If it feels like a while since you’ve seen a blog post from me, that’s because it has been! I have been away on an incredible trip to see our fabulous clients in Türkiye and Dubai for 12 days abroad.

I will be breaking down a couple highlights of the trip over my next few blog posts, but for now I wanted to talk about something that I was definitely most excited about once I landed in Dubai.

Dubai has been a bucket-list destination for me for as long as I can remember. My grandfather and I always shared that it would be our next family vacation together one day. It may have been a little joke — or not, — but either way we always talked about it when discussing our dreams, goals and wishes together. And once we got there, we always talked about snapping that famous photo on the back of a camel riding through the desert.

There was just one problem with the camel part; it was about 110 degrees in downtown Dubai and 115 in the desert. Knowing that I had to fulfill my camel-riding dream, I opted for a beachside camel excursion rather than taking the 60-minute ride to the desert to fight the heat. It was just for a photo after all …

Desert Buggy Rental accommodated my request and then some. After I decided that morning at brunch to book the excursion, they confirmed and picked me up from my hotel within the hour. We drove about 10 minutes to Jumeirah Beach. After a long walk on the beach and in the heat, I was relieved to see two camels relaxing on the sand somehow not melting from the heat.

Habibi was the 7-year-old camel that carried me down the beach and back again while I admired the city skyline and the gorgeous blue water. I kept asking myself how some of the beachgoers could stand to sit out in the sun on their chairs while I was melting after five minutes.

The ride came to an end, I thanked Habibi for the ride and made my way into air conditioning, fast! At the end of the day I got the photo and immediately sent it to my grandfather. First bucket list item done. Stay tuned for my upcoming blogs to read more.

— Haley Fogarty, advertising manager