pakistanibrain's VirtualTourist Home Page

I think that I have been very lucky to get the chance to experience the best of both cultures, the Austrian and the Pakistani one, and so I am very open to discover and learn about other cultures (apart from these two) as well.

And since I've moved to Dubai in June 2006 I'm exploring a third culture too, which I'm very excited about.

Currently I am in Dubai (UAE).

Planned Travel:

October 2009: San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Jersey City, NJ (all USA)

I was born in Vienna, Austria. However my parents are originally from Pakistan as well as my wife. Although I've spent almost all my live in Austria, I feel very close to Pakistan. In June 2006 I moved to Dubai, UAE with my wife and my son.

This picture shows me during our honeymoon at Pearl Continental Bhurban, Pakistan. A really awesome place to which I relate very positive memories. :)

I'm the proud father of two wonderful children. My son Ziyan was born in July 2005 and my daughter Nabiha in December 2007.

Ziyan means ornamental or beauty in the Arabic language, but is a very rare name. In fact I don't know any other person with that name myself.

Nabiha means noble in Arabic and is also a very rare name.

* Austria (lived there until 05/2006, visited several times from 2006 to 2009)
* UAE (living here since 06/2006, visited three times in 2006 before moving)
* Pakistan (1980/81, 1987, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001/02, 2002, 2003, 2003/04, 2004, twice in 2006, twice in 2007, twice in 2008, 2009)
* Switzerland (five times in 2005, three times in 2006)
* Slovakia (1989, 2001, 2002, three times in 2003, 2004)
* Czech Republic (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008)
* Saudi Arabia (2006, 2006/07, twice in 2007, twice in 2008)
* Hungary (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006)
* Qatar (2006, three times in 2007)
* Germany (1990, 2005, 2007, 2008)
* England (1991, 1996, 2004, 2009)
* Jordan (2006, twice in 2007)
* Italy (1995, 2004, 2009)
* Belgium (2001, 2005)
* France (2004, 2007)
* Kuwait (2008, 2009)
* Holland (2002, 2009)
* USA (2000, 2009)
* Greece (1997)
* Canada (2000)
* Spain (2005)
* Oman (2006)
* Bahrain (2008)
* Portugal (2008)

I have not counted "airport transit stays" as real visits and so they don't appear on my travel pages. Those were:

On the way to Pakistan and back:

* Turkey (1999, 2002, twice in 2003)
* Denmark (1980)
* Russia (1987)
* France (1993)
* Germany (1997)
* Jordan (2001)
* UAE (2004)

On the way to USA and back:

* Italy (2000)

On the way to Jordan:

* Oman (2007)

On the way back from Jordan:

* Bahrain (2007)

First trip to a country outside Austria: Pakistan - December 1980
First flight: Vienna-Copenhagen (airport transit)-Karachi - December 1980
First trip to a country outside Austria without my parents: England - April 1996
Most recent flight: Vienna-Dubai - 19th July 2009
Most frequently flown flight route: Dubai-Vienna-Dubai
Most flights within a week: 6 (between 11th and 17th March 2006):
1) Vienna-Dubai - 11th March 2006
2) Dubai-Vienna - 13th March 2006
3) Vienna-Innsbruck - 16th March 2006
4) Innsbruck-Vienna - 16th March 2006
5) Vienna-Geneva - 17th March 2006
6) Geneva-Vienna - 17th March 2006

5th country visited: England (July 1991)
10th country visited: Czech Republic (April 2001)
15th country visited: Spain (January 2005)
20th country visited: Saudi Arabia (September 2006)

Reached Bronze Status on VT: Can't remember (around February 2006)
Reached Silver Status on VT: 29th May 2006