Travelogue 9: Riyadh, Reimagined

This week, a short hop from Dubai to Riyadh turned into a journey across time.

As I buckled into the 90-minute flight, a memory flashed back — July 2008, my first visit to Riyadh. I had flown in from Tokyo for an interview for a senior banking role. The offer? Obscenely generous. But I walked away.

Why? The immigration experience was cold, the July sun unrelenting, and Riyadh felt like a stark desert after Tokyo’s lush, green order. Most of all, I couldn’t picture building a life there with my wife and daughter. Even today, I sometimes wonder — what if I had said yes?

Seventeen years later, I returned to a city transformed.

The flight itself told a story — rows of expatriate professionals, many of them women, commuting weekly to consult on Saudi Arabia’s mega-projects. Immigration? Smooth. I walked in with a one-year multiple-entry visa on arrival — as an Indian. The hotel? The stunning Mandarin Oriental.

Driving into the city, I spotted something I couldn’t have imagined in 2008 — cinema halls, women confidently driving, coffee shops buzzing with locals and expats alike. Riyadh isn’t trying to be Dubai. It’s carving its own identity — ambitious, grounded, and bold.

What struck me most was the culture inside the banks. A healthy blend of Saudi and global talent working shoulder to shoulder. The Saudis I met weren’t just welcoming — they were hungry to learn, curious, and unafraid to ask tough questions. The energy — whether in boardrooms or cafés — was electric.

And behind it all, one force is unmistakable: Crown Prince MBS’s Vision 2030. Regardless of opinion, no one can ignore the scale and speed of transformation. For anyone with 10+ years of experience in financial services, Riyadh isn’t just an assignment — it’s a frontier of opportunity.

When I returned to Dubai, I told my wife: “Let’s take a trip to Riyadh together.”

It’s no longer the city I once walked away from.

It’s a city you might just want to walk toward.