The First Time I Left Nigeria

4 October 2026 · by Holly Mohanye · ⏱️ 2 min read

I used to be that person who would confidently say, “I do not even want to travel outside the country.”

And honestly, I believed myself.

Then June 2024 happened.

My first international trip was to Germany for a conference, and looking back, I think God had a little sense of humour because the same girl who had always said she did not want to travel suddenly found herself sitting by an aeroplane window, staring down at the world below.

And oh my God, what a feeling.

I remember looking through the window and thinking, “So this is what the world looks like from up here?”

Everything looked different. Smaller. Wider. Somehow more possible.

Then I landed in Istanbul for my first stopover, and I was completely blown away.

I remember looking around the airport thinking, “Wait. An airport can actually be THIS beautiful and THIS big?”

I was fascinated by everything.

The signs. The people. The architecture. The movement. The fact that I was somewhere I had only ever seen in pictures.

Then came Germany.

Let me tell you something.

Germany was COLD.

I stepped out of the airport and immediately ran back inside.

In my head, I was like, “Who turned on the AC outside?”

😂

I had never experienced that kind of cold before. The air itself felt different. Everything felt different.

And yet, beneath all the excitement, there was something much deeper happening.

I realised that sometimes, you do not know how small your world has become until you step outside it.

Travelling did something to my mind.

It reminded me that there is a much bigger world beyond the streets, routines, expectations, and limitations I had become familiar with.

You suddenly see different people living different lives, speaking different languages, building different things, and experiencing life in ways you never imagined.

And something inside you shifts.

Your possibilities become bigger.

You begin to realise that perhaps some of the things you thought were impossible were simply things you had never seen before.

That trip taught me something I will never forget:

“Sometimes, God has to take you out of the environment you know to show you the possibilities you never imagined.”

And that is why I tell people, do not be afraid to dream.

That thing you have been praying about, that place you want to go, that opportunity you think is too far away, that life you cannot yet imagine...

God can make it possible.

My first trip outside Nigeria was not just a trip.

It was the beginning of a different perspective.

And funny enough, the girl who once said she never wanted to travel outside the country eventually realised something:

There is a whole world out here.

And I want to see it.

One country at a time.

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