Japa (verb | Nigerian slang)
/jah-kpah/
The act of leaving one’s home country in search of new opportunities, better living conditions, or a different life abroad.
Dear Journal, I Japa’d……
And I’m sure my Japa journey is very similar to so many other people’s.
It didn’t come with a manual.
We all just have to figure things out as we go.
The thing most people don’t understand is that, it doesn’t matter how old, educated, or experienced you are, one of the most difficult things you can ever do as a person is migrate and start life in a completely different country, thousands of miles away from home, without really knowing what to expect.
Yes, there are resources online.
Yes, sometimes there are people you can ask for advice.
But the journey can still feel very lonely.
Sometimes the information is wrong.
Sometimes it’s incomplete.
And sometimes you simply cannot find anyone whose story or experience perfectly matches your own situation.
Because the truth is that, everyone’s Japa journey is different.
And more often than not, the solution or answer you just might be looking for cannot come from one person alone. Instead, it comes from gathering little pieces of advice from many people….a small tip here, a lesson there, someone else’s experience somewhere else…..and slowly piecing them together until you find what works for you.
I’ve experienced this many times myself. I would be in a situation where I needed guidance, and no one person could give me the exact answer I was looking for. But when I listened to different people and took a little from each of their experiences, I was eventually able to form a decision that worked perfectly for my own journey.
And that got me thinking…
What if there was a place where all those experiences already existed?
What if there was a kind of book — a journal filled with stories, lessons, tips, and reflections from people who have all gone through their own version of Japa?
You know, like the ones we see in movies — a book of recipes passed down from generation to generation, where every family adds their own ingredient along the way…
Or a book of magical spells that grows thicker with time because each generation learns from the one before it and adds their own knowledge to it.
Well, that’s exactly the idea behind The Japa Journal.
Think of it as a kind of secret journal — a growing collection of stories, lessons, experiences, tips, and reflections about what it really means to leave home and build a life somewhere new.
And of course, every book needs someone to start the first page.
So in this case, I’m taking the bold step of doing that.
I’m starting the journal.
Which means I’ll be sharing a lot of my own experiences — past, present, and sometimes in real time as life happens.
The lessons I’ve learned.
The mistakes.
The surprises.
The small victories.
But no, The Japa Journal is not just about me.
Along the way, I’ll also be sharing stories, experiences, and lessons from other people who have also Japa’d — other immigrants navigating their own journeys in different parts of the world.
And the truth is, there’s no special requirement to be part of this journal.
If you have ever packed your life into suitcases and moved to a new country…
If you’ve ever tried to rebuild life from scratch…
If you’ve ever had to learn a new system, a new culture, a new way of living…
Then you are already part of this story.
So welcome to The Japa Journal.
About the Voice behind the journal.
Now let’s get familiar for a bit.
Just in case this is your first time here and you’re wondering who the person behind the journal is.
My name is Beks.
I’m a Nigerian immigrant, a mom, currently based in Vancouver, Canada, figuring out life one step at a time.
At my core, I simply love sharing experiences. It’s something I’ve been doing for years now, almost six years and counting — through different platforms and forms. From YouTube, to TikTok, to other spaces where I’ve shared parts of my journey and the lessons that came with it.
And I’m really grateful that all of those years of storytelling have led me to this point — starting The Japa Journal, a space where immigrants living away from home can share their journeys, their lessons, and their realities.
Outside of storytelling, I love music. I love to dance. I’m also a photographer. And more than anything, I enjoy living life in the simplest way possible.
No matter how difficult life gets, I always try to find the light in it.
So that’s a little bit about me.
And as you continue reading the stories and lessons I share here — through my own lens as an immigrant — you’ll probably get to know me even more.
But like I said earlier, this journal isn’t just about me.
And it isn’t only about Nigerians either.
Even though the word Japa is slang, the experience of leaving home and starting again is something immigrants everywhere understand.
So this journal is for anyone building a life away from home.
It’s for immigrants who want to share their journeys.
It’s for immigrants who want to learn from the journeys of others.
And it’s for those who simply want to know that they are not alone in this strange, beautiful, complicated process of starting over.
If this is something that resonates with you, then welcome to – The JJ community.
Stick around.
There are many stories still to be written.
With love,
Beks.
#TheJapaJournal
The Japa Journal 