The day I am going to dearly miss is nearly here!

Come December 18 and I will miss the Qatar National Day (QND) for only the second time in a decade.

When I left Qatar for good last year, I didn't think this would be such a hard pill to swallow. Yet here I am, reminiscing my experiences that made those days special.

My most vivid memories of QND are that of the proud processions that pass through the Doha Corniche every year.

In 2012, I was brave enough to venture out of my comfort zone, wake up early in the morning, move as close to the Doha Corniche as possible, fight with a truck driver for parking space, walk nearly 2km to the venue, get stopped by cops saying the place was full, flagging down a friend who worked in the media to get me in, standing with hundreds of people pressing in from all sides, breathlessly waiting for the parade to come in, seeing rows upon rows of armed men marching in perfect formation, watching their camouflage painted faces with trepidation, thanking the Gods that I'm with them rather than against them, looking at soldiers filing past atop camels, horses and armoured vehicles, seeing HH the Emir and his family from close quarters (and regretting not taking a picture), seeing thousands of patriotic Qatari men, women and children wave little Qatari flags, some of them shouting and a few of them crying, the morning chill and patriotic fervour making my hair rise... the memories are countless!

And boy, did I tell you about the modified cars? Those people who wear their patriotism on their sleeves and brand their vehicles with the white and maroon of the Qatari flag?

I had a graphic designer friend who used to eagerly wait for national day to come by. His main side income every December came from designing patriotic sticker wraps for cars.

The vehicles, during the week running up to national day, get a makeover with pictures of the Royal family embossed on them. Numerous Qatari flags appear as if by magic and there's a healthy competition to out-patrioting one another.

And how can I forget the QND shopping frenzy? Anything and everything during the period is Qatar-themed. From shopping malls adorned with giant Qatari flags to Qatari-colour themed traditional ghutras, nothing is off limits.

Suddenly, you are inundated with Qatari flag themed pencils, pens, note pads, speaker systems, radios, carry-bags... you name it.

All in all, the Qatar National Day is an experience that you have to live through to experience it.

My advice to expatriates who are going to enjoy this year’s QND, get out of your comfort zone and try and get to the Doha Corniche (if you haven't already done so before). Get your family and friends together and go on a trip to find out more about Qatari culture (Souq Waqif is an excellent place to start).

Live the experience when you're in Qatar. Once you leave, you'll start missing things you've taken for granted all along.

Happy advance Qatar National Day!