It was on October 16, 2009, that we arrived in Abu Dhabi. Five years ago today.

It seems longer. Not in a bad way. More in a “hard to remember life before” kind of way.

A rule of thumb, among expats, is that if you do five years out of your home country, you never see it in quite the same way again.

Well, here we are. Five years.

We plan to go home for Thanksgiving. I will wait till then to make observations about how daily life in the U.S. has changed. (At least, from 2009.)

Meantime, at the other end?

Another five years in print journalism has been grand. It is what we do. It is what we know. We are pretty good at it. And so are thousands of other print journalists who have lost their jobs since we left the U.S.

We were fortunate to find out about these jobs, while in Paris, and lucky to have the flexibility to come over and take them.

In five years, we have learned a lot about a part of the world that often seems opaque and monolithic, from the other side of the Atlantic.

The UAE is not Qatar which is not Saudi Arabia or Bahrain. It most certainly is not Iran, just across the Gulf, where a different form of Islam is embraced, government officials are seen as bellicose (by the UAE, certainly) and the man in the street doesn’t have much money.

We have spent five years in a country that probably has the highest standard of living in the world, certainly for its own citizens.

Health care is free, even for expats, in Abu Dhabi. Vacation time for many expats is extensive. And even the guys working on skyscrapers in 100 degree weather … they are here because they are convinced it beats what their options were back home.

Abu Dhabi also has no beggars. No homeless people. That doesn’t happen to Emiratis; the government sees to that. And if you don’t have a job, as an expat, you are sent home.

Crime? Remarkably crime-free. We could sleep with our front door unlocked.

Being based at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula also put us in a spot where it is far easier to visit countries hard to reach from California.

We have been to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Qatar and Kenya, while living here, and it’s safe to say we would not have gone to any of those, these past five years, had we remained in the States.

Perhaps the strongest conviction I have, after five years out of the country, is this:

If things are not going well where you are … get up and move.

It is unreasonable to expect that employment trends wherever you are living, in the U.S., will change any time soon. If you are unemployed, that means trouble. It means not working in your chosen field. If you are over the age of 50, or even 45, the odds of getting a job in your field are even worse.

So, do what your great-grand parents did.

Leave.

Go where the jobs are. Not where they were.

The UAE, for example, is almost always looking to hire experienced teachers. And the pay might be better than it is back in the States.

Many of the nations across the arc of the Indian Ocean have expanding economies. Consider looking there. You are worldly. You have been around. You could make it. Really. You could.

Consider the Peace Corps. They take older people. You won’t make a lot of money, but you will have enough to live pretty well.

Think about it. If you are unhappy where you are, consider moving.

For those who speak English, you have been gifted a great advantage, in the modern world economy, one perhaps you haven’t fully appreciated.

English is the second language of 90 percent of the world, and your English-language skills have more value right this minute than ever before.

Speaking English is the one great advantage you keep, even if you lose your job. It gives you a fighting chance to find employment and perhaps some adventure, too, in a competitive world.

I didn’t fully appreciate that, five years ago. I do now.