Encore Episode: She Chose to Go Back

Part two of my conversation with Tiffany Baker Larnicol picks up where part one left off, and it is the harder half of the story. Tiffany talks about choosing to go back to a place most people spend their whole lives trying to leave, and what home actually means once you have seen what she has seen.

In this episode, Tiffany walks through what it was like living in Dubai when the missile and drone strikes began this year, the night she and her husband decided to evacuate with two hours' notice, crossing the Oman border alone as an American woman, and the decision that brought her back to Dubai on her own, weeks later, to stay.

Guest — Tiffany Baker Larnicol:

• Instagram: @tiffanybakerlarnicol
• Timestamps:
  00:01 Why we're revisiting this conversation
  01:13 Welcome to StorySessions
  01:29 Why Dubai, and what surprised her most
  10:09 Fast forward to February 28th
  12:11 The first alert: "take shelter"
  16:10 Evacuating her husband's team from Saudi
  17:38 Trying and failing to reach the State Department
  20:18 Her birthday, and the sound of her husband's voice
  22:36 The drone that wasn't intercepted
  23:52 "That's it, we're leaving"
  24:16 Two hours to pack "like you're never coming back"
  28:30 Crossing the Oman border alone
  32:13 Five weeks in Paris, then choosing to go back
  35:02 "This is not how the story's gonna end"
  41:45 What she has learned about the people around her
  45:05 The biggest lesson: "just be present and listen"
  47:13 What's next

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