Alexandra Christmas was in Dubai for five days. Two on their way to Vietnam. Three on the way home to England. That was all. But by the time she touched down at Birmingham airport, she had already decided. She was returning, this time to stay. Two years on she’s shed 50 kilograms, built a golf-based business and says she’s never leaving. This is her story.
She spent years searching for a place that felt like home
Alexandra, 33, is from England. Before Dubai she had lived in various countries across Europe and had also spent a few years in Australia. None of them took. None felt right. She knew she was looking for something specific all along: a place that reflected her values and offered the kind of opportunities she wanted to build a life on. Of all places, she discovered it in Dubai, during what should have been a brief stopover. “When she came back to the UK she said she realised she needed to get her plans together to relocate. There was no questioning. Dubai has a way of making you do that. If you too are considering settling down in the city, finding the right home environment is important. Find the best Interior Design Companies In Dubai to help you create a space that really feels like your own.
She arrived weighing 115kg. She Is 50kg Lighter Today
Alexandra weighed 115 kilograms when she moved to Dubai in 2024. She knew she was not in the right place physically or mentally to build what she wanted to here. “Dubai requires you to bring your A-game,” she said. And so she decided. She started on a weight-loss regime involving prescription medication and regular exercise. She lost 50 kilos in two years. She didn’t do it in a day. She did not do it perfect. She just kept at it. She says the city drove her to it. She kept positive, hardworking people around her and felt that energy pushing her each day. Dubai, she says, has a “everything is possible” mindset and that mindset, became hers.
She Had Never Held a Golf Club. Now It Is Her Entire Life
Three weeks after arriving in Dubai, Alexandra had her first golf lesson. She had never held a club in her life. Now, golf is her whole world. She plays the course. She trains at the range. In her free time, she browses golf videos. She has created a consultancy business around the golf course, tapping into the huge amount of business networking that takes place on the fairways. She says she had always wanted to do business on a golf course because there is a massive gap there and she went for it. She formed a golf community group and launched an Instagram account named @golfgirl.dxb to share her journey, and became a brand ambassador for Prosports, a golf retailer and distributor based in the UAE. The challenge keeps her interested. “With golf, you’re never the best,” she says. You are always looking for better. Some days you play well and you want to come back. There are days when you lose your swing completely and that’s what pulls you back too. You just focus all your energy. Nothing beats a good meal for unwinding after a long day on the course. Find the best Restaurants in Dubai with great options across every neighbourhood and cuisine in the city.
The Golf Community Here Is Unlike Anything She Has Ever Seen
“One of the biggest reasons I fell in love with the sport so fast was the golf community in Dubai,” Alexandra says. You begin a session with a total stranger and walk the course with them for four or five hours. At the end you are talking about doing it again, or looking at a business opportunity, or you have just made a new friend. All three, sometimes. The clubhouse continues the social life after the round, making golf feel more like a lifestyle than a sport. The mix of people she has met through golf is what Dubai itself is: people from every corner of the world, building something together. That part of the city, she says, is genuinely hard to grasp. Not only the buildings and the infrastructure, but the ability to bring together millions of people and to create a real community. That is what she finds amazing about Dubai.
Her dream: A villa at Jumeirah Golf Estates, a golf husband and two golf kids
Alexandra now lives with her seven-year-old Rottweiler, Nala, in Dubai. And she knows what comes next. The dream she tells everyone is a villa facing the course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, a golf husband, two kids that she will turn into golf prodigies. She says it with a laugh but means it. Every day, one swing at a time, she is working toward it. This was never about a quick fix for her. From day one, she knew this was home. She is not going. Once Dubai has someone like that, it tends to keep them. And for families and individuals making a life in the city, great places to spend weekends, are as important as career and home. Explore the best Shopping Malls In Dubai for a perfect family day out with entertainment, dining and retail all under one roof.
Five days Alexandra Christmas was here. Stayed for life. That’s Dubai for you. For more such stories and handy guides to living in the UAE, head to Ever List.
