2025 marks our second full calendar year living abroad, and it’s starting to feel strangely normal.
The Nigerian part I’m getting good at.
Well, I thought I was, but just this week, my dinner order was wrong despite clear instructions on WhatsApp. And then, the dance instructor we hired for a party on Saturday evening showed up to camp at 5:45 AM, thinking the party was at 6:30 AM, not PM. I suppose miscommunication, traffic, and regular Nigerian shenanigans are as good as Lagos gets.
The international travel part I’m actually getting good at. For real.
I now know how to check what type of plug adapters we need before we arrive (a totally amazing accomplishment), make sure our passports are up to date and have enough blank pages, and check visa requirements before committing to a destination.
As I reflect on 2025, travel was a major highlight, and that shows up in the lessons I learned living abroad this year.
Lesson 1:
Take the trip. OK timing is better than perfect timing.
This applies to so many areas of life, but especially to travel. It’s tempting to wait for ideal conditions: for kids to be “the right” age, to go during peak season, to save more money or PTO. The problem with this mindset is you don’t know if you’ll ever get the chance when everything aligns. And often that perfect alignment will never happen.
A better approach is: if you have the opportunity, or can reasonably create one, take the trip. You’ll discover that shoulder season is cheaper and lovely, and that kids have meaningful travel experiences at all ages.
Expat life has given us an abundance of opportunities to travel, and it still feels surreal. I know the amount we travel isn’t normal. But when you do see an opportunity to travel in your own life, my encouragement is to take it.
Travel has a way of weaving itself into the fabric of who you are and how you experience the world in the most amazing way.
Lesson 2:
If you can’t find it, learn how to make it.
Last year, I talked about how easy it is to hate Starbucks, until you live in a country without Starbucks (post is linked). This year, with the help of several coffee-snob neighbors, we have officially become Starbucks.
Actually, our coffee is better than Starbucks.
We upped our game and bought a small but high-quality Italian espresso machine and grinder. If you want good coffee, don’t go to Starbucks. Come to Camp Lekki.
Lesson 3: Build small rituals that help you pause and notice where you are.
One of my favorite family traditions we’ve started during our travels is once we’ve arrived where we’re going, we do “a toast” using the local word for cheers. It’s a simple, beautiful pause. A moment to acknowledge where this expat adventure has taken us and to learn a word from the local language.
I usually ask a local what the word for “cheers” is rather than googling it, which helps with correct pronunciation and often sparks small chat.
I love this shared moment of gratitude we make space for.
Lesson 4: Travel smarter, not harder.
We implemented a lot of travel hacks this year, but a few stand out:
• Longer layovers + Yotelair
Booking a longer layover instead of the shortest one can save hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars. Four hours in a family size Yotelair typically costs around 130 euros and gives you beds for 4 and a full bathroom. It’s a great way to save money and break up long international travel. This blog shares more about how Yotelair works and where you can find them.
• Hiring a babysitter on vacation
This sounds crazy, but many European cities have reputable babysitting agencies. We tried this in Prague over Christmas, and my only regret is not doing it sooner.
• Use Daytrip for easy city-to-city travel
CJ is a ninja at figuring out public transit within a city, but traveling between cities with luggage and small humans can be stressful. Daytrip picks you up at your hotel and drives you directly to your destination (with any needed car seats included!) We used them from Vienna to Prague and had a great experience. They operate in over 120 countries, so maybe worth looking into for a future trip.
As we look ahead to 2026, I’m hopeful for more great travel experiences. So far, we’ve got Kenya, Croatia, Morocco, and Austria to look forward to.
But one of the things I’m most excited about, surprisingly, is not leaving Lagos, it’s introducing it to a friend. One of my friends arrives from Houston today. We’ll spend the week here, then head to Rwanda for gorilla trekking next week!
Being able to show someone the chaos and joy of our everyday life here feels entirely validating. It’s being understood in a way that, despite being a writer, and this entire blog, I still can’t fully explain
.
Thanks for reading The Real Housewife of Nigeria! The best way you can support my work is sharing it with anyone who may love to hear it!
P.S.
Follow my Instagram stories next week if you want to see our travels to Rwanda and gorilla trekking. Also, say a prayer for our safety!
Gorilla trekking legit hiking through the jungle, where a guide with a machete cuts down brush as you walk. It can last anywhere from 30 minutes - 8 hours, because who knows where the gorillas are! This obviously needs to be a future post, right?
Camp News:
We had our first camp-wide block party of the year this past weekend. And despite receiving prior complaints about every party having pizza and shawarma, we, the social committee, kindly provided pizza and shawarma….It’s so good, though!
A friend and I were also able to convince the committee to hire our Afrobeat dance instructor to come teach camp some Afrobeat dance at the block party! It was so much fun. And sweat. There was a lot of sweat. You may remember Praise, my Afrobeat dance teacher, from this post.
A few families moved back to America over Christmas break, but a new couple arrives today! Camp life is ever changing, which is both fun…and hard sometimes.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.