Writing for Souk Weekly
Sara Qureshi
Special contributor. Former radio producer who profiles the people building the next economy, and waits out every rehearsed answer.
50 published pieces
Choose a Summer Camp Like It Is a Service Contract
Hours, transport, refunds, and supervision matter more than the brochure. The right questions take one phone call.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJul 3
Hosting Relatives This Summer Deserves a Budget
A house full of family is a joy with a grocery bill. Naming the costs early keeps the visit generous and the month intact.
By Sara Qureshi
OpinionJul 3
The Holiday You Take at Home Counts
Not every family flies out for the summer. Staying can be its own good season if it is chosen and shaped rather than endured.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 3
Make an Errand List for the Home-Country Visit
The summer trip home is also an admin window. Passports, bank visits, and stamped paperwork are all easier in person.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 3
The Two-Minute Hotel Room Check for Families
Balconies, sockets, kettles, and pools deserve a look before the suitcases open. Two minutes at check-in beats a scare at midnight.
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJul 3
Set Up Family Location Sharing Without the Drama
Knowing where everyone is should be reassurance, not surveillance. The setup conversation matters as much as the app.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 3
Traveling With Elderly Parents Takes Different Planning
Pace, medicine, seating, and rest change the shape of a trip. The plan that works is the one built around them, not squeezed around everyone else.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 3
A Long-Haul Flight With Kids Needs a Plan, Not Luck
The flight is a fixed number of hours; the experience is negotiable. Seats, snacks, sleep, and screens all work better decided in advance.
By Sara Qureshi
PoliticsJul 2
A Municipality Complaint Works Better With Evidence
A calm complaint with dates, photos, location, and the right channel is more useful than a furious message in the wrong place.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 2
Add a Travel Buffer Before the Connection Adds It for You
A tight itinerary is cheap until one delay turns it into a hotel, missed bag, and customer-service queue.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 2
Moving Country Needs a Paperwork Box
The hardest part of a move is often not the flight. It is proving identity, address, school history, insurance, and employment repeatedly.
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJul 2
Set Up Kids' Tablet Controls Before the Argument
Controls work best when they are calm, explained, and already set before bedtime bargaining begins.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 2
Family Visits Need a Visa Calendar, Not Last-Minute Hope
Inviting relatives is easier when passport validity, documents, holidays, flights, and appointment timing are planned together.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJul 2
Remittance Day Is About Fees and Exchange Rates
A transfer is not cheap because the fee looks small. The exchange rate can do the real work.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJul 1
The Frankincense Road and the Memory of Trade
The ancient perfume route still lingers in the region's ports, palates and sense of its own history
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJul 1
Fintech Reaches the People the Banks Forgot
For workers long shut out of formal banking, a phone is quietly becoming a wallet, a bank and a lifeline
By Sara Qureshi
PoliticsJul 1
The Quiet Return of the Diaspora
A generation that left to study and work abroad is coming home, and bringing a raised set of expectations with it
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJun 30
The Data Wants to Stay Home
New regional data centres promise that the region's information will finally be kept within its own borders
By Sara Qureshi
PoliticsJun 30
The Corniche Is the Region's Real Public Square
The seaside promenade has quietly become the most democratic space in cities built around private wealth
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 30
The Indian Ocean Was Always a Single Market
Long before borders and passports, the monsoon stitched three continents into one breathing economy
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJun 29
Drone Delivery and the Last-Mile Dream Over the Desert
Sparse distances and ambitious regulators are turning the region into an unlikely proving ground for delivery that flies
By Sara Qureshi
PoliticsJun 29
The Consulate Is the Region's Most Practical Institution
For millions of workers, the plain consular window, not the grand embassy, is where the state actually touches their lives
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 29
Monsoon Economics: How the Rains Still Rule South Asia
Across the subcontinent, markets, migration, and the public mood still bend to whether the rains arrive on time
By Sara Qureshi
PoliticsJun 28
How the Region Learned to Spend on Its Own Image
Stadiums, museums, and summits as instruments of statecraft, and what a country buys when it buys attention
By Sara Qureshi
TechnologyJun 28
The Cashless Donation Box and the Quiet Digitization of Faith
Contactless giving is arriving at mosques and charities, reshaping an intimate, centuries-old act of trust
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 28
The Indian Ocean Is Quietly Becoming the Center of the World Again
For centuries the ocean linking the Gulf, East Africa, and South Asia was the heart of trade, and it is quietly returning to that role
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 24
What To Do When a Delivery Goes Missing
A missing delivery needs timestamps, screenshots and calm escalation more than repeated angry messages.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 24
What a Good Travel Insurance Policy Should Actually Cover
The cheapest policy can look fine until the one thing you need is listed in the exclusions.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 24
How to Move Apartment Without Chaos
A calm move is built from dates, deposits, movers, utilities and documents lined up in the right order.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 24
What to Do If You Lose a Passport in the UAE
A lost passport is stressful, but the next steps are easier if you separate police report, embassy help and visa records.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 24
School Admissions Documents: What Parents Should Prepare
School applications move faster when identity, records, health forms and transfer papers are ready before the deadline.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 24
How to Choose a Health Insurance Plan in the UAE
A health plan is not just a premium. Network, approvals, exclusions and claims support decide how useful it feels.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 23
Cheering the Underdogs: How UAE Fans Are Backing Egypt and Japan
With large expat communities and a soft spot for a giant-killer, the UAE is a natural home for dark-horse support this World Cup.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 23
Smart Ways to Use a Long Layover
A long connection does not have to be wasted time. With a little planning, it can be rest, a meal or even a quick city visit.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 22
What to Check Before a Summer Staycation Booking
A local getaway can be excellent value, but the details decide whether it feels like a holiday or a hassle.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 21
A Calmer Way to Book Last-Minute Summer Flights
Last-minute travel does not have to mean panic pricing. A clear method keeps the booking sensible even when time is short.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 20
How to Beat Jet Lag on a Short Trip
A few days across time zones can be wrecked by poor sleep. A little planning keeps the trip from disappearing into fog.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 19
What to Pack for a Summer Trip Out of the Gulf
Leaving the heat does not mean packing for it. A short list keeps the bag light and the arrival comfortable.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 18
Read the Flight Change Fee Before Booking
A cheap fare can become expensive if bags, seat rules, refunds and date changes do not match the trip you actually need.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 15
The Real Cost of a Weekend Hotel Deal
The room rate is only the visible number. Taxes, breakfast, transport, parking and checkout timing decide whether the deal works.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 14
The GCC Weekend Travel Checklist That Saves the Most Stress
The best short trips are decided before the airport: documents, roaming, cards, luggage rules and the first ride from arrival.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 13
Weekend Trips Need a Return Plan
The departure gets the attention. The easier week starts when laundry, groceries, transport and sleep are planned before you leave.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 12
The Weekend the Water Might Open
A possible US-Iran understanding has given the Gulf its first real breath in weeks. The problem is that the paperwork is still not the peace.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 11
The War Arrives in the Neighbourhood
Reported strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait have done something the Gulf has spent years arranging itself to avoid: brought the fighting home.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 9
How to Attest a Child Birth Certificate for UAE Use
A foreign birth certificate normally needs the correct attestation and translation path before it can support a child visa, school admission, or dependent record. Names must match passports closely.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 9
How to Rent Your First Apartment in the UAE
Check the landlord or agent authority, contract terms, payment schedule, building condition, chiller and utility responsibilities, maintenance rules, and registration requirements. A quick viewing is not enough.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 9
How to Move Pets to the UAE
Pet relocation depends on import permits, microchips, vaccinations, health certificates, airline rules, and timing. The safest plan starts weeks before travel, not at the airport.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 9
How to Prepare a UAE Arrival Checklist for a Family
The first month should be organized around status, housing, school, healthcare, banking, transport, and emergency contacts. A written checklist prevents one missing document from blocking several services.
By Sara Qureshi
WorldJun 9
How to Attest a Marriage Certificate for UAE Use
UAE authorities usually need foreign marriage certificates to be legally recognized through the proper attestation chain and translation where required. Starting this before the visa application prevents the most common family-sponsorship delay.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 9
How to Get a Salary Certificate or NOC in the UAE
Banks, landlords, schools, visa applications, and some government services may ask for salary or employer confirmation. The useful certificate is specific, dated, signed or stamped, and consistent with the labour contract.
By Sara Qureshi