TRAVELING FROM USA TO GHANA AND NIGERIA - WAHALA! | TRAVEL REVIEW

I was just coming through me, Chad. I was just going back and forth to the bathroom. I was weak. I was coughing. My throat was sore. My muscles ached. I was having this pulsated migraine. It was just painful. And I felt like, okay, I probably ate or drank something that I just was not supposed to consume. At that point I had to go to the hospital. So by Thursday it was so bad. I remember trying to get up to go take a piss in the bathroom and just barely could walk, like trying to make it back to the bed. Like I was praying to God, I hope I don't die. I hope I don't die. Nigeria is not vacation, Chad. There's a whole lot going on in Nigeria, especially in Lagos, Chad. That place is a zoo. Whoo. I got to take pictures of parts of Lagos that these celebrities don't show you. Lagos is filthy. I'm just going to be honest, Chad. It's filthy. It's a whole lot. I don't even know how anyone survives in Lagos, eh. The whole Las Giritin is just a hype, my dad. Don't, don't believe anything you see on the internet. Someone, no, Chad. Hell no. What's going on, everyone. Welcome back to another episode on Let's Talk About Us with Uche. I am your boy, Uche. Welcome. If you are returning, thank you so much. If this is your first time on my podcast, please make sure to subscribe, share with their friends and family. If this is your first time on my YouTube, also make sure to subscribe, share with their friends and family. Please do not forget to hit that bell notification. So anytime I upload a video, you'll be the very first to be notified. Thank you. And welcome aboard. So like I mentioned during the last episode, I was recently in Africa. I was gone for about two and a half weeks. And that was my first international trip in about a year. 2022 was a lot. A lot happened in 2022. I call 2022 my leap year. Sort of like how I call 2013 and 2014, my U year. The shape of the letter U. 2013, I was just kind of spiraling down, down, down, down. And around October 2013, everything just started picking up. And then January 2014, things started going back up. A lot happened to me in 2013. I hit rock bottom. I went through a whole lot of things. And that was when I joined the military and joined in the military, starting January 2014, a whole lot of things turned around for me. And I feel like I've been kind of escalating ever since mentally, physically, spiritually, academically, like I was in an okay place. And I feel like I got to a place where I had comfort, but then something else was missing. And for people who are around me all the time, you definitely probably heard me kind of, I don't want to say complain, but I've mentioned that there was definitely something missing. There was something missing. And for such a long time, I was so stagnant. And, you know, that U, that letter U, I got to that point and I was just was I just was not moving. It was very comfortable. And it's so easy to conform to that comfort till, I don't know, I retire and possibly die. But I felt I always felt that there was something more for me to be doing with my life. And I felt like 2022, it was very crystal clear what I had to do. So a whole lot of things changed in 2022. I distanced myself from a whole lot of things and a whole lot of people, not because these things or these people are objectively useless per se. It dawned on me that these people and these things were not exactly what I needed at this phase in my life, or at least in preparation to the next phase in my life. So I ended a lot of relationships, both personal and professional. And it wasn't easy to do so because at the end of the day, I'm human and I have a heart. I have emotional intelligence, empathy, feelings and all that good stuff. Right. But it was very imperative for me to move on to the next phase of what God has brought me to this world to do. And I feel much better now. 2022, a whole lot happened. You know, it was a lot of work, work, work. And you guys know, I'm also back in school studying philosophy. So there's a lot of reading, a lot of writing, a lot of research. And top of that, being a full time content creator and working on other things on the side as well. It's just it was a lot. Also trying to maintain my social networks as much as I can, you know, because no man should be an island, you know, maintain a relationship with families and close friends and things like that. It was a lot. And I felt like towards the end of 2022, I was beginning to burn out. And I don't like to exude negative energy because I just don't like that. I start breaking out and it just it's just a very foul aura around me. And I don't like that. So I was just trying so desperately to hold on to my flight to West Africa because I just knew that Africa, Africa was just kind of my home. I wanted to go back to the motherland and just have the spirit of my ancestors permeate me and just be washed and reset. I feel like there's also kind of what happened in twenty twenty one as well. And when I went back to Africa as well, I did like a East African tour when I went to Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya. But this time I wanted to go to West Africa, especially Ghana, because I'd never been. So I wanted to go out there and I was very intentional to not do a whole lot of work. So I left my computer at home. I was with my phone. I did some work on the phone because, you know, as a content creator, you have to keep working. Right. But it was a well needed trip. Like I feel so refreshed, reset. I feel good. Like I exude nothing but positivity. And it's been such a blessing to be able to say that. Yes, I was able to travel back to not just Africa, but to the hometown where I was born in Nigeria and seeing so many people that I have never seen in a long time. Like I'm talking like five, ten, fifteen, even twenty years. It was just humbling. It was a very humbling experience. Now, it wasn't all cute. A whole lot of things happen, you know what I'm saying? Because Africa and Africans is a whole nother ballgame over there. So this is why I'm here to talk about this experience. You know, my trip down to Africa, you know, starting with the fact that a whole lot happened in twenty, twenty two, that it was very necessary for me to escape from not just the Americas, but the reality that I'm so used to so I can reset my body, my mind and my spirit and come back with full force doing what I love. So as you guys probably know, if you're a chronic traveler, you know that traveling around Christmas is very expensive. Everyone is trying to get somewhere. And as a result, a lot of these airlines, they just hype up their prices, you know, so traveling around Christmas, New Year, Kwanzaa, even sometimes Thanksgiving as well. The prices are so expensive and going all the way down to Nigeria. Nigeria is not so much of a through traffic. So it's just very expensive for me to curb all that money that I would have just spent flying from Houston directly. I had to fly through D.C. So I caught a local flight from Houston to Washington, D.C. And from Washington, D.C., I flew TAP Portugal Airline. I think that's what it's called, Portugal Airline. This is not an advertisement for anyone, by the way. This is I'm just talking about my experience. OK, so don't come for me. So I flew from D.C. to Lisbon. I had like a four hour layover in Lisbon. And then from Lisbon, I got on a flight and from Lisbon flew into Accra. And I was in Accra for about two days until I got sick. Now, the whole point I wanted to do in Accra was just to get there, read some books. I brought the book by Michelle Obama, the new book, The Light We Carry. And I felt like that book was calling my name. And I started reading it. And then also I wanted to go to the beach, drink some margarita, which I did. You know, the first two days I did, I was just in a good place. Like I was like, yo, I'm so glad this is my first time not working in a really long time. And I just wanted to be present at all times. But I guess I got too carried away because I got there on a Sunday and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I got sick. I was sick. I felt like the exact same thing that happened to me when I was in East Africa started happening again. You know, just coming through me, Chad. You know what I'm saying? Like I was just going back and forth to the bathroom. It was just I was weak. I was coughing. My throat was sore. My muscles ached. I was having this pulsated migraine. It was just painful. And I felt like, OK, this is happening again. I probably ate or drank something that I obviously was not supposed to consume. At that point, I had to go to the hospital. So, yes, I did go to a hospital, Euracare. It was a really nice hospital. The Airbnb host recommended that hospital. I'm so glad that he recommended a hospital because I felt so safe just walking into that place. It looked very clean, pristine, everything just put together. The doctor that I saw that night, she was so calm, confident, very knowledgeable. The nurse was there. The staff, everyone was it just felt right. And I hope that we have something of this international standard in Nigeria, but not just Nigeria, like all throughout Africa. Like it makes it a lot much easier for me to feel more comfortable and confident to be treated in my own continent or on my own continent. But it was a very terrible night. I was very sick, very, very sick, you know, and I had some IV. They took care of me like they really did. They gave me some drugs. It was not cheap chat. I had to pay for it. And there's no health insurance or anything like that. Thankfully, you know, when you convert the dollar to the CD, the Ghanian CD, that's not that much. OK, so I probably spent like three or four hundred dollars that night, which for most Ghanians is a lot of money. Yeah, it is a lot of money in America as well. But considering health is involved. OK, I'll pay for that, you know, so I don't die in Ghana. They gave me some shots, some IV, some medications, and they released me that night and I was diagnosed with typhoid, which is really interesting because prior to traveling, I had the typhoid vaccine, the shots right at the typhoid and the meningitis and the malaria prophylaxis before traveling and getting there and being diagnosed with typhoid like, oh, my God. But it's OK. I'm in good hands. I went back home, taking my meds. So by Thursday, it was so bad. I remember trying to get up to go take a piss in the bathroom and just barely could walk, like trying to make it back to the bed. Like I was praying to God, I hope I don't die. I hope I don't die. I hope I don't die. So basically from Wednesday all the way to Saturday in Ghana was just a complete waste because I was just sick, so sick, so, so, so sick. But I'm so blessed that I knew somebody in Ghana, one of my buddies that I met a few years ago in 2013 when I went to London for the first time. He had moved to Ghana and shout out to you, James. You're the man. He was able to introduce me to his own acquaintances and I was able I felt at home, I felt like, OK, I've never been here before, but it felt it felt right to be around people who I can trust. They recommended things for me. They picked me up, showed me around and I spent Christmas with them. It was just it was a bliss. Like I could not complain. So thanks to James and his buddies and some of the people that I met in Accra as a result of my networking, that trip actually went well in spite of the fact that I got sick. And then a day after Christmas, I got on the plane and I flew to Lagos and I was staying with one of my buddies, Hamza. Shout out to Hamza. You are the man, bro. Like, thank you so much for trusting me, taking me in. I had no night right on me. Hamza let me borrow his card, borrow his money, you know, stay in his home. He was very patient with me, like, you know, being jet lagged and being so fussy. You have to understand that when you're traveling, traveling is not the most easy thing, especially for someone like me, because I'm used to comfort. I'm used to being in my space. So traveling and being so far away from my comfort zone and not having money and I was still recovering from sickness and also understanding that my mentality is a little bit different from other people's mentality. So some people may consider fun may not just be what I consider fun, for example, like loud music. So shout out to him for keeping up with all of that. I really do appreciate you, man. You're the man. You are one of the reasons why my trip was in Nigeria or my trip in West Africa was actually a success. So I really do appreciate that. So I got to spend time with Hamza and his buddy for like about two two days before I got on the plane and flew to Port Harcourt. And then for Port Harcourt with my cousin, by the way, we drove down towards Aba, which is where I had to go to for my my grandpa's funeral. So my grandpa passed. He was 100 years old when he died. So I went to go pay my respect. And of course, a lot of my family members didn't know I was coming. I've just kind of been distant from them. There's a whole lot of drama going on within the family. And me personally, I'm not a drama person. I just I try to stay away from anything that lowers my vibration. Not because I look down on them. Once again, I just don't want to be caught up in the mess. They're all busy fighting against each other for whatever reason. I'm just not trying to be part of that. So as a result, there's a lot of people. I've blocked a lot of people. I've cut off and things like that. So they didn't know that I was actually coming. Some of those people actually like my uncles and my aunties. They've not even seen me for like 10, 10 plus years. So it was a surprise. It was shocker for them to see me, you know, and I respected them, greeted them. And I just made sure to explain to them that I don't have any issues with anyone per se. It's just that I don't like drama. And there's just too much drama going on within the family. And I don't want to be part of it. You know, this this parent and this parent and this mom and that dad. And you know, all this nonsense. I'm not trying to be part of that. So I wanted to go out there to pay my last respect to my grandpa. As I mentioned before, my grandparents were the people who raised me. I was about four or five months old when my mom left me and moved to America. And my grandma and my uncles and my grandpa were the people who raised me. They raised me up up until the age of 10 years old when my dad came back to Nigeria with my sisters and we lived together. So those 10 years, you know, those 10 years, those formative years are extremely important. And I felt like, especially my grandma, you know, my grandma is a boss lady. I'm still yet to find a bossier lady than her. And I mean that with all honesty. Of course, she's older now. So a lot of things have slowed down with her. But my grandma, she's the boss. I don't know anyone else who can top that. And I mean that with all honesty. I don't even know how else to explain that. And I felt like a lot of who I am today is as a result of the protection that I had as a child. And I felt within my soul to go back in person to say thank you, not just to her, but to my uncles who raised me as well. In spite of all the family drama, because I don't want to be part of that. But I felt like growing up, like I've talked about, there's a lot of pain in this world. And there's a lot of also indoctrination into that pain. I feel like a lot of people at a really young age are being indoctrinated into that pain, into the ways of the word, which is why we perpetuate our own problems. But for me specifically, I felt like I was protected by my grandma and my uncles. And I feel like this is how God wanted it to be. You know, my grandma, she didn't give me the child's package. She gave me a grandchild package. You know, like grandparents are usually a lot more lenient towards their kids. She didn't spoil me at all. But I feel like whatever anger, whatever resentment, whatever hostility that she probably passed down to her children, like my mother, she spared me from that. Same thing too with my uncles. They didn't give me their own child's treatment. They gave me the child of their sister's treatment, you know, like their nephew treatment, you know, so I felt like I was so protected. I had confidence as a child. I was actually almost borderline narcissistic as a child. I felt like I felt invincible. I actually still have memories of me thinking I was the smartest, coolest kid in the block. And I thank my family for that. I thank my grandma and my uncles for that, you know. Now, of course, at 10 years old, a whole lot of things changed. Depression, anxiety, all kinds of things happened, you know, that I was dealing with. I had to navigate. And I've come to accept those things as how it was meant to be for me specifically as Uche. But I always appreciate the fact that those first 10 years, I was protected because those formative years are extremely important. Those first 10 years, especially the first five years, are extremely important. And they're determinant on the person that you're going to be as an adult growing up. So I feel like because of the protection that I got from my mother's family, I turned out relatively okay. The person that I am today, a no-nonsense, stubborn, articulate, intelligent, emotional, intelligent, very passionate boss that I am today. And I felt it within my spirit to go in person, not just on the phone, but go in person, honor them, tell them that I truly do appreciate and love them for what they've done in my life, especially my grandma. So it was a very heartfelt visit. I cried a lot. I did cry. Like, I remember crying for almost a whole hour. Actually, more than an hour. My grandma and I, as soon as she saw me, she started tearing up, you know, which is understandable. Her husband had just passed away and she thought she had lost me because I've just kind of lost communication with everyone for such a long time. It was just sort of like a miracle. It was very emotional. I was crying. She was crying. And then eventually I went back to go see them in the house. I got to see my uncles and I got to see them one-on-one. It was very triggering as well, but I try to be as intentional as possible to not let anything lower my vibration. But it was very triggering because my mother was there. That was my first time seeing my mother since 2013 when I walked away from her apartment. As I've talked about on this show, there's a lot of toxicity that spewed over from my parents, my mother, especially towards me because of how she was raised as well. So there's a lot of pain that she has not let go and she transferred a lot of that to me and it hurt me a lot. Now that I'm much older, I understand it and I've actually forgiven. Now, it's more so how to navigate through all of that and start healing, starting with her. Because I've made peace with who I am. You can't tell me anything that I'm not, okay? So I'm just doing my thing now. But it's more so how to get to her so that she does not keep perpetuating that pain and exuding so much negativity. That's the difficult part. And seeing her there and seeing how nothing really has changed after all of these years, that was so triggering for me. And also seeing my sister there as well, how also nothing has changed. If anything, things have actually gotten much worse. It was so much of a trigger and I also started breaking down as well. I started crying as well. That's a lot of emotions and it's not because I'm sensitive. It's because for me, I see a much deeper, deeper, deeper force behind all of this. You know, like this perverse, painful energy in the world just perpetuates this pain and how we humans, we've become so susceptible to it without even realizing. That to me is so painful because I've seen what that evil, that pain can do to a family and rip a family unit apart. I can understand the relationship between my mother and I being so broken because my mother has made the choices that she's made and I've made my own choices to not be about that life. But seeing that rip between my sister and I, that was painful. That's actually what made me break. I was crying, like I was genuinely crying because I genuinely love my sisters. I've always loved my sisters. And knowing how with my sisters and I, we would be a much stronger and bigger force, like as God has intended us to manifest into this time and space and this reality we call life. Seeing the force that we can bring to this world together and just seeing that being shattered because of this pain in the world that we've become susceptible to, that broke my soul. I broke down crying. Apart from the sickness in Accra, Ghana, that was sort of like the only hiccup during that trip. But outside of that, it was a very great trip. I got to see a whole lot of people that I haven't seen in a long time. And again, I got to see one of my cousins, actually, you know, I got to reach out to her. I give her my number. She lives in Los Angeles. And I told her, Hey, let your siblings know. Uche is a lover. I live here in Houston, Texas. If you ever need someone, I got you. This is who I am. Okay. I'm a lover. Just come correct. Okay. Come with love. Come with respect. Because if you don't, I'll check you, Chad, because I'm not about that bull. Okay. That's just not who I am. But outside of that, it was a very great visit. I wish I had stayed a little bit longer, but I feel like that trip, that amount of time that I was there was just perfect for me to get in, get what I needed and get out. I got to go shopping. I got to see so many people that I haven't seen in a long time. I got to eat traditional Nigerian food. I got to meet new people. I feel like I left Nigeria confidently having met people that I'm like, okay, I can see myself actually intentionally trying to maintain some type of relationship with some of these people moving forward. Like I said, I don't really have a whole lot of people that are very solid in my life, if that makes sense, in Nigeria. And I'm looking to change that, especially considering my career. It's very important for me to have connections in places like Lagos, at least Accra. So I'm definitely very humbled to have met people who were receptive to me, who liked me for who I was, and vice versa. I'm looking forward to going back to Nigeria again, possibly for work. Not necessarily vacation, because Nigeria is not vacation, child. There's a whole lot going on in Nigeria, especially Lagos, child. That place is a zoo. I got to take pictures of parts of Lagos that these celebrities don't show you. Lagos is filthy. I'm just going to be honest, child. It's filthy. It's a whole lot. I don't even know how anyone survives in Lagos. The whole Las Giritin is just a hype, my dad. Don't believe anything you see on the internet. No, child. Hell no. Like I said, overall, it was a very good trip. I can actually see myself relocating back to Nigeria temporarily, though. Unfortunately, the only issue is the whole queerness. I don't feel comfortable being anyone else by myself. And I don't want to live in any place where I'm not able to express who I am, just because of people's mediocrity in being. So that will be the only hiccup. Also, I was very emotional. Some of the people that I met in Accra and also in Nigeria, who shared, who are queer people who opened up to me and share with me some of their challenges, almost brought me to tears, but also a reinforcement that I'm on the right path doing what I'm doing. Nigeria is a mess. Africa is a mess. And the human race is a mess. There's a whole lot of things that we can do better. But I'm so glad that I see a whole lot more people waking up, even though those people are the minorities, especially the younger people. I got the privilege to talk to so many people. And shout out to John Friday for coming out all the way out to my hotel and not about to come see me. Thank you, brother. Like, I really did appreciate you being there. You're one of the people that I wanted to see while I was in Nigeria. And I love the fact that you get it. You get it. Whatever it is, you get it. It was very humbling meeting him and also very humbling meeting other people with like minds, you know, so I'm starting to see this shift in mentality where a lot of young people are starting to see that a lot of the things, the standards and the things that we were raised with, you know, the religiosity, the educations and all these sense of morals and things like that, that we were raised with, those things are scams. They're not working. So the time to start questioning the norms and rewriting the norms is now. And I'm starting, I'm really glad that I'm starting to see a lot more people challenge that and at least start being open-minded to challenge the norms as to what are we doing? What's going on Africa? You know, so I really do appreciate that. It's a reinforcement that I'm not alone. I'm definitely on the right path. I love Nigeria. I love Africa. And I'm definitely looking forward to going back anytime soon for work more than likely. But until then, it was definitely a good visit. And I'm now back to America, back to work doing what I love. This is the end of my vlog for my trip 2022. Trip to West Africa, Accra, Ghana, and Nigeria. Several places in Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria. Abad, Nigeria. But hardcore Nigeria. And Omoja, Nigeria as well. Seen my family, seen people that I have lost contact with. It was just a very interesting trip. Please let me know your thoughts down below, what you think about this vlog. Did you like what I said so far? Did you not like what I said so far? Thoughts and comments. Please also share with your friends and family. Subscribe. Do not forget to hit that bell notification if you're watching on YouTube. So every time I upload a video, you'll be the very first to be notified. And lastly, please feel free to follow me on social media. LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook at LTAU with Uche. My Instagram is UC underscore images. Email is letstalkwithucheatgma.com. Thank you once again for joining. Until next episode, peace out.