Big News! Jenny Far Away is Moving to Oman!

You may have noticed that a couple of months ago I was making some noise on my blog and various social media channels about a big announcement coming up. Then I went eerily silent about it.

I stopped talking about it because of uncertainty. I’d been offered a job, a good one in an amazing location that I’m excited to explore. But once I got involved in the preparation for going, the paperwork got very very complicated and the certainty of going seemed to get hazier every day. I didn’t feel like I should say anything and make a huge deal about it before I knew for sure.

If you’re on my email list this will not be news to you because I actually announced it to my subscribers in my April newsletter, with an update in my May newsletter just yesterday.

And if you’re not on my email list, well why not? Sign up here! I promise I won’t spam you or share your email address with anyone else.

But now I feel like it’s time to announce my move to the whole world. It’s still not very certain; I don’t have a visa or a plane ticket yet. But it does mostly feel like things have come together now and it is all going to work out.

Yes, there is still the vague possibility that I’ll be on here in a week or two telling you that I did not get approval and I’m making other plans. But I’m going to take that chance and announce it anyway.

Jenny Far Away is moving to Oman!

Now you’re saying…uh…Oman? Where the hell is that?

You know the huge Arabian Peninsula that is mostly made up of Saudi Arabia? And those two little countries down at the end of it that no one knows the names of? One of those is Oman. The one further East, to be exact. (The other one is Yemen.)

I’m moving to Oman to teach English at a college in Sohar, which is at the Northern end of the country, on the coast about two hours’ drive from the capital of Muscat. It’s also about a two and a half hour drive from Dubai.

Yes, it’s the Middle East, but no I’m not worried. Not everywhere in the Middle East is Terrorist Central or war-torn, and Oman is one of the most liberal and safest countries in the region. I wouldn’t be going to live there if I thought there was any threat to my security.

I’m looking forward to desert landscapes, dune bashing and maybe sand boarding, and practicing my astrophotography in the dark of the desert nights.

I can’t wait to visit the ancient forts and mosques, the souks full of treasures, and to eat fresh seafood from the local fish market.

I will take walks along the beach, I can hike up mountains and wadis, and go sailing and snorkeling in the Gulf of Oman.

The Omani people are supposedly ultra-friendly, so I hope to be able to enjoy their company. I also have a friend who currently works there (at the same school I’ll be teaching at) and purely by coincidence, my stepmother’s niece is also going to teach in Sohar within the next few months! I’ve never met her but look forward to making contact.

I’m excited to explore as much of Oman as possible, as well as make weekend trips to Dubai and other parts of the United Arab Emirates. Vacations have yet to be planned (let me get there first!) but India is close by, and I’ve got lots of ideas about Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran. As usual, I have more ideas about how to spend my holidays than I do actual vacation time!

So I’m moving to Oman, and while I’ll still be posting a lot about my past travels and future vacations, I’m also looking forward to discovering and showing you what an amazing country Oman is!

Are you excited for me to be moving to Oman? Have you been to Oman? What was your favourite part? Tell me all about it!