Hear how deportation back to a country she barely knew transformed her relationship with Albania, identity, and “home”. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Lumjana Shehu shares her experience growing up as an Albanian refugee and having her family repeatedly targeted by scammers and shysters. She recounts stories of crossing borders as a kid by methods ranging from fake passports, to running across fields in the middle of the night, to hiding in the back of container trucks. Lumjana reflects on the precarity of coming of age as an undocumented immigrant in both the U.S. and Canada, and the crushing experience of getting denied refugee status in Canada. She opens up about the financial and emotional devastation on her family when her father got arrested and sent to immigration prison, and her family’s eventual deportation to Albania. Lumjana then takes us on her journey of re-acclimation and eventually falling back in love with Albania. She talks about her experience at the first digital nomad conference in Tirana, her role as the Balkan Lead for the MaNaBu movement, and her passion for empowering Albanian youth to create their own destiny through remote work. Lumjana reflects on what travel means to her today, how her Albanian identity has evolved over the years, how she thinks about the concept of “home”, and how she feels deeply connected to refugees from Syria and other countries. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU See my Top 10 Travel Apps See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Growing Up as a Refugee, Becoming the Balkan Project Lead for the MaNaBu Movement, and Empowering Albanian Youth to Work Remotely with Lumjana Shehu (Ep 240)

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Hear how deportation back to a country she barely knew transformed her relationship with Albania, identity, and “home”.  ============================  Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.  ============================  ON THIS EPISODE  Lumjana Shehu shares her experience growing up as an Albanian refugee and having her family repeatedly targeted by scammers and shysters.  She recounts stories of crossing borders as a kid by methods ranging from fake passports, to running across fields in the middle of the night, to hiding in the back of container trucks.  Lumjana reflects on the precarity of coming of age as an undocumented immigrant in both the U.S. and Canada, and the crushing experience of getting denied refugee status in Canada. She opens up about the financial and emotional devastation on her family when her father got arrested and sent to immigration prison, and her family’s eventual deportation to Albania.  Lumjana then takes us on her journey of re-acclimation and eventually falling back in love with Albania.  She talks about her experience at the first digital nomad conference in Tirana, her role as the Balkan Lead for the MaNaBu movement, and her passion for empowering Albanian youth to create their own destiny through remote work.  Lumjana reflects on what travel means to her today, how her Albanian identity has evolved over the years, how she thinks about the concept of “home”, and how she feels deeply connected to refugees from Syria and other countries.   → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.  ============================  FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE  Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.  ============================  FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU  See my Top 10 Travel Apps  See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel  See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)  Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn  See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend  See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)  ============================  ENJOYING THE SHOW?  Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation  Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally  Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

The Maverick Show is a global travel podcast about what really happens when people cross borders and build lives across cultures. Hosted by full-time world traveler Matt Bowles, each episode features intimate, unfiltered conversations (often over a bottle of wine) exploring the human stories behind global travel and what the journey teaches us about the world and ourselves.  Guests include expats, digital nomads, women and diaspora storytellers, worldschooling families, and human rights advocates, all sharing travel stories that are funny, moving, and deeply human.  In addition to hearing about extraordinary places and the people who live there, you’ll learn what it’s really like to move abroad, build an expat life, or travel long-term, as guests open up about their personal journeys navigating culture, race, power, identity, and belonging in an unequal world. If you’ve ever felt that travel changes you in ways no one talks about, you’re in the right place.  The Maverick Show hit the Top 100 on Apple Podcasts (including #1 in Places & Travel), was ranked in the Top 1% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes, and was named the #1 Digital Nomad Podcast and #1 Remote Work Podcast by Million Podcasts — with hundreds of five-star listener reviews.

The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders

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