By Liam Ryder

Copyright walesonline

A young woman who departed the UK to begin a completely fresh life in Qatar claims that residing in the Middle East is ‘so much better’ – and now intends to remain there permanently. After becoming frustrated with Britain’s dreary weather and escalating living costs, Yvonne Akpofure, 29, decided to relocate to Doha, Qatar’s capital and commercial centre, seeking a superior and more rewarding way of life. The solicitor and independent author was leasing accommodation in Manchester when she opted to take the leap and seek employment opportunities in the Middle East. Having initially focused on Dubai before concluding it was overly ‘saturated’, Yvonne broadened her job hunt to include Qatar. A brief visit there was sufficient for her to become enchanted with the location, and following landing a position at a legal practice, she gathered her belongings and relocated in September 2024. Moving forward a year, and despite an admittedly challenging initial six months adapting, Yvonne has now established herself and is thoroughly enjoying existence in her new homeland. “I went on my first holiday to Dubai when I was 23 and I just thought ‘I really love it here’. I just love being in the sun,” Yvonne told the Manchester Evening News . “It was not long after Covid happened, so no one was really thinking about moving anywhere. I then bought a house with my friend in Surrey in 2021, so I kind of thought I was over the thought of moving abroad. “But then 18 months later I got itchy feet again. I wanted to move but I didn’t know whether it was the right time to move abroad. I wanted to live in a city, so I thought I’d move to Manchester in the meantime.” Yvonne started renting a flat in the city centre in September 2023, but still harboured thoughts of relocating to the Middle East. “The weather is the number one thing I dislike about the UK,” she confessed. “It rains all the time, summer lasts for about two months, and then it’s back to raining again. It just makes me miserable. “The second thing is paying tax. I feel like a lot of our money goes on taxes and as a single person in particular, life can just be very very expensive. “The third thing is the lifestyle over there, because people just spend much more time outdoors. There’s so much more that you can do when it’s sunny all the time and you never have to rely on the weather.” Just a few months after relocating to Manchester, Yvonne experienced a change of heart. “In my mind I thought, ‘I’ll never do it if I don’t do it now.’ The worst that could happen was I’d move, and then if I didn’t like it, I’d just come back, rather than always wondering ‘what if’,” she explained. While searching for employment, Yvonne started to contemplate a move to Qatar. “Dubai was definitely the first choice, but where Dubai is quite saturated, I then expanded my search to other Middle East countries and Qatar was the next one that was up and coming,” she revealed. “There is a big expat community and it is quite similar to Dubai. Eventually I got a job offer but they said come and visit to actually see if you actually like it, and as soon as I came over I was like ‘yeah I love it’.” Following her successful job application in Doha, Yvonne departed Manchester in July 2024 and returned to Surrey for two months before making her major overseas relocation in September 2024. However, she acknowledges the initial six months proved challenging. “I’ve been here nearly a year now, but the first six months were difficult. Everybody who has moved here will probably tell you the same thing,” Yvonne says. “The culture is just completely different to the UK, it operates very differently even just down to day-to-day things like how people drive and communicate. There are a lot of different nationalities here and English isn’t everyone’s first language so you have to navigate that. “The working style is also very different. There’s a lot more process in the UK, whereas there’s not as much process, and as a lawyer that was quite challenging because I’m quite used to there being a rigid process.” Following her solo move to Doha, Yvonne confessed that building friendships proved equally difficult. “I didn’t know anyone in Qatar which was quite tough, you have to go out of your way to meet people and make friends,” she said. “I met a couple of girls through TikTok, as I saw some people posting about their move to Doha so I just commented on their videos, and some of them also did the same to me. Then there were a couple of people in the UK who saw I had moved, and said that they knew people out here, so I met some people through mutual friends. I also joined a run club so I met a couple of people, as well as a couple of networking events and going out.” Despite experiencing difficulties settling into her new life abroad, Yvonne confesses she never questioned her choice. “There was never a point where I was like, ‘I’ve done the wrong thing’ but I just wondered when does this actually get easier?,” she said. “That first six months was a character building experience. However, I think once you push past that and when you meet people, life becomes a lot easier. “I was going through the motions of a new job, new place, new friends, there was a lot to adjust to and you’re overstimulated. I think there’s a lot of people that might pack it in before the six month mark because they just think ‘this is just a lot’. “My advice is to just push past that because it does get easier. You just need to accept that things aren’t done the same way that they are in the UK.” Yvonne is currently renting a one-bedroom flat in Doha, and explains that the housing market is far less competitive than the UK, particularly in major cities like Manchester and London. “I found the whole process much simpler compared to the UK,” Yvonne explains. “There are a lot of apartments here, and they don’t all go really quickly. I think there is definitely more supply than demand. You can often just walk into a building and say ‘I’m looking for an apartment,’ and somebody will probably show you around, and then you go from there. “You have to sign all of your cheques up front for 12 months which is a bit different. So here they still use chequebooks, so you give them all to the agent or landlord and then they will cash the cheques on the first of every month, and then that’s it. “All bills are usually included. The only thing I needed to sort out was my internet but I just went to the shop and then the next day there was someone here installing it all for me.” The solicitor also explains that rental costs are typically more reasonable as well, which is aided by the absence of taxation. “It all depends on where you live in Doha, but to live in the nicest area of Doha in a very nice one-bed, I’d say the price is about 40 percent cheaper than a nice one-bed apartment in Manchester,” Yvonne says. “For my apartment I pay 10,000 QAR which is around £2,000, which sounds like a lot but it is tax free so you do have more disposable income. You would also struggle to get an apartment that is of this size in Manchester. “It’s got a really big bedroom, two bathrooms and two balconies overlooking the sea. Again this is probably the nicest part of Doha. “You could live somewhere else that’s still really nice, but pay probably £600 less a month. Renting is definitely way more affordable here, you get much more for your money.” Yvonne explains that another major contrast between life in the UK and Doha concerns healthcare provision. “Every employer has to provide you with private healthcare, and the speed and convenience of it here is much better. “In the UK you might be on a waiting list to see a GP for three weeks, whereas here, they will literally book you in the same day.” The 29-year-old has returned to the UK three times since relocating to Doha, but explains the Middle East now feels like home. “I do have plans to stay here long term. I see myself having a life here and having a career here. I’m not sure what would bring me back to the UK now,” she admits.