"At 17 She Boarded a Plane Alone and Never Went Home Again"

"At 17 She Boarded a Plane Alone and Never Went Home Again"

A 17 year old girl boards a plane from Botswana to Malaysia. She doesn't know a single person. She's never been to Asia. At the airport, she breaks down crying. Two decades later, she's built businesses across three continents, survived COVID lockdown separated from her partner, raised a global child who sleeps in her bed, and found home in a city she once visited on holiday. Pearl left Botswana at 17 with a scholarship and a dream to escape the shadow of eight older siblings. In Malaysia, she discovered herself through modeling, events, and the freedom to be loud, independent, and unapologetically her. Six years in Singapore followed, then a "temporary" move to Cape Town in 2019 while pregnant. COVID hit. Borders closed. Her Finnish partner was turned away at the airport. For seven months, she was alone with a newborn, a nanny, and a house renovation that wouldn't end. Now she runs fashion and landscaping businesses in South Africa, navigates race dynamics as a Black woman and foreigner, co sleeps with her six year old son, refuses to teach him her native language (yet), and questions whether she's parenting too softly compared to the strict, spanking filled childhood she fled. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔥 What we cover: Leaving Botswana at 17 and crying in Kuala Lumpur airport Boarding school, A levels, and discovering freedom in Malaysia Culture shock: from African food to Asian spice Going home changed and realizing she'd never move back Six years in Singapore and meeting her Finnish partner COVID lockdown: seven months alone with a newborn in Cape Town Her partner turned away at the airport, separated for months Why Cape Town became home: nature, ease, and opportunity Raising a global child who speaks English but not Setswana Co sleeping with her son and why she won't stop Breaking the cycle: no spanking, no yelling, gentle parenting struggles Starting fashion and landscaping businesses in South Africa Race and business: being Black, foreign, and female in Cape Town The segregation she sees in restaurants and social spaces Public school trauma vs private school privilege The unglamorous truth about moving abroad Motherhood reality: it's harder than she ever imagined The surrogate question: would she have another child? Interracial love and dating across cultures in Asia Why she'd never date someone from her own country The alcohol conversation: teaching kids at home vs sneaking out Having children at 50: selfish or a second chance? Her life on a postcard: champagne by the beach at 8am ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎧 About the show — "Babes, How Did You Get Here?" Hosted by entrepreneur & former Miss Jamaica April Jackson, this podcast explores the raw, emotional, and often uncomfortable stories behind people who chose a life elsewhere. New episodes every week from around the world. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ CHAPTERS: CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Introduction: From Botswana to Cape Town via Singapore * 00:01:32 COVID Lockdown: Separated and Stranded * 00:02:24 Leaving Home at 17: The Malaysia Journey Begins * 00:03:12 Airport Breakdown: The Reality of Moving Abroad * 00:04:03 From Modeling to Events: Finding Her Path in Asia * 00:04:21 Culture Shock: Botswana vs Malaysia * 00:05:26 Going Home Changed: The First Visit Back * 00:08:07 Dreams Deferred: Why Botswana Couldn't Hold Her * 00:09:14 Singapore Years: Six Years in the Lion City * 00:10:41 Meeting Across Cultures: A Finnish-Botswana Love Story * 00:12:02 Cape Town Calling: Why This City Became Home * 00:13:15 Raising a Global Child: Language, Culture, and Identity * 00:16:21 Breaking the Cycle: Parenting Differently * 00:35:11 The Transformation: Eight Months in Asia * 00:26:21 Fashion and Landscaping: Building Business in South Africa * 00:29:10 Race and Business: Navigating South African Dynamics * 00:40:48 The Education Debate: Public School Trauma vs Private School Privilege * 00:46:57 Moving Abroad: The Unglamorous Truth * 00:17:38 Motherhood Reality Check: It's Not What She Expected * 01:19:47 The Surrogate Question: Body, Time, and Future Children * 01:17:50 Interracial Love: Finding Connection Beyond Borders * 01:16:47 Co-Sleeping and Connection: Parenting Philosophy * 01:27:13 The Age Debate: Having Children at 50 and Beyond * 01:33:30 Life on a Postcard: Champagne by the Beach #Botswana #CapeTown #SouthAfrica #ExpatLife #Malaysia #Singapore #MovingAbroad #COVIDLockdown #Motherhood #GentleParenting #CoSleeping #InterracialRelationship #GlobalChild #RaisingKidsAbroad #BlackWomanInBusiness #FashionBusiness #Entrepreneurship #RaceInSouthAfrica #CultureShock #LeavingHome #BoardingSchool #AsianExpat #AfricanAbroad #Podcast #AprilJackson #BabesHowDidYouGetHere #FindingHome #ModernMotherhood #LifeAbroad #BuildingCommunity #StartingOver #BreakingTheCycle

Street Gangs, Cancer & Cambodia: The Story of a Man Who Refused to Quit

A Japanese man dreams of becoming a professional footballer. A street gang attack derails everything at 17. He ends up in Cambodia, survives testicular cancer, navigates divorce, and discovers his life purpose through photography, community, and human connection. Shunsuke, known as Taki, was on track to become a professional footballer in Japan when a random act of violence shattered his ankle and his dream. One day before his trial, a street gang attacked him, leaving him with a broken ankle and torn ligaments. But what could have been the end became a beginning. From advertising executive in Tokyo to country director in Phnom Penh, Taki traded the suffocating pressure of Japanese corporate culture for the chaotic freedom of Cambodia. He built a community through photography, nerd nights, and football, documented everyday life in the streets of Phnom Penh, and gained 50,000 Instagram followers overnight with a single photo of his son. But life abroad wasn't easy. Divorce. Distance from his children. And then, testicular cancer. He went through chemotherapy in Phnom Penh, lost all his hair, kept working, and rang the bell cancer free on Christmas Eve 2023. Now, nine years into his Cambodian life, Taki is building a creative co op called Hitonami, mobilizing photographers, designers, and change makers to solve social issues through creativity and purpose. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔥 What we cover: From football dreams to street gang violence at 17 The doctor who healed him in 2 months and changed his philosophy Finding his attacker at Yokohama Station and getting revenge Why he chose Cambodia over Europe or America First impressions: red soil, tuk tuks, and BBQ on the streets The generous man who was killed and finding purpose through photography Building community through Nerd Night as an outsider Living in Japan vs Cambodia: the crushing weight of social norms The Instagram photo that got him 50K followers overnight Divorce, distance, and raising kids from another country Testicular cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy in Phnom Penh Losing hair, gaining perspective, and ringing the bell cancer free Lifestyle changes: quitting smoking, drinking less, cooking more Why he'll never go back to Japan Starting Hitonami: a creative co op with purpose Online scams, mafia, and social issues in Cambodia The privilege of risk and entrepreneurship realities Life purpose: meeting people and widening perspectives ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚠️ REAL TALK: This episode is about resilience, reinvention, and refusing to give up. It's about what happens when your dream gets taken away, when your body betrays you, when your family is thousands of miles away, and you still choose to keep going. Whether you've ever thought about leaving your home country, survived something that nearly broke you, or wondered what it really takes to start over in a place where nobody knows you — this conversation will challenge you, inspire you, and remind you that life is about the people you meet and the perspectives you gain. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: Would you move to a country you'd never visited before? Have you ever had a dream taken away from you? What would your life postcard look like? Drop your thoughts below 👇 We read every single one. 🔁 Share this with someone who needs to hear this story. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎧 About the show — "Babes, How Did You Get Here?" Hosted by entrepreneur & former Miss Jamaica April Jackson, this podcast explores the raw, emotional, and often uncomfortable stories behind people who chose a life elsewhere. New episodes every week from around the world. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ CHAPTERS: CHAPTERS * 00:01:46 Living in Japan vs Cambodia: The Pressure of Social Norms * 00:04:42 The Street Gang Attack That Ended His Football Career * 00:09:05 The Doctor Who Healed Him in 2 Months Instead of 10 * 00:15:43 Revenge at Yokohama Station: Finding the Gang Member * 00:19:51 Why He Chose Cambodia Over Europe or America * 00:21:59 First Impressions: Red Soil, Tuk Tuks & BBQ on the Streets * 00:29:46 The Generous Who Was Killed & Finding His Purpose Through Photography * 00:24:36 Nerd Night & Building Community as an Outsider * 00:28:13 The Instagram Photo That Got Him 50K Followers Overnight * 00:37:48 Divorce, Distance & Raising Kids From Another Country * 00:47:40 Starting Hitonami: A Creative Co op With Purpose #Cambodia #Japan #PhnomPenh #ExpatLife #CancerSurvivor #Reinvention #Photography #Entrepreneurship #LeavingJapan #SoutheastAsia #TesticularCancer #Chemotherapy #Divorce #RaisingKidsAbroad #CreativeCommunity #SocialChange #LifeAbroad #JapaneseExpat #CambodiaLife #Podcast #AprilJackson #BabesHowDidYouGetHere #LifePurpose #HumanConnection #StartingOver #BuildingCommunity #CancerFree #ModernMigration

Deported, Broke, Alone: How Jamaica Became My Everything (BO)

From Montreal's Michelin Dreams to Kingston's Reality: A Chef's Raw Journey of Sacrifice, Survival & Starting Over In this powerful episode of 'Babes, How Did You Get Here?', April sits down with Chef Matthew — a celebrated Canadian chef who walked away from TV fame, two thriving restaurants, and financial security in Montreal to rebuild his entire life in Jamaica with just $60,000, a French bulldog, and Japanese knives. This isn't your typical expat story. It's raw, unfiltered, and deeply honest — about addiction, recovery, reinvention, and what it really takes to start over in a country that tests you at every turn. 🔪 From rehab to restaurants: How cooking saved his life (and became his new addiction) 💰 The sacrifice: Leaving two restaurants, a TV career & financial stability at 34 ✈️ Arrival in Jamaica: Detained at customs, partnership collapsed, sleeping with a machete 🍌 Surviving on nothing: Banana & oatmeal breakfasts, tomato sandwiches, $100 left in his pocket 🌀 Hurricane Beryl: The storm that saved him from deportation 📄 The bureaucracy: 8 months to get a work permit, navigating Jamaica's "fuckery" 🍽️ Building a reputation: His first dinner, $1,000 from mom, and earning his place 💔 Dating in Jamaica: Culture shock, rent requests, and redefining what he's looking for 🏡 Finding home: Why Kingston feels more like himself than Montreal ever did 🇯🇲 Earning your place: What it means to truly belong in Jamaica Matthew opens up about the toxic hospitality industry, his relationship with weed and alcohol, why he'll never open a high-end restaurant in Jamaica (yet), and how moving here forced him to redefine success, happiness, and what it means to feel at home. 📚 For more details on parenting course: https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com [https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com] This is more than a chef's story. It's about choosing yourself when everything falls apart. It's about trusting the process even when you're down to your last dollar. It's about finding peace in discomfort and building a life that honors who you really are — not who you thought you should be. Whether you've ever thought about leaving everything behind, struggled with addiction and reinvention, or wondered what it takes to truly belong somewhere new — this episode will challenge you, inspire you, and remind you that sometimes the hardest journeys lead to the most honest versions of ourselves. 👉 Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more real-life stories of courage, transformation, and finding home far from where you started. #ChefLife #Jamaica #ExpatLife #HowDidYouGetHere #AprilJackson #Montreal #CanadianChef #StartingOver #Recovery #AddictionRecovery #KingstonJamaica #CaribbeanLife #Reinvention #ChefStories #RealStories #Podcast #LifeAbroad #Sacrifice #FindingHome #JamaicanCulture

Didn't Know Jamaica Existed, Now I'm Selling Out Korean Food Pop-Ups in Kingston

What happens when a Korean girl who dreamed of being Oprah lands in Kingston, speaking zero patois, knowing nothing about Jamaica except what Google told her — and decides to stay longer than planned? 📚 To join the Parenting community: https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com [https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com] In this warm and deeply personal episode of "Babes, How Did You Get Here?", April sits down with Herim — a South Korea-born UN Volunteer, content creator, and Korean food pop-up queen who: Googled her way into a UNESCO job in Jamaica Sold out 180 portions of bibimbap in an hour Learned to be proud of where she's from by living somewhere that celebrates itself unapologetically From leaving home at 14 to chase an Oprah-sized dream, to living in New Zealand, New York, and Boston, to choosing Jamaica over Fiji and Mongolia (even though it was her third choice), Herim opens up about belonging, identity, the $100 grocery bill that shocked her, and why she stopped using her English name after years of trying to fit in. We talk about: ✈️ Leaving South Korea at 14 because Oprah's story on a plane to Switzerland changed everything 🎓 High school in New Zealand, university in Boston, and always knowing she'd leave home 🇺🇸 Losing her US work visa after a year and returning to Korea in a quarter-life crisis 🌍 Applying to the UN Volunteers Program and picking Jamaica as her third choice — based on the job, not the country 📊 Googling "safety Jamaica", seeing the homicide stats, then talking to real people and deciding to see for herself 🛫 The 25-hour journey from her island in South Korea to Kingston (and why her mom thought Jamaica was in Africa) 🥥 Arriving in June during hurricane season: heat, humidity, and a $40 grocery bill for eggs, chicken, and coconut water 🛒 Shopping at Coronation Market, missing Korean food for the first time, and stuffing ingredients into her suitcase from the US 🍚 Hosting two sold-out Korean food pop-ups — 60, then 180 portions of kimchi fried rice, bibimbap, tteokbokki & hotteok How Jamaicans' pride in their culture made her more proud to be Korean 🎉 Her first Grand Gala: a stadium full of black, green, and gold, gospel, Bob Marley, and an energy she'd never felt before 🪪 Why she stopped using her English name "Henna" and started introducing herself as Herim — "clever forest", the name her Buddhist monk grandfather gave her 🏝️ Why she extended her stay in Jamaica — and why she's now moving to Bulgaria 💑 Long distance with her boyfriend in the US for three years — and how Jamaica actually made it easier 🌊 Her "postcard moment": alone on a Caribbean beach, relaxed and content, with big cities, diverse people and food swirling around her like an AI-generated dream This isn't just a UN volunteer story. It's about: Choosing to be called by your real name Learning to be proud of your culture by seeing how others celebrate theirs Realizing that home isn't always where you're born — sometimes it's where people make you feel like you belong It's about $1,500 grapes, sorrel with ginger, juicy patties over Tasty (yes, we're judging), and why Jamaicans wearing flags everywhere made a Korean girl finally understand what pride looks like. Whether you're thinking about working abroad, wondering what it's like to be Asian in Jamaica, or you just love stories of reinvention, resilience, and refusing to shrink your name to make others comfortable — this episode will inspire you, make you hungry, and maybe convince you to trust real people over Google stats. 💬 Tell us in the comments: Have you ever changed your name to fit in? Would you move to a country you knew nothing about for the right job? 👀 🎧 About the show – "Babes, How Did You Get Here?" Hosted by entrepreneur & former Miss Jamaica April Jackson, this podcast dives into real, unfiltered stories of people who left the script — swapping comfort for courage and choosing a life "elsewhere". New episodes every week from around the world. Chapters: CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Introduction: A Korean Journey to the Caribbean * 00:00:50 Leaving Home at 14: The Oprah-Inspired Dream * 00:04:47 The US Work Visa Crisis and Returning to Korea * 00:07:25 Finding Purpose: The Path to the United Nations * 00:09:51 The Application: Fiji, Mongolia, or Jamaica? * 00:12:27 The Decision: Safety, Distance, and Belonging * 00:20:25 Arrival and First Impressions: Heat, Humidity, and Housing * 00:25:21 Sharing Korean Culture Through Food * 00:32:17 Life in Jamaica: Relationships, Carnival, and Community * 00:34:47 Lessons Learned: Pride, Culture, and What's Next * 00:35:46 From Henna to Herim: Reclaiming Identity * 00:41:02 The Grand Gala: Understanding Jamaican Pride #howdidyougethere #AprilJackson #KoreanInJamaica #JamaicaLiving #ExpatLife #UNVolunteers #UNESCO #SouthKorea #KoreanFood #PopUpDinner #KingstonJamaica #DigitalNomad #CulturalIdentity #Bibimbap #Tteokbokki #GrandGala #JamaicanPride #AsianInJamaica #Reinvention #RealStories #Podcast #FindingHome #CoronationMarket #LifeAbroad #Bulgaria #CaribbeanLife #ThirdChoice

England Saw A Black Man. Africa Saw A Star

He came to South Africa for a wedding. He stayed for 10 years — and never looked back. From being invisible in England to becoming a household name across 4 continents, Hakeem Kae-Kazim tells the most unfiltered version of his story yet. Racism in the UK industry. Surviving a car crash in the Namibian desert. Delivering his own baby at 2AM on his couch. Choosing Africa over Hollywood. This episode goes there. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ What we cover: Arriving in South Africa for a wedding — and never leaving Why Black actors are quietly escaping England The glass ceiling nobody in the UK wants to admit exists Becoming famous overnight from one TV commercial Don Cheadle inviting him to his house as a nobody The car crash in Namibia that changed everything Delivering his own baby at 2AM with his bare hands Why he chose Cape Town over Hollywood Growing up Nigerian in England — and being told to forget his roots What Africa gave him that England never could The truth about apartheid's shadow still living in South Africa AI, the future of acting, and what nobody in Hollywood is saying Raising three daughters across 4 countries Why he will never move back to England ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ REAL TALK: This episode will make you question everything. Some will relate to every single word. Others will strongly disagree. But whether you agree or not — this conversation forces real questions about race, identity, ambition, fatherhood, and what people are silently searching for when they leave home. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: Would YOU ever leave your country and never look back? Do you think England gives Black creatives a fair chance? Has living abroad changed the way you see "home"? Drop your thoughts below 👇 We read every single one. Share this with someone secretly thinking about leaving the UK. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ About the show — "Babes, How Did You Get Here?" Hosted by entrepreneur & former Miss Jamaica April Jackson, this podcast explores the raw, emotional, and often uncomfortable stories behind people who chose a life elsewhere. New episodes every week from around the world. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #SouthAfrica #BlackBritish #ExpatLife #LeavingEngland #HakeemKaeKazim #Africa #HotelRwanda #BlackActors #Nollywood #MovingAbroad #Diaspora #Podcast #AprilJackson #BabesHowDidYouGetHere #UKvsAfrica #LifeAbroad #NigerianBritish #BlackExcellence #Fatherhood #Acting #BlackDiaspora #Identity #Hollywood #CapeTowen #AfricanCulture #BlackCreatives