Episode Description
In this episode, I'm speaking with Emmanuel Ahiafor, who started travelling solo to Russia in his first year of university, visited over 15 countries, moved to Budapest because of a song, and now lives in New Brunswick with his family.
When I asked him if he feels fully Ghanaian when he goes back, his answer was no. Things he once accepted as normal, he now questions. And yet, no place feels like home as much as Ghana for him.
He thinks he'll go back eventually.
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Emmanuel and I chat about:
How a song, a spontaneous trip, and a failed credit card led to four and a half years in Budapest
The gap between what the algorithm sells you about Canada and what you actually find
Why parenting far from home forces you to become your own village
The lessons he'd share with anyone thinking about moving
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Dozie's Notes
A few things that struck me as I listened through this week's conversation:
Every country you live in installs something in you that you can't uninstall. Emmanuel picked up a European habit in Hungary, which is mind your own business even in the elevator. Then he moved to Canada and found people who wanted to chat as "too friendly." Every country you make home, even for a little bit reshapes your sense of what's normal, what you tolerate, and how much control you expect over daily life.
Home doesn't require you to fit perfectly inside it. Emmanuel is probably never gonna fit in fully into Ghana again. And I think one lesson I took from reflecting on this point he made is that home isn't the place you currently agree with on everything. You can question it, outgrow parts of it, or feel frustrated by it. But deep in your bones, you just know it's home.
Immigration will reveal all your biases. For Emmanuel, things that were fine in Ghana aren't fine to him anymore. Things that were normal in Hungary feel strange in Canada. Each move peels back another layer. And if you're not willing to do that work, you'll struggle, because the country you moved to doesn't care about preserving the version of yourself you arrived with.
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Official Links
✅ Connect with Emmanuel Ahiafor on LinkedIn
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