Growing Up Across Countries Without Belonging

What It Takes to Start Over From Scratch

What does it really take to start over from scratch? In this episode, Fer shares what it was like leaving Venezuela, unexpectedly building a new life in the U.S., and rebuilding his career in New York after arriving with no clear plan. We talk about starting over in a new country, rebuilding confidence, creating community, and the mindset it takes to keep moving forward when everything familiar is gone. A conversation about reinvention, resilience, identity, belonging, and building a new sense of home.

The Superpower of Being a Chameleon

Aisha grew up in Nairobi, New York, and Abu Dhabi, and this conversation explores what it feels like to navigate different cultures and identities from a young age. We talk about adaptation, belonging, immigrant families, changing accents, identity, and the experience of becoming a “chameleon” — learning how to shift naturally between cultures, environments, and social settings. The episode also explores friendship, community, growing up internationally, and the complicated feeling of trying to figure out who you are underneath all the adaptation. This conversation felt especially personal to me because I’ve actually known Aisha since childhood, even though our lives took very different paths over the years.

Trailer | Somewhere Unfamiliar

Somewhere Unfamiliar is a podcast about moving, identity, belonging, and what it really feels like to build a home in a new place. Through personal stories and honest conversations, it explores the excitement, the loneliness, and everything in between that comes with starting over.

Growing Up Across Countries Without Belonging

When you grow up moving between countries, you don’t just change places...you start questioning where you belong. What does that do to your identity over time? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Eimad Houry, someone I’ve known and looked up to for many years. He grew up moving across countries and continents from a very young age and spent much of his life as a study abroad student himself. That experience shaped his career and led him to spend decades at Mercer University building study abroad and international affairs programs that had a lasting impact on students and how they saw the world. This conversation goes beyond the idea of study abroad as just an experience. It’s less about where you go, and more about what those experiences do to you over time. We talk about the parts people don’t always mention, including the loneliness, the adjustment, and what it takes to build real connections, and how these experiences continue to shape identity and decisions long after. Resources: How Studying Abroad Changed My Life [https://www.amazon.com/How-Studying-Abroad-Changed-Life/dp/0881469661]by Eimad Houry & Chinekwu Obidoa⁠⁠

Why Going Back Feels Different After Living Abroad

You move abroad… and suddenly going back doesn’t feel the same. Why does returning “home” feel so different after living somewhere else? In this episode, I sit down with Laura to talk about her move from Glasgow to San Diego and how something that started as a work opportunity turned into a complete life change. We talk about the moment it finally felt real, the pressure of starting from scratch in a new country, and what it’s actually like trying to build friendships in your 30s when everyone else already has their life set up. Laura also shares what surprised her most about moving. Not the leaving, but what happens when you go back. Realizing that home doesn’t feel the same anymore, and that you’re no longer fully part of the life you left behind. This is a conversation about identity, change, and what it means to build a life somewhere new while still feeling connected to where you came from.