Before I left on this epic trip of summer 2025, I knew the journey would culminate in a visit to Qatar. Qatar is a friendly Gulf State with a major airline hub. Early on, I found a direct award flight to SFO from Doha. That sealed the deal. I would spend a few days exploring the country just before returning to the USA. When I departed San Francisco on June 5th, I had purchased my ticket to Taiwan, and this August 19th flight from Doha back to San Francisco. Between those dates, I had no constraints. I just had to somehow get from Taipei to Doha between June 5th and August 19th. Later, Stephanie and Caleb decided to meet me in Thailand to visit Vun. That fleshed out a spot in the middle of my trip. All along, though, I knew I would end up in Qatar.

August is blistering in any of the Gulf States. Like Dubai, many of Doha’s attractions are indoors, and all of the buildings there have superb air conditioning. I figured I could sweat out any outdoor attractions if I found them valuable enough. I would not need more than a few days. It is a small, relatively expensive country and it would not be pleasant to spend much time outside. I eventually found a great credit card point redemption for the Hyatt Regency Oryx in Doha. This simultaneously made my stay in Qatar more luxurious and much cheaper.