In 2001 I was twenty three years old and completely rudderless. I had no idea what I wanted to do or be and felt totally underwhelmed by life in small town Scotland. And then my dad got an exciting new job in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. It was a country I’d barely even heard of, let alone knew anything about! Nevertheless, it wasn’t a difficult decision to fly out there and get my first taste of life as an expat in a foreign country.

I’ll never forget the excitement of being on that almost deserted Qatar Airways flight. After all, I had an aisle of seats all to myself. Not to mention my own personal desert sunrise as we began our descent into Doha. The resulting year in Qatar was amazing, producing a lifetime of memories and setting me in good stead for the nomadic years ahead.

Documenting this period of my life has been a lot of fun. When I think back over those days, there are memories of luxury accommodation, burning heat, Qatari football, unique teaching challenges, a mentally unbalanced colleague and the world’s wackiest taxi driver. To find out more about all that, and much more, delve into The Qatar Collection. Eight short stories detailing my long ago adventures in The Middle East.

1. Ashraf

2. Khalifa Dreams

3. Pulp Friction

4. Baptism of Fire

5. Like It Too Much 

6. The Little Pronghorn 

7. Theater 4

8. Angela Habibi

The Qatar Collection is dedicated to Emma Dawson. Loyal friend, trusted confidante, literary goddess, owner of Ted. If I hadn’t gone to Doha I wouldn’t have met you and my life would have been all the poorer for it.

Leighton Travels is proud to blog in collaboration with kimchibytes.com