I have decided that the point of being rich is not how many designer handbags you can buy, although of course that is a perk, but that it makes your life much easier in many ways.

If you are rich, you can employ someone to do all those things that make your life tedious, like deleting the spam comments on your blog, or getting the internet connection at home fixed, or organising your annual car insurance or calling the plumber.

This may not be a mind-blowing revelation, but I have come to realise that we may never be able to leave Abu Dhabi because to a much lesser extent we have that here.

As I write my driver is collecting the home entertainment system box we have had mended. My housemaid or ‘bonne‘ as the French rather more charmingly call them, is buying vegetables in the supermarket to cook our lunch with. I am at work, relaxed and zen, even though it is press day.

The thought of going back to a life where it was just me doing all that stuff is horrible. I just can’t imagine it. In fact it’s a miracle I am as well-balanced as I am after 25 years of ironing.

My mother finally arrived this morning after a week’s delay thanks to the unpronounceable volcano. It is so lovely to see her. I just called to see if they are all OK.

“We can’t do anything right now, because we are playing luxury hotels and Mormor (granny in Swedish) is playing with us and is going to have a luxury suite,” Olivia told me.

So you see, we don’t need to be rich at all, we have everything we could possible need anyway.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2010