So, nearly 4.5 years in Abu Dhabi, and not once have we been visited by someone from home.

Until today!

There came my daughter walking towards us in the Abu Dhabi airport, pulling two purple suitcases.

We all have the week off, and we are going to take her to see some of the sights, here in the UAE. Including more than a few we have not bothered to see ourselves, in those 4.5 years.

To be fair to everyone who has not come here … we generally discourage it. California is 12 time zones away. On the other side of the world. It is 16 hours in transit, at a bare minimum, and the weather here is brutal during the summer, when someone might have time to make the journey over.

Plus, we generally would rather meet people in Europe. Paris or Barcelona, for instance. That has worked quite nicely.

But this will work out quite well, too, because our visitor will prompt us to do some touring of where we actually live. Where we have done very little looking about, of our own.

(It’s the Orange County Syndrome … referring to people who live near Disneyland but never actually go, because it’s right there, and they certainly will get around to it someday, because it’s so easy … and they never go.)

For instance …

–Leah has never been to the five emirates north of Dubai. I have never been to the four emirates north of Sharjah.

–We have never been to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which we can see from the roof of our building.

–We have not been inside the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

–We have never been to Oman, the handsome but far less petro-chemically endowed country next door. Though I have been yards from adding another country to my list, when visiting Al Ain, near the border.

–We have never been to Ferrari World. (And probably won’t this week, either, actually.)

–We have not taken advantage of the beach-day package at one of the elite new hotels on Saadiyat Island, and that probably will happen, because my daughter lives in the east coast of the U.S., which has had a nasty winter, and can stand some sun.

Our visitor will help get us to those places. Because we also will live the tourist experience, instead of the go-to-work, collapse-on-days-off, leave-the-country-for-vacation existence.

Should be interesting. As much for us as our visitor.