As a child in his native Ghana, Ali Ibrahim Karim dreamed of living in the USA. But it took thousands of miles and four decades to get there. Having decided to take the long way as a young adult, he became waylaid in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Iran, China, and Japan (and had to unblock the old silk road along the way to let a bus go past). But eventually he made it, with the help of many of his native countrymen, plenty of kind strangers and always with the love of his family at his back. This fascinating story takes in one man's lifetime, his relationships, both perfect and broken, and the difficulty of sustaining family ties over unimaginable distances.