A teacher who lived in Dubai and Qatar for 10 years to save money shares what it was like — and why moving back to Ireland was a relief

• Sorcha Coyle studied education in the United Kingdom before moving to Qatar for a better salary.
• After four years in Qatar, she had saved enough money to purchase a home in her native Ireland at the age of 29.
• Coyle then relocated to Dubai for six years to teach, but she preferred her lifestyle in Qatar.

Sorcha Coyle earned £1,200 per month after taxes as a teacher in England. “After I paid my bills and rent, I was honestly breaking even at the end of each month,” she explained to Business Insider.

She spent the rest of her twenties in Qatar and Dubai, where the money was much better but the pace of life was such that she eventually returned home, having saved enough to realize her dream of buying her own home.

She was looking for something more exciting after working as a supply teacher in England for a year and then back in Ireland.

“I just thought, where can I go where I can make some money, hopefully buy my house, travel,” she went on to say.

She moved to Qatar for a higher salary

Coyle told BI that many people she knew thought the Gulf states were “scary,” especially for women.

Coyle, on the other hand, got a different impression from her aunt, who worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates in the 1980s.

Coyle applied to teach in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. She was offered every job she applied for, and she chose one at a new English-language department at an international school in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

She also stated that it was the best financial package. It offered her 11,500 Qatari Riyals per month tax-free, which was approximately 2,300 euros at the time, as well as free housing and a travel allowance.

She was given a 2-bedroom apartment

When she arrived in Doha with other teachers heading to the same school, she was given half her monthly salary in an envelope and a phone with a sim card, she told BI.

She claimed they each had a furnished two-bedroom apartment a 20-minute walk from the beach. It was the first time she’d had her own room.

Coyle told BI that she was given a rent allowance of 9,000 riyals in her second year. She cut her rent in half by moving in with a friend on the same block.

She set a monthly budget

Coyle stated that her initial plan was to save 100,000 euros over five years, which would be enough to purchase a home in Ireland at the time.

She set a monthly budget and stuck to it, but still had enough money to travel to Cuba and China during vacations, she said, subject to her employer’s permission to leave the country.

Work-life balance was better

Coyle stated that she would arrive at work at 6.30 a.m. and leave at 3.30 p.m. She claimed to have a better work-life balance than in the UK. She worked at summer schools and also tutored on the side.

She discovered opportunities for advancement in her career. The school agreed to let her start her own department aimed at older students and act as a career advisor.

She had to be mindful about what she said in school

Same-sex relationships are punishable by prison in Qatar. The government also enforces a male guardianship system, which requires women under the age of 25 and single to obtain permission to marry and travel abroad. The freedom of expression is restricted.

“We were told from the start that we couldn’t talk about certain things,” Coyle said, citing pork, LGBTQ people, and Israel as examples.

Coyle told BI that the students frequently inquired about Western life, such as how people met their spouses and why they drank alcohol.

“I was really clear about saying there’s no right or wrong way,” she was quoted as saying.

She didn’t want to be perceived as “trying to impose a liberal agenda on them,” she explained.

There was a difference between public and private life

Coyle stated that “nothing is impossible” in Qatar. She described the expat community as “close-knit.” They’d go out for drinks in nice hotels and meet people she’d never met back home, such as successful business people.

She joined a Gaelic football team and met up with friends on a regular basis to walk along the seafront or explore the souks.

She claimed that as expats, they could dress as they would in the West and go to clubs and bars. However, they would be aware of the need to tread carefully in order to avoid offending conservative sensibilities. “You’d simply hop in a taxi and head straight to the venue.” “You wouldn’t walk down the street,” she explained.

Coyle told BI that she felt safe in Qatar, adding that “you have to show your ID to get in, so they track and know where you’re going.”

When she returned to London, she was met with “drunk and rowdy men shouting” at her on the street, making her feel unsafe.

She bought a house in Ireland aged 29

Coyle left Qatar after four years to pursue a master’s degree in linguistics and English language teaching in London in 2015.

She used her savings of 70,000 euros to purchase a home in Ireland.

“I don’t think I ever could have bought my home if I hadn’t done this,” she told me.

She wasn’t allowed to return to Qatar

During Coyle’s time in Qatar, migrant workers were subject to a private sponsorship system known as “kafala.” Human rights groups have claimed that the system allows for the exploitation of migrant workers, such as those involved in the construction of stadiums for the 2022 World Cup.

Coyle told BI that when she tried to return to Dubai to work for another school, the previous school used its power to prevent her from working for a competitor within two years of leaving. “I was devastated,” said Coyle.

She moved to Dubai instead

Coyle applied for a position at a school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She claimed that when she arrived, they put her up in a hotel for a month while she looked for a place to live.

Her monthly salary was 16,000 Dirham, which was approximately 3,800 euros at the time, plus a rent allowance. Coyle also rented out the house she purchased in Ireland.

According to her, Dubai is more “hectic” than Doha. But she enjoyed culture and museums.

Her Emirati students, she discovered, were more open to other cultures than her Qatari students. “I found they were very really tolerant because they were just more exposed to things,” she went on to say.

But she missed Doha’s Arabic-style architecture. “In Dubai, you often feel like you could be in California,” she told me.

Moving home to Ireland was a relief

After six years in Dubai, she returned home in February 2022 to the house she had purchased.

Coyle described her experiences in Doha and Dubai as “easier” than her life at home.

“You haven’t got the same worries when your rent is paid for,” she told me. However, she began to feel unhappy and craved a sense of stability.

She claimed that Dubai, where she knew mostly young, single people, lacked “that settled homely feeling for me.”

In Dubai, she started her own business advising other teachers on how to prepare for work in Gulf countries and developed an online course in addition to teaching. She was in her thirties, working hard, and preoccupied with making money and flaunting her lifestyle, she claimed.

“You can get tired of living that life after a while.” You may lose contact with your family and your home life. “It gets harder as you get older,” Coyle added.

She now advises her clients preparing to work in the Gulf that it is best to teach in Gulf countries for a limited time, achieve your goals, and then return home.