Checklist anyone?

Congratulations on the new job! Certainly not a decision thats taken lightly.

I'm not an old timer by any means, but fairly new to Aramco and Expat lift.

Few things I've learned along the way,

Definitely pay for extra luggage, take what you want to make your life comfortable from home.

Pretty much everything is available in the shops here, the furniture shopping etc is on par, if not better than the UK, and there is an IKEA in Dammam if you want to go that way.

Try find out from you RA where your housing will be assigned and if its been converted to 220V, as they are going through a transition to 220V in camp, so some are still 110V.

I'm in Ras Tanura so can't comment on the Dhahran camp side of things, although I've visited once and was blown away.

Try have all your certificates and documents in order, especially if you are bringing your family. You'll need your marriage certificate, children's birth certificates and professional qualifications.

If you've any questions feel free to PM me, as I've been in your shoes only a few months ago and know how daunting it can be, but it's a decision I've not regretted for a second coming here.

Dittos on paying extra to bring what you want in luggage. The good think about Dhahran is you can get most anything you need for home supplies in Khobar and it's a modest cab ride. I would have your relocation advisor verify if your home has been converted to 220VAC. It's a real pain if your house is 110 only (as mine still is in Udhailiyah) as you can't purchase any 110 VAC appliances in kingdom.

If there are any sports you enjoy, tennis, golf, cycling, scuba, etc., I would bring your gear with your. Quality sporting goods are hard to come by in kingdom.

Figure out what you plan or need to do in terms of forwarding your mail. I suggest getting a voice over internet service for affordable calls back home. I used Vonage at first, but you have to load the app on your phone in the US and log in before you can use it overseas. If your app is logged out then you can't log back in in Kingdom and the service is essentially useless. I switched to Voiply and it's been working fine and includes text as well as voice and is much less expensive than Vonage.

Bring plenty of pairs of shorts and t-shirts, it seems to be daily clothing when not in the office for most of the year and don't go anywhere without sunglasses.

A bicycle is really handy to have for getting around camp until you get a car so I highly recommend brining one, and a backpack. It will be a several month process to get your drivers license and walking or relying on inter camp busses has it's limitations.

Hi can i please get the checklist too

Download the Rekab SC app, it’s the lift share mini bus. When you go to sign your tenancy, pop to customer relations and get all the bus timetables, off camp/home to work etc.

I think you’ll do fine, the proactive always do.

I only need vpn for whatsapp calls. X-vpn works fine.

Thanks Tamsin.

NordVPN no longer works in Saudi for majority of users since last year. It seems like STC took measures to restrict use of VPNs. I ended up cancelling my subscription.