You can go anywhere but, for me, nowhere will beat London in July. Or August. Or whenever the temperature heads above 23 degrees and the city shifts from grayscale to full technicolour.

I’ve walked and run alongside the Thames so many times – this time a friend and I walked and chatted for a couple of hours in the evening sunshine. 

Five months in Dubai, it seems, does not acclimatise one for the Central Line at 3pm on one of the hottest days of the summer but after a month in the great indoors I can forgive a lack of air-conditioning and, tentatively at first, not pack a pashmina to head out for the day. I can even forgive the hayfever, the tingling in the back of my throat that started a few hours after landing at Heathrow making me appreciate a small mercy of living in a grass-free dessert.

Driving the bus when it’s empty in the middle of the day, reacquainting myself with public transport. 

Absence does make the heart grow fonder and not having to go into work makes London considerably more enjoyable (roll on retirement, I say). Every day might have been a holiday for me but I must apologise to any friends who were feeling less than perky at their desks as a result of weeknight boozing and the deceptiveness of it still being light at 10pm. Contrary to what I feared, my gin tolerance has not been affected (too) much by an almost abstinent five months and nor has my ability to only stop talking when I’m asleep.

The best my hair has looked in years thanks to Lisa at Jones & Payne – the speed at which her appointments get booked up is testament to her cutting skills and I’ve never felt calmer with a pair of scissors in close proximity to my head.

Boarding my flight back to Dubai was less difficult than I imagined and I can only attribute this to the handful of Very Good Conversations I had during my trip with friends old and newer – adult life is hard (I knew that), I am very hard on myself (but I’m trying to be less so) and sometimes you need someone to pull you back from the details and show you that the bigger picture…sort of looks quite good.

Visiting my old neighbourhood for a wander, a coffee in the sunshine by the lake and a visit to the Sci-Fi exhibition, Into The Unknown (make sure to catch the short film – it’s amazing).

So, I guess these are my holiday snaps and maybe, just maybe, I will face my fears of finding a decent hairdresser in Dubai, and a dentist, and work out how to make a doctor’s appointment and my next trip back will be a little less hectic and my new home will start to feel more like one.

The lake looking green, some graduating students making me feel old (I myself graduated 7 years ago and still have the shoes I bought for the day and only wore once).

The opening night of Walala X Play at Now Gallery in North Greenwich – you’ll recognise her art from the Old Street area and the outside of Frame in Shoreditch. Walk through the mirror maze and then head upstairs to watch others taking mirror selfies.