by
Black Girl With Long Hair
Black is global. Not only are black people spread across the globe, we travel across the globe. A recent New York Times piece shone a spotlight on black travel, and particularly the black millennial women who are bringing visibility to it on social media.
The group began in September 2011 on Facebook as a fellowship of travelers who rely on one another as they navigate a world that is not accustomed to black American travelers, one that is liberating in the best cases and inhospitable in the worst. I joined over a year ago. Though open to any invitee with at least one passport stamp, the vast majority of Nomadness members are African-Americans and women. About half are millennials, and most are strangers, the plus-ones of plus-ones. We meet up like old friends in cities from Los Angeles to Seoul, refer to each other affectionately as tenders (a shortened slang term referring to attractive women) and JBs (short for “jungle brothers”), and snap up flights going just about anywhere in the world…
…African-Americans are one of the fastest-growing travel markets. Black travel spending is approaching $50 billion on domestic travel, and about one in five black travelers take at least one international trip each year, according to a 2011 online panel study by Mandala Research.
If you want to try international travel but have never done it before, the Nomadness Travel Tribe is a good place to start. The trailblazing Facebook group is dedicated to helping black people of all socioeconomic levels experience international travel;
Nomadness’s members, who range from broke college students to millionaires, share tips and tricks in group files. They use messenger services like WhatsApp to spread the word about cheap airfares in chat rooms governed by a single rule, “No dinging if it ain’t dealing.” Ms. Robinson also organizes several group trips each year with an average cost of about $500, before flights, and they sell out as quickly as tickets to a Beyoncé concert.
Jump on it! Here are some stunning #travelnoire photos from Instagram.
Greece
Morocco
Puerto Rico
Malawi
https://instagram.com/p/5ogaImqRC4/?taken-by=foreignnatiive
Dominican Republic
https://instagram.com/p/5k49_PrR_3/?taken-by=notkeyshiacole
https://instagram.com/p/5vi9TOLR2O/?taken-by=notkeyshiacole
Hawaii
https://instagram.com/p/5vb6a0vmS3/?taken-by=yazzistush
Portugal
https://instagram.com/p/5vXTsNN11_/?taken-by=yara__c
Vietnam
https://instagram.com/p/5vpyqmExYZ/?taken-by=amber5490
Costa Rica
https://instagram.com/p/5vU-8CH4S8/?taken-by=phoenix0802
Iceland
https://instagram.com/p/5vSYHkS1SW/?tagged=travelnoire
Peru
https://instagram.com/p/5M3JlVwG9T/?taken-by=the_house_of_melanin
Brazil
https://instagram.com/p/5vRm-swG6i/?taken-by=the_house_of_melanin
France
Italy
https://instagram.com/p/5vU7_mEImm/?taken-by=msrebeccac
India
Thailand
https://instagram.com/p/5weKk2IYKc/?taken-by=sojojolita
Senegal
Incredible! Ladies, please share about your travels or travel inspirations.
14 Responses
What wonderful photos! I’m jealous of the ones taken in Senegal. My female ancestor was kidnapped from there, so it is on my list of places I would like to visit.
My goodness what a lovely couple! <3
Thank you! 🙂
Gorgeous and inspiring photos!
Shouts to the tribe, great to see us in another feature. 2yrs ago international travel was more so a “bucket list” dream .. now? Abu Dhabi & Dubai this coming Nov .. for $177 round trip, non-stop out of JFK might I add! lol … travel is possible!!
WOW, that’s a great deal!
this post is so refreshing. I love the fact that it covered different parts of the world.
Way back when I was an undergrad I knew an older black man who spent all his spare money on travel. He had been pretty much everywhere and the lesson I learned from him was that if you want something badly enough, you will make the sacrifices — in his case, he lived very simply and didn’t have the latest fashions, car, etc. — to get it.
I too live relatively simply and I also travel simply…I find a lot of people think that you have to have a lot of money to travel but those same people seem to be using celebrity behavior (e.g. “Real Wives”) as their model. I love that the Internet is bringing young black travelers together because, among other things, they can demonstrate that it’s possible to see a lot of this world without being anywhere near celebrity status. Especially now…it’s VERY important for AAs in general and young AAs in particular to see what the world is like beyond these shores. Keep enough of an open mind and you’ll be hooked like me. 🙂
Can I recommend one opportunity that I did about 6 years ago? It was a lot of work but it was FUN and I made a lot of friends through it…and all you have to do is be a native English speaker. http://www.diverbo.com/en
The TravelNoire Insta gives me so much – love it!
Waaaaaaaiiiittt Jacki Aina, that chuu gurl?? *iseeyou*
Wicked…keep traveling.
I want to travel too !! These pics are just awesome !
One of my favorite pics!
Ahhhh I love this! Show the world that we get around, as well! My profile pic is of my trip to Paris a few weeks ago. We visited the UK on that same trip and last summer my hubby and I visited his mom in Milano. I’ve also visited my husband’s birthplace in Romania.
this is indeed incredible.