized than just jumping into the car with a cup of coffee in hand than it was before. This time around there will likely be copious amounts of snacks, scores of questions, and an assortment of whines.

But it’ll be fun to show the kids how much more there is to enjoy in this country than water parks and shopping malls (we can save that for the summer!).

We’re always on the hunt for new gems to explore…where do you recommend going?