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This Globetrotter Wants To Be The First Black Woman To Travel To Every Country

This Globetrotter Wants To Be The First Black Woman To Travel To Every Country

Written by Ann Brown

May 01, 2018

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To say Jessica Nabongo likes to travel would be a major understatement. She’s trying to be the first Black woman to visit every country–and she’s well on her way. The former United Nations employee-turned-travel-blogger isn’t looking so much to get her name in the record books as to promote world travel by women and people of color.

After working as a pharmaceutical executive in Detroit, she realized there had to be more to life. So she hit the road. First, she taught English in Japan, then attended grad school at the London School of Economics. Later she took a job at the U.N., which led her to Benin and Italy. She even founded a boutique travel agency,  Global Jet Black. But still, the travel itch didn’t go away.

So she decided to travel to the 195 UN member countries and observing states, which includes the Vatican and Palestine. “She has 89 to go, before her self-imposed deadline of May 15, 2019, which is also her 35th birthday,” Forbes reported.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgo7x20FdVY/?hl=en&taken-by=thecatchmeifyoucan

Traveling the world doesn’t come cheap.Nabongo will need around $133,500 to visit the next 89 countries on her list, and to raise these funds she aims to land sponsorships from brands. And, she has also created a gofundme page.

But along the way, Nabongo, who was born in Detroit to Ugandan parents and holds two passports, found that traveling while Black still has some disadvantages, especially when traveling on an African passport.

“A lot of people don’t think of Africans as a consumer, they just think charity or baby,” Nabongo told Forbes. “I want immigration to see, ‘hey, Ugandans are tourists [too].'”

She added: “I want to show that Black people travel. I’m representing America and also Uganda.”

Travel while Black can come with baggage. Just think about hashtags as #AirbnbWhileBlack and #TravelingWhileBlack

Black travelers have to face extra scrutiny, from hotels, airlines, and especially the police. “Traffic stops remain an issue. In a multiyear study of more than 60 million traffic stops across 20 states, Stanford University’s Open Policing Project found that black drivers are not only more likely to be stopped than white drivers, but that black and Hispanic motorists are also more likely to be ticketed and have their cars searched for less cause than whites,” the Washington Post reported.

During the Jim Crow-era there was a travel guide written just for Black travelers. The Negro Motorist Green Book was put together in 1936 by Black, New York postal worker Victor Hugo Green. It was a guide for Black travelers to restaurants, gas stations, hotels, pharmacies and other establishments that welcomed Blacks. It also listed places to steer clear off.

Many Black travelers feel the Greek Book is still needed.

Evita Robinson, founder of an online community for travelers called Nomadnesstv.com, told the Washington Post, “Now more than ever, we need each other,” said Robinson, who is black. “We need each other for insights, we need each other for advice on the ground in a community like mine.”

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeNb4fwFQYL/?hl=en&taken-by=thecatchmeifyoucan

https://twitter.com/lavvagirl_/status/990993507811807234

 

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