returnees

Welcome to Jamaica Homes — where truth doesn’t hide behind fancy words or polished smiles. I stay sane because I’ve learned one thing: not everyone who smiles with you, who laughs with you, who shakes your hand, wants the best for you. That’s not cynicism. It’s survival. Honesty, as I’ve come to know it, is the only currency that keeps your spirit intact. This piece — written from the...

There are some songs that do more than entertain; they seem to echo across time, threading themselves through the veins of a people scattered far from home. When Mikey Spice sang “I Am… I Said”, he captured the paradox of the Jamaican abroad—caught between the familiarity of foreign streets and the lingering ache of a homeland carried deep inside. For every Jamaican who has ever gazed out of a...

I arrive with a sense of déjà vu. Jamaica is not just an island of turquoise seas and lush hillsides; it is, for many of us who grew up abroad, the great unfinished chapter of our lives. Returning here, you are greeted not only by the heat of the sun and the scent of pimento in the breeze, but also by a quiet and unrelenting question: where do I belong? On the streets of Kingston, or outside a corner...

Emancipation was meant to be the beginning. A dawn for freedom, dignity, and ownership for all Jamaicans—especially for the descendants of those who toiled under bondage without ever touching the soil they worked so hard to build. Yet nearly two centuries later, the idea of “owning a piece of the rock” remains out of reach for too many hard-working Jamaicans, both at home and abroad. This blog is...

Jamaica is bigger than Jamaica. That might sound like a contradiction at first, but ask any returnee or expat and you’ll quickly understand the weight of those words. For many, Jamaica is more than just a country on a map—it is the Promised Land. A place charged with emotional significance. A homecoming. A spiritual and cultural reawakening. A connection to ancestry and a sense of identity rooted in...

Welcome to Jamaica Homes.Here, truth is not dressed up for company. We speak from the gut, we write from lived experience, and we do not hide behind polite words. This post — part of the “From London to Jamaica” series — comes from a returnee who is neither bitter nor naive, simply honest. It’s written for anyone dreaming of returning home, or buying property here, or investing in Jamaica’s...

Let’s establish one thing upfront: I am not that Dean Jones—the famed Australian cricketer and coach. Yet, for reasons unbeknownst to me, that’s the conclusion many jump to upon hearing my name. Do I harbour a love for cricket? Not particularly. But I respect the game profoundly. My father was a cricket coach, and I’ve felt the sting of a well-placed red ball since I was seven. Let me assure you,...