You may remember our piece on Travel Noire, a website with cultivated insights from a global community of black travelers.
When it was initially launched by Zim Ugochukwu in September 2013, her aim was to slowly but surely create a new way to connect with fellow black travelers, who at the time were few and far between on social media. The Travel Noire website promises unique trips with tailored-made itineraries across the globe for all interested travelers. “It doesn’t take a ton of money, a large group of friends, or a wild amount of vacation days- let us show you how”, reads the website’s tagline.
A little over a year later, the website’s Instagram page has attracted more than 56,000 followers, all eager to peruse photos of black travelers sharing their explorations, from Istanbul to Italy. They are part of a group of young world wanderers who are hoping to draw attention to the underserved market of black travel.
The website works wonders and is truly fulfilling its purpose; one of the recent posts shared a Google Doc of travelers who had taken advantage of recent glitch pricing that offered cheap flights from the US to Abu Dhabi and Johannesburg. As a result, more than 100 people shared their contact information and activities they wanted to do in the cities with fellow travelers.
Many of those travelers found out about the glitches from Nomadness Travel Tribe, a group of 9,000 travelers, mostly African American between 25-40 years of age and with yearly incomes around $40,000-$75,000, Nomadness founder Evita Robinson explains. Travel Noire’s demographic is similar: its 70,000 monthly unique visitors are 25-35, in roughly the same income range, though some are higher.
The website has also generated a lot of interest and contributors since, with some 115 travelers of the African diaspora contributing write-ups and photos of their experiences in new places.
Travel Noire also has its very own YouTube channel, where experienced and aspiring travelers alike can watch personal interviews from the group’s curators, participants, and more.
Watch their welcoming video below, and let it inspire you to take the step into discovering new cultures across geographic boundaries:
Photo credit: Travel Noire/ A 2014 Nicaragua Nomadness trip courtesy of Evita Robinson / Travel Noire Instagram
