Taking a vacation can be more stressful than restful. From the cost to the tedious details of planning to finding your way through foreign cities—traveling can be intimidating—especially for the novice adventurer. Despite the hassle, getting “out there” is an invaluable asset to both your personal and professional life, raising your awareness about cultures outside of your own and giving you the opportunity to become more worldly.
That’s why a growing number of black travel bloggers are stressing the importance of travel, especially for African Americans.
Renee King, who writes the travel blog A View to a Thrill, has a few theories on why we sometimes resist the travel bug.
“It ranges from fear of the unknown to fear of flying to fear of interacting with different cultures when they have really been sheltered within their own neighborhoods,†she explains, and adds that for some, fear of people considering them bourgeois could be a factor. But she says that shouldn’t stop people from traveling.
“At some point, you have to decide if you are going to live for yourself or live down according to someone else’s expectations,†she asserts.
Vaughn Richardson, co-author of The Nubian Drifter agrees and thinks taking excursions provide more than a fun distraction from everyday life.
“It gives you a sense of how other people live… and it makes for a richer experience,†he says.
Harvard graduate Kiratiana Freelon, who writes Kiratiana Travels, was thrust into the world of travel in 2002 after receiving a $20,000 fellowship. Her goal at that time was to write a black travel guide. “I wanted to help other people learn about how they could live abroad,†she says.
And Freelon is still on the move. But she doesn’t just pick-up and head to far-off lands without some planning and sacrifice. “It starts with your lifestyle,†she says. Freelon saves an estimated 10 percent of each paycheck, for at least one trip abroad and three to four domestic trips annually, and she also keeps an eye out for deals via Twitter. Her top recommendations:
1. New York Habitat
Freelon says it’s often cheaper to rent an apartment versus several hotel rooms or a suite when traveling in large groups to major cities like Paris, London and New York.
2. Airfare Watchdog
“They are always the first people to know crazy unadvertised deals,†says Freelon. “I scored a $350 round-trip ticket to Paris and my friend in New York City scored three $200 tickets to Barcelona.â€
3. FlyFromUSA
Freelon recommends this as another resource to find cheap domestic and international flights. There are also other select cities with FlyFrom feeds, just insert the name of the city after “FlyFromâ€.
To get what Freelon calls a “black perspective†on visiting different cities, she’s compiled an extensive list of black bloggers to follow. Between the 68 on her list, a prospective pilgrim can find a post on just about any city in the world.
Vaughn Richardson fell in love with traveling after a friend moved to Paris and invited him for a visit. Within the five years that followed, he had been to countries like Japan, Spain and Columbia. Now he wants to inspire kids of color to go outside of their comfort zone.
“I go around to local high schools in Philadelphia and give speeches about the benefits of studying abroad, global travel and also cultural immersion,†says Richardson, who specifically targets inner city students.
“With kids of color, it’s important for us to travel because it’s good to escape the confines of homogeneity,†he says.
Richardson leaves the country at least twice a year and says that he puts away anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of each paycheck for travel, and follows these feeds on Twitter to stay up on the latest deals:
1. Â Travelzoo
“They give you kind of the inside deals that travel agents get and that you wouldn’t ordinarily have access to,†Richardson explains. He says followers can luck-up on offers that include flights with an extra perk or two.
“Buy a ticket to New Zealand and get a free overnight stay in Fiji—things like that,†he says. He listed TripAdvisor and Trazzler for similar bargains.
2. Tourists Guild
Richardson says this is good for people looking for things to do upon arrival.
“It gives you an overall sense of what to do when you get to certain places and they also give you an idea of how much things cost,†says the blogger. “If you don’t have a lot of time to do research you can just go on there and see what they have going on.â€
3. Lonely Planet
Richarson swears by Lonely Planet and says he aspires to reach their level of expertise.
“Lonely Planet has been around for ages,†he says. “They are the quintessential, go-to people for travelers. They’re so thorough.
Richardson says one of Lonely Planet’s best features is a comprehensive list and accounting of travel in about every country in the world and ideas on what to do once you get there. However, the most valuable information, he says, is the information on cultural norms and conduct in different countries.
Renee King didn’t start travel blogging until late in life. The 52-year-old administrative assistant says she was tired of her friend’s excuses about why they didn’t travel and decided to show them how through writing.
“I kept hearing so many of my black friends exclaim that they couldn’t afford it, they were convinced that it was beyond their means,†she says. “I think we need to get out of the mindset that travel is meant for others,†she argues. “We have to claim this world as our own and know that we have the god-given right to travel wherever our hearts lead us – we need to stop putting limits on ourselves.â€
So with a little sacrifice and technological savvy—King provides a window to the world through her blog, A View to a Thrill. She’s shared a few resources she uses via Twitter.
1. Go-Today.com
King recommends using this feed to find package deals to Europe at a moment’s notice.
2. Rail Europe
King uses Rail Europe to get from country to country while in Europe. By following them on Twitter, she can access deals easily from anywhere. It’s also helpful because followers can direct message the business with questions and get an answer back fairly quickly.
3. Other Black Travel Bloggers
Like her fellow blogger, Kiratiana Freelon, King also advises following other black people who travel to get an idea of what it’s like through the eyes of another person of color. “They share first person accounts of their adventures,†she says of other bloggers. “I think a lot of the time people just need to be assured of the possibility.â€
Below are a few of her favorites:
@ImBlacknITravel
@jaytravels
@Flybrother
@LolaAkinmade
@browngirlsfly
@ brianepeters
For more summer travel tips, visit blackenterprise.com/summertravel