Author and travel writer Inga Aksamit takes readers on a journey through her globally nomadic childhood in “Between Worlds: An Expat’s Quest for Belonging,” released this February and now available on Amazon and in bookstores.
In her memoir, Aksamit recounts her upbringing as the daughter of an irrigation engineer, moving from the United States to Pakistan, Peru, Bangladesh and Indonesia. From escaping military conflict in South Asia to navigating cultural shock in the U.S., her deeply personal story explores the emotional complexities of identity, home and belonging as a Third Culture Kid (TCK).
CHANGE AND ADAPTATION
From age four, when she nearly loses her mother on a Tokyo train platform, through harrowing military evacuations from Pakistan and Bangladesh, Aksamit’s childhood is marked by constant change and adaptation. She attends nine schools before high school, learning to make friends quickly while knowing each goodbye might be permanent. In Peru, she faces a life-threatening illness while her father works in the remote Sechura Desert. Back in California, she struggles to fit into suburban life, carrying the invisible scars of her expatriate youth.
“I never had a clear answer to ‘Where are you from?’” Aksamit says. “For years, I struggled with feeling untethered, until I realized that home isn’t a place — it’s about the relationships we build and community we’re a part of.”
If you’re a fan of “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood,” Aksamit’s “Between Worlds” offers a rare glimpse into the untold stories of children raised between cultures and the resilience it takes to carve out a sense of self.
In the Author’s Note at the beginning, Aksamit writes:
I wonder if this was my story to tell. What right had I to identify with a place? Not only was I not Pakistani or Peruvian or Indonesian, I was a white girl with a privileged U.S. passport. However, I was deeply affected by what I lived through, side by side with citizens of those countries. The fact is that my life, my story, my identity was forever altered by my experiences in those places. I absorbed a little or a lot of every place I lived, every culture I was exposed to, every house I was invited into, every person who shared a bit of their life with me. I became a product of all those lives.
“Between Worlds: An Expat’s Quest for Belonging” is available in paperback and eBook formats on Amazon, major bookstores and other online retailers.
