My late 30s were hard. Living alone in Cape Town, South Africa, I was holding out for a partner and children while my friends moved through weddings and baby showers without me. My parents and sisters (including my twin) lived in another province, freelance writing work was drying up, and as 40 approached, I felt stuck - single, lonely, and unsure what came next.
Jane Newman spent her evenings watching K-dramas on her recliner during the pandemic lockdowns. She didn't expect they'd spark a curiosity about South Korea that would eventually lead her to move there and start over.
I was always drawn to new experiences and opportunities. My work in investment banking and asset management brought me to Singapore for almost five years. After being laid off, I found myself in Bali with my then-husband and our seven-year-old daughter, running a small boutique hotel. After four years of island life, I returned to the finance world, taking roles in Japan and later in Myanmar.
I went to Texas A&M University. It's a big school in a small-town bubble, where friendliness and tradition rule. I built a good life in Texas. I married a local boy, raised kids, built a career, and did everything the cultural syllabus told me to do. But deep down, I always felt a little out of place, like the transfer student who arrived halfway through the semester.
I'm an attorney from Atlanta and have practiced for three decades - 25 years as a prosecutor and five in defense - but I've always had a creative side. I was always baking and entertaining, and my friends would even pay me to bake for them. Eventually, I realized I could turn it into a business - Delights by Dawn - and it blossomed. My niche became alcohol-infused cakes and cupcakes, which drew a lot of attention.
Barely a week goes by without the British press telling the story of somebody moving to Dubai for lower taxes or, conversely, that the Dubai dream is dead. The city-state benefits from this discourse-fuelled soft power. It strikes both the haves and have-notes. Dubai fever is democratic. The city is an El Dorado of the east for remittance-sending strivers, sun-seeking expats and scammers. For many, it represents an unsettling post-western horizon.