November 25, 2024 • 41 mins
Bonus Episode: Introducing TBW Social Club – A New Era for Traveling Black Women
In this special bonus episode of the Traveling Black Women Podcast, Dr. Nadine C. Duncan and TBW’s community curator, Jabrilla Carr, sit down to introduce the TBW Social Club, the exciting evolution of TBW Communities. Through their own travel stories and experiences, they explore how this exclusive network is designed to empower mid-career Black women to balance work, life, and travel.
Tune in as we share the vision behind this thriving space where women can support one another, build meaningful connections, and embark on unforgettable travel experiences. From professional sub-communities and local meetups to curated trips and solo travel check-ins, we discuss how TBW Social Club is redefining what it means to embrace travel as a lifestyle.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why TBW Social Club is the ultimate new community for Black women travelers.
- The perks of joining, including curated trips, meetups, and more.
- How travel can fit into your lifestyle and help you create your best life.
- Our plans to foster connections, amplify support, and grow a network that celebrates YOU.
Whether you’re planning your next getaway or looking for a community that understands your journey, this episode will inspire you to explore the possibilities.
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
✨ Join the TBW Social Club today: https://www.travelingblackwomen.com/join-the-network/
✨ Follow us on Instagram for updates: @travelingblackwomen
✨ Stay connected with the TBW community: https://bit.ly/TBWUpdates
Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast.
Share this episode with a sister who needs a little extra motivation to explore the world with us!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Traveling Black Women podcast, where we are talking to black women around
(00:16):
the world.
I'm your host Nadine and I am so excited to take you on a journey with fearless black
women exploring the world.
Each episode we uncover hidden gems, share travel hacks and hear inspiring stories from
incredible travelers who look just like you.
So whether you're a seasoned flowchart or planning your very first adventure, we've
got something special for you.
(00:37):
So stay tuned and let's dive into today's episode.
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Traveling Black Women podcast.
I'm your host Nadine Duncan and the founder of the Traveling Black Women Network.
And today we have something a little bit different for you.
You know, usually we do some interviews, we've had a lot of great seasons where we talk to
(01:01):
amazing people who are just in the travel industry.
We're going to talk a little bit about what the Traveling Black Women Network has coming
down the road for you.
We're introducing you to the TBW Social Club.
Now you may have seen it online as TBW communities, but now we're going to kind of like, you know,
amp it up a little bit.
(01:22):
So today I have our community curator, Jabrila, she's going to introduce herself and we're
going to just have some conversation about what TBW communities is, which is now TBW
Social Club and what you can expect from us over the next year.
All right.
Well, hello, everybody.
My name is Jabrila Carr and I am the community curator for now the TBW Social Club.
(01:49):
I'm really happy to be here and we are going to give you an inside look at this community,
talk about why we created it and what you can expect when you join us.
Yes.
So in this bonus episode, we're diving right into why this club matters.
You know, why is this important to our community?
Why is it important to us as black women?
We are encouraging y'all to take that PTO.
(02:09):
So 2025 is going to be all about us living our very best lives.
And that is what we're going to focus on today.
So if you're a black woman who loves to travel and even in dreams of starting and has not
started yet, this episode is going to be especially for you.
Yes.
When I founded Traveling Black Women Network, you know, it was really about getting the
(02:32):
resources out there.
There was of course there was a lack of resources, lack of representation for us as black women.
And people would always say things like, oh, you're traveling so much.
You must have all this money.
And, you know, they just kind of made it seem like travel was like this big out of the way
thing and it's not right.
It was very, very accessible.
You know, it really gave us an opportunity to kind of disrupt that narrative that black
(02:54):
people don't travel, that we don't do adventurous things, that we don't dive, we don't swim,
we don't ski.
It really starts to say, hey, wait a minute now.
Some people don't do that, but I do.
I like to ski.
I like to dive.
I like to do these things.
And once those conversations started to become more and more of the norm, then you saw, you
(03:15):
know, a real evolution in this space, in the travel space, not just with Traveling Black
Women, but like with travel platforms throughout.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
And I think creating even more niche or smaller space such as TBW Social Club is really important
because it's so great to like be amongst community of women that just get it, that like they
(03:40):
kind of have that same explorer spirit.
They want to try all the things.
They want to go all the places because I know I found in my personal experiences or I thought
everybody wanted to go.
Like, why wouldn't you want to go to these places?
And that is not what everyone wants to do.
So for me, joining, you know, the network in general, and then even taking on this opportunity
(04:09):
to work with Nadine, with you guys, was really important to me because I'm like, okay, I
know that there are women out there like us that get it.
And I want to build the space for them to connect, to connect us all together just to
connect with one another so we can share those resources and just share our experiences as
(04:31):
well.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it's more than just traveling together, right?
It's like building these lifelong friendships, you know, having a place to just share our
experiences, get to travel it by celebrate our wins, find support.
You know, one of the things that I think is really interesting is when you start traveling,
especially if you start solo traveling, or you just start traveling in a small group,
(04:52):
it does become very hard to tell other people about your travels, whether it is before or
after.
If it's before, they're going to try to talk you out of it.
Oh my gosh, they're fighting out there.
They're doing this to all kinds of random information that they've got from CNN or Fox
News that's probably not 100% true.
You know, most of the time you've got a news reporter who went and found a one person in
(05:16):
the corner looking crazy and asked them some questions.
And then now everybody thinks the whole country is crazy, like, no, that was just that one
dude in the corner that they knew they shouldn't ask them any questions anyway.
I can relate to that.
When I went to the 2016 Olympics, I remember up and it was I wasn't even solo to my two
(05:36):
best friends.
And up until like the day we left and throughout the trip, people were sending us like videos
like this is happening in Rio.
And I'm just like, one, this is not helpful.
Trying to instill this fear in me.
And like you really have to do mental Olympics of like, okay, I'm just going to try to be
(05:56):
safe here.
But also like this is the Olympics.
Do you think that they're just going to let all of these millions of people be with the
whole world?
So yeah, that's really important that community of just like, we can share this with one another.
And we understand that, oh, that's exciting that you took that trip, not like, you know,
(06:16):
right.
Or that person who's actually able to tell you, okay, cool, you're going to take the
trip.
I went there too.
There is one or two places that you may not want to go just as someone who's not from
there, which is literally everywhere.
Right.
I live in Atlanta and there are certain places I'm still not going to Atlanta.
This place that I used to work in that I would not go back to in Atlanta if I'm not walking
(06:37):
into the school building clock in.
So is this what it is?
You need to have that community to be able to to one, not have that fear mongering, you
know, take over your thoughts and then to have somebody to say, okay, well, I've actually
been there and I can actually tell you what's cool, what you might want to, you know, kind
(06:59):
of keep an eye out for.
Yeah, that's important.
But then the other part is when you come back, you come back and you can't really share everything
with everybody.
Right.
And you can't just say, must be nice, you know, things that kind of make you feel just
slightly guilty.
Yes.
When I was reviewing some of the surveys that we took, someone specifically said that that,
like, they wanted a space where they could talk about the experiences without seeming
(07:22):
like they're bragging or, you know, because that's how they felt with their family and
friends.
And I was like, I never thought about that because I'm just so excited.
So I'm about to tell everybody.
But people probably didn't think I was bragging, but that was a really good perspective.
And that's, that's.
Yeah, it is.
It really is.
(07:42):
And I think that is something that, like, it allows us to make sure that as a community,
as a social club, that no one has to navigate life or travel like alone.
I mean, unless they want to.
Right.
Because in that respect, then there's a support piece.
Right.
Then there's someone who's there to say, OK, cool, go do it.
Ask me some questions.
(08:03):
I got you kind of things.
Like, the world is ours to see, too.
You know, and that's my biggest thing.
Like, it's just ours to see, too.
Yeah.
And we're everywhere.
Why not?
Yeah, absolutely.
We all know we love travel.
We're all Black women who love travel.
But we're also going to bring in a new factor to consider, which is career interests, career
(08:24):
or professional interests.
So that is a big component of how the community is structured.
So we have subgroups where we can share career tips.
We can travel together, maybe to career professional conferences, things like that.
So we do have sub communities of service and education, corporate professionals, creatives,
(08:50):
STEM professionals, entrepreneurs, and travel professionals.
So just really wanting to focus on other aspects of our, you know, personalities or our passions
and interests that we can also kind of merge together with travel.
Just wanting to create more space and community for like-minded women.
So that's something that I'm really excited about with this community.
(09:12):
Yeah, same here.
Like, one of the things that I thought was really interesting about just life in general,
especially like once you're 80s babies, 90s babies, once you're in those like mid 30s
to 40s and up, now it's kind of that space where you're like, OK, I've done all the
things.
I've checked all the boxes.
I've gotten a degree.
(09:33):
I've gotten the good job.
I've made my parents or whoever else happy because I did everything that I was supposed
to do, you know, as a black woman trying to make it in the world.
And you get to these mid levels of your career, especially at around, you know, mid to late
30s and up.
(09:54):
And you realize, OK, I'm either bored or I'm unhappy.
And the passion is still there.
Like I can use myself as an example, as an educator, the passion is still there.
I still love children.
I still believe in education and exposure as like the ticket to, you know, a bright
and successful future.
However, I don't always agree with the ways that, you know, the education system has gone
(10:16):
about it.
That has made me very frustrated, anxious, depressed even sometimes.
And it's like, OK, I don't want to do this.
I don't want to do this anymore.
It's kind of such, you know, that's real.
But there is still there's still this level of like wanting to still be in a space with
other people who have that same level of passion.
(10:38):
And I think there's something different when you connect with people who have those similar
passions or similar career interests and you're able to lean on them in ways that can address
your strengths as well as your weaknesses.
One give you something to talk about because, you know, sometimes you go on a trip and it's
like, I don't know any of these folks and I don't even know how to break the ice without
(10:59):
like some cheesy icebreaker.
My middle name is this, you know, like, no one wants to do that.
Like we want to have like real conversations.
So I do feel like that is one thing that I'm excited about as well, because I love seeing
people connect over things that bring them both passion and joy that they can talk about,
that they can dig into.
Because when you see those conversations start to happen, that's when you see things start
(11:21):
to change.
Because a lot of times we're in our own little worlds.
We're trying to figure out things on our own and we don't recognize that the person just
two seats away from us has the same idea.
And we probably just need each other to say, green light, like act on your idea.
We can probably support each other.
We can probably put an idea together, you know, whatever.
(11:43):
And building those types of relationships within a travel opportunity is pretty dope.
At least I think so.
Yeah, I agree.
I love it.
I'm excited.
And even as someone who's in somewhat of like a career transition, I think there's space
(12:04):
for that too.
And because I'm in that situation here.
And so it's an opportunity for me to kind of reminisce with the old crowd.
But then also, as I'm transitioned to something new, like learn more and just be connected
to more resources.
And we're already starting to see that in a lot of our sub communities just sharing resources
(12:26):
and information.
So I think it's a good place.
It's definitely a good place.
Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Because I mean, one thing that you get from that too is your skill set, right?
So it becomes less about the actual job, the actual structure of the job, and more so about
you as an individual and your skill set.
Because all our skills are transferable.
It doesn't have to just stick to that one particular job that we got maybe 10 years
(12:49):
ago and never branched out of it.
So those are good conversations to have too.
Yeah, definitely.
But outside of that, we do have our curated trips.
I just came from World Travel Market in London and that was amazing.
That was amazing.
I really had an opportunity to sit face to face with a lot of the providers, the travel
(13:12):
provider and just talk to them about what traveling black woman is, what we need, why
we're different, all that kind of thing.
Because I mean, it's easy to email people and set things up that way and whatnot, but
you can never really get the real, I guess you can say alignment of another company with
yours, the B2B, the whole B2B thing.
(13:34):
You can never really get that connection just over email.
I mean, you could do a Zoom or something like that, but it's still kind of like, you want
to be sure.
So I was really glad to just sit down and be like, look, we're all about diversity.
We're all about sustainability.
I'm looking for the woman owned companies.
And I was able to sit with a lot of woman owned companies and that was cool because
(13:58):
they're not necessarily struggling.
That's probably not the best word, but they're not as out front as the men who are standing
here like, yeah, come over here, come see me.
This is what I have.
Look at my paperwork.
They're kind of sitting there, they're cool, they're chill.
And you kind of go up to them and you're like, hey, this is what I represent.
And they're like, oh yeah, okay.
And they're like ready to work.
Like I talked to this one lady from Jordan and she was just like, yeah, we do women only
(14:22):
trips all the time.
Like, come on, sit down and have some tea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's, and it's really cool to see that like groups that don't look like us have been
doing this thing for years, which is why a trade show like London could be, I mean, like
WTM could be so huge.
You know, there's also ITB in Berlin.
(14:42):
There's all these trade shows that are just like the one I just came from.
And let me tell you, when I walked in, it looked like Times Square.
And I'm like, what is going on?
You know?
That's awesome.
You having this experience, you know, obviously it's going to lead to some great partnerships
for our members, but even you are, this is a perfect example of the representation we
(15:04):
need.
I wish we could take a show of hands right now.
Who's listening?
Who's ever heard of World Trade Market?
I'm not putting my hand up because I learned about it from Nadine.
So there we go.
Like we're building this network.
And if you, and specifically if you are a travel professional or in the travel industry,
like that's a fantastic resource and information you should know about.
(15:26):
And even as just a consumer traveler, like I would go to that, just, I'm just trying
to learn about all these countries and information.
And if you're passionate about that, fantastic opportunity, and that's kind of what, that's
one of the things I'm most excited about for this group.
And I know I keep saying connect to resources and that's, I used to be a social worker.
(15:46):
That's the core of what we did.
We connect people to resources to meet needs.
So this is, to me, this is doing that, you know, live and in action and within the travel
space.
So that's really awesome.
I love that.
And I agree with you because like, I mean, I've been working on this network for, what
are we in 2024?
(16:06):
So officially six years.
And I just heard about world travel market at the top of this year.
And then I started looking at LinkedIn, adding people on LinkedIn.
And then on LinkedIn, I started seeing ITB pop up.
ITB is the international trade something with a B in Berlin or maybe the B is for Berlin.
I don't know.
(16:27):
I don't know.
I'm going to have to set up again.
So don't worry.
But ITB in Berlin, I started seeing the after posts from that like, oh, I had such a great
time and ITB in Berlin and we met this country and that country.
And I was like, oh, this is good.
I'm going to go follow them too.
Yeah!
Following them is LinkedIn.
What does it do?
It links you.
So I started following them, following people that were talking about them, different tourism
(16:53):
companies, tourism agencies, and then WTM started showing up.
And I remember going to TravelCon and there was this guy there who was talking about all
the different travel shows that we should be attending.
And I was like, oh, wow, like half of these I haven't even heard of.
So when WTM popped up and they were like, hey, you know, go ahead and register because
(17:13):
registration is actually free.
But you have to just register as a.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I registered as a media person, a buyer, or of course, an exhibitor.
Of course, I registered as a buyer because I was looking at trips or whatnot.
But that's how I found out about it.
And even in finding out about it, I registered and then I got this influx of people like
(17:34):
trying to set up meetings and I was like, whoa, what do I do?
What do I do?
So I'm like signing things up, but I still did not quite know that I was going to walk
in to Times Square and like literally travel the world in three days because I mean, every
section of that hall in London had like a different experience.
Yeah, it was really cool.
(17:55):
There were only a handful of us there.
The majority of other brown faces that I saw there, other black faces that I saw there
were from London, were from UK and were actually from Africa.
Like they were actually, you know, publicizing their travel or their tourism industry there.
And it was crazy because I was like, man, we are really just now getting our foot in
(18:17):
the door in this industry because it's not looking like us yet.
Yeah.
You know, so that was exciting.
It was exciting to just kind of be like, yes, traveling black woman is here.
We're busting down some doors.
With the shirt too.
With the shirt.
K-Fa didn't know.
I had the shirt and the bag, girl.
And the bag.
There you go.
(18:38):
There you go.
Oh man.
I love that.
Another thing I wanted to highlight though, too, as far as like perks of joining, I know
we're talking about, you know, coordinating group trips and things like that, but we're
also working on like a list of people or I guess suppliers to work with for discounts
(19:00):
for our members, as well as like a list of events.
We talked, I talked about a little earlier about like traveling to different conferences.
So we kind of have this like master list of professional conferences either geared towards
black people, black women that some of our members will be interested in.
And we're starting to work on those collaborations.
(19:22):
So that's something that's coming down the pipeline that I'm really excited about as
well because we really want to give people the opportunity to invest in themselves, you
know, both professionally and then just to feed that travel passion.
So that's something I'm definitely excited about for the upcoming year.
Absolutely.
(19:43):
And you know, now that I'm now that my my like blinkers are on to see what these conferences
are, I just found one the other day, the ASD ASCD education conference in Ghana.
So I'm like, oh, let me write that down.
Yeah, yeah.
I need to add that.
Yes, yes.
I literally found it today.
So I was like, oh, OK, cool.
You know, because, you know, the thing about it is like there are so many opportunities
(20:08):
for us to grow in our profession that also cross with being able to travel a little bit,
see what other countries are doing, you know, see how they handle things.
There was one stall, for example, for Turkey that had their their whole medical center.
It was literally a medical medical tour provider.
So it's like, oh, OK, you can go there.
(20:28):
And of course, there's lots of surgeries that are probably tens of thousands of dollars
in the US that are cheaper there.
But there is.
Yeah, yeah.
I heard that about there's a whole medical.
Yes, that's exactly what that's the word I was trying to be.
But that's exactly it.
And they have so many things built around it where it actually includes a tour, you
know, so like you tour Turkey for your surgery.
(20:49):
Take a nap.
Take your surgery.
Go sit down somewhere, I guess.
I don't know.
But I mean, it's a great class.
Yeah, you know, it is.
I love that.
And so, you know, when you shared with me your experience going to TBEX and being able
to go to those tours, I think they were like fans before the conference and after the conference,
(21:16):
that's such a really good resource and opportunity to especially if you are in the travel industry
or anything like that.
And a lot of those trips are free because they they want people to come so that they
can then go and sell the experience or disinform their community about the experience.
So yeah, that was that was the cool thing I learned about from you.
(21:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Like TBEX, I love TBEX.
I always talk about TBEX because it is literally the only experience that I have had, especially
as an educator who used to also go to professional learning.
Like I love going to conferences, but it's the only conference that I've ever been to
where I pay the conference price and then I get all the perks.
I'm more than likely not pulling out my card or my phone to tap for anything the entire
(22:01):
time that I'm there because there's the pre-experiences, there's the post-experiences, and then there's
the companies that are sponsoring lunch that are sponsoring drinks throughout the day,
things like that.
And it's just like, wait a minute.
You know, this is an industry that really looks out for those who are within the industry.
Like this is pretty cool, you know.
So yeah, but you also see that with really well-done conferences.
(22:26):
So I think that's another opportunity.
Like when you're in a profession or in a certain industry and you're like, okay, I'm just going
to work and going home, going to work and going home, go to the conferences, see what
that's like.
And if there's no one for you to go with, that's where we come in, you know.
But it's like, that's where you kind of learn how to get out of your bubble and see different
things and realize that your skill set is more than the actual job.
(22:52):
And I think that is probably one of the underlying messages of it all too.
Once you learn that skill set, that kind of debunks a little bit of anxiety, that debunks
a little bit of imposter syndrome, because now you're separating who you are as an individual
with these amazing skills and abilities from who your job says you are or how your job
defines you or how your title defines you.
(23:14):
And that's really powerful.
And I think travel actually helps with that.
It does.
I agree.
I agree.
And it can also serve as kind of like to help you if you're in a profession where you may
be experiencing burnout or just frustration.
A lot for me, those conferences have usually like reignited my passion.
(23:38):
Because you're learning new things, you're getting to collaborate or experience with
other people in the profession.
So I think it's very motivating.
The more that we grow, you may find that, oh, there's like six of you guys in New York.
Oh, there's like five of you guys in Tennessee.
There's like three of you guys in California.
(24:00):
Why not meet up, right?
Make that connection.
Even if you don't go on a trip together right away.
But being able, especially in adulthood, we know friendships are not as easy in adulthood
as they were like when we were in high school walking around slamming lockers.
You know, now it's like a whole different thing, right?
You don't see people as much anymore.
You know, and being friends with coworkers is not always safe.
(24:22):
So, you know, there's like, I don't trust you.
Often times you find out a little too late, you're like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like, it also gives us the opportunity to like tap in like, all right, like these
people live in my area.
And we don't have the same profession, but we have the same desire to travel or we just
(24:44):
have the desire to connect.
And that offers you that opportunity as well.
So you know, yeah, I think that desire to connect is, is a really good point to bring
because nowadays we are so disconnected for various reasons.
You know, some of it being just being adults and having life, life be life.
(25:06):
And as they say, but just having an opportunity to connect with people that want to connect,
that want to travel more, that, you know, just to have these shared experiences.
You know, I'm always going to support that.
And I think that this club is a really good opportunity to do that.
Yeah.
(25:26):
Yeah.
I mean, I mean, I think we can all agree that traveling while Black, especially as a Black
woman, I mean, that's going to have its unique challenges.
So having the foundation of being a part of something even before, you know, embarking
on that, especially those of us who are going to be new to travel, you know, I think it
just it, it offers something different and puts something different in the space, you
(25:47):
know?
Yeah, definitely.
And I think it's, it also kind of gives you that idea of safety where it's just like,
like I went to Morocco for 10 days.
It was my, my graduation gift to myself to spend 10 days solo in Morocco, like just moving
around my backpack.
I went from the train.
I flew into Casablanca, spent a couple of days there, took the train to Rabat, which
(26:08):
is like their business center, spent a day there, then took the train over to Fez, spent
another couple of days there, explored the maze and all of that.
They have all these like older, it's just a very historical area.
Right.
And then I took the train to Marrakesh, which I flew out of.
(26:29):
But I also spent three days in the desert, like rode a camel, slept in a tent, did all
the things.
Right.
It was so amazing.
But part of me, one, didn't really tell people much of what I was doing because I didn't
want the, the, the voices, you know, I already knew that people were going to talk about
the cat calling and they did a little bit of that, but they called me Bob Marley most
(26:51):
of the time.
Like they weren't even like, Hey, hot stuff.
They were like Bob Marley.
Oh, okay.
Thanks.
I bet you were not expecting that.
I was like, Oh, everyone was telling me, Oh, they're going to be cat calling.
It's going to be uncomfortable.
And I'm like, they're going to be Bob Marley.
Like that's not cute.
(27:11):
But okay.
Thanks.
I almost wanted to be cat cloned at certain points.
Like, Hey, that's how y'all feel.
Okay.
But also, but that also brings me to the point of even though I stayed away from as much
conversation from the outside as possible, I still had my own like fears within me to
be like, all right, I am not going to be cute at all.
(27:32):
I am going to wear like, you know, very loose clothing.
I'm going to make sure I try to blend in a little bit.
I lived in Abu Dhabi, so I kind of know a little bit of the Muslim culture, all of that
kind of stuff.
And it probably ties into why it was like, Hey, Brianna, but instead, Hey, Bob Marley,
like I don't get Beyonce.
Like I see people on Instagram all the time, but they call me Beyonce.
(27:53):
What?
No, they didn't call me Beyonce.
But I was also I also presented myself in a way that I was like, I do not want to attract
any attention.
I'm by myself.
I don't know what to expect.
And I, I myself feel a little ways.
So you know, I'm I don't want any more, you know, voices because I'm not going to tell
(28:14):
people.
But at the same time, I can't deny that I myself feel a little nervous, you know.
So I think that's another thing to kind of like put out there that safety is a big deal
and having that community to say, well, you know what, it's it's not really too bad.
Just be mindful of certain things.
Yeah.
And having that community to check in with, you know, one safety wise, like if we exist
(28:36):
and you could have been like, OK, yeah, I made it to, you know, this place.
I'm feeling this way, just like a little check in with people who, again, like minded with
support should be like, Oh, girl, OK, how you feeling like that?
It reminds me of when I was traveling in Kenya and I had finally like settled in Diani, a
(28:57):
little beach town.
And the culture shock was real because it's one thing when you're like visiting and you're
saying a resource and things.
But like I was like in an apartment in the neighborhood.
And I remember I had this experience where I went just like across the street to buy
some like fruit and some water or something.
(29:19):
And I just got so nervous because, you know, a bit of a language barrier.
I didn't know like if they were overcharging me.
If not, like I just was overwhelmed.
And it was like very simple interaction, but I was overwhelmed.
And I remember posting like how I was feeling because I had no one to talk to about this.
Like, no, I had no one to talk to about that feeling and that experience.
(29:43):
And I remember posting it in a larger Facebook group of like, you know, 30,000 people who
knows the huge Facebook group and like three fourths of the responses were actually very
mean.
It was like, well, you need to get on.
You need to adjust that.
You don't know, you know, just like very negative.
And I'm like, little do they know I'm like in my little apartment in Kenya, like crying
(30:07):
because I'm just I'm overwhelmed.
And there was a it was mostly women who was like, you know, it'll get better.
Like words encouraging.
And I just know if I had a TVW social club at that time, like I would have gotten, you
know, better support and, you know, just better support and understanding of like what I was
(30:29):
experiencing.
So yeah.
So the safety, like physical safety and probably like emotional safety is definitely key in
these types of communities and definitely what we're going to be promoting.
So yes, yeah, absolutely.
Because like even when I think about like when I first started the Facebook group and
(30:50):
this is one of the reasons why I was like, OK, we need to figure out how to make a smaller,
more intentional community that revolves around our passions, our desires, our desire to connect
with each other, you know, all of these different things, because like those larger groups,
you never know who's in there and people get really mean because they can hide.
(31:11):
You know, I've had to put out a lot of people out of that Facebook group so much so that
I remember running into this one girl, I think was like Black Travel Expo.
It was some event that I was at.
And I'm a smiley person.
Like I'm I'm always teasing at someone, you know, hello, hello, hello.
And I remember saying hello and smiling.
(31:31):
And she just had this very stoic face.
And I was thinking like, but for whatever reason.
My first thought was like, dang, I hope I didn't kick her out the Facebook group and
know me.
I'm like, my bad.
Let's talk about this.
Right.
But I've I've I've I've religiously put people out who have been mean to other people about
(31:51):
stuff like that, you know, just because you don't know what you don't know.
You know, there are there are still several stories that I have from traveling solo that
I still have not really shared openly, like with a lot of people, like maybe one on one
with a friend here and there, mainly because I didn't want that blowback.
I was always nervous of like, people don't know what they don't know.
(32:12):
They say whatever they want behind the screen.
And I don't feel like that.
A lot of most people are really not trying to harm you, especially there.
I say it outside the US.
Most people are very kind and helpful.
Like it's just part of their culture.
And they're usually very excited to see you and excited to talk to you and help you.
(32:33):
So it's like I said, it's a lot of mental Olympics, especially coming from our environment
where that's it's like you don't do that.
Like you don't go get in the car with a random taxi driver and like because it is literally
not safe.
And it's again, I'm not trying to put a blanket statement out there that like you should just
do whatever.
(32:54):
But the more you travel and the more time you spend abroad, you you learn that, well,
that is kind of part of their culture.
Like they're just going to help you because sometimes they will force you like like, no,
we're going to help you.
We're going to take care of you.
And you just be like, OK, thanks.
But you know, so yeah, that's what that reminded me of.
I think I've been in a lot of situations where I was like, OK, let me just let me just trust
(33:18):
this process.
It's different from what I would do back home.
But I'm not I'm not home.
Like this is different.
And I think that's powerful to in itself because for whatever reason, many of us are disconnected
from being able to trust our instincts to like really trust ourselves.
And when you're traveling solo or when you're just kind of in a space where you have to
(33:41):
figure it out, you have to listen to your gut, like everything becomes louder.
Then you can finally hear yourself.
Right.
You can finally hear yourself think you can finally hear yourself like, you know, really
kind of look at all the different things you you're paying attention.
You're aware you're present.
And I think being present is the biggest thing because you learn so much just being present.
Like when we're thinking about the past that we can no longer change and sitting around
(34:05):
worrying about the future, you're still not really paying attention to what is.
And I think when you're in that space, when you can say, OK, this is what is, then you
can recognize like, oh, OK, this is not too bad.
Yeah, I can I can trust myself here.
Now, of course, there's people who are impulsive.
And like you said, we're not talking about like just go out there and do anything.
(34:26):
But being able to learn how to trust yourself, I think is is a huge part of travel that I
just have immensely like become grateful for over the years.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
Oh, I love travel.
All right.
So how to get involved and what's next?
(34:47):
Let's talk about that a little bit.
OK, yeah, definitely.
So if this is your cup of tea, if any of this is resonating, we definitely want resonating
with you.
We definitely want you to join us get involved.
So it's pretty simple.
You can just head to the website, TravelinBlackWomen.com and click on membership and then you'll see
(35:08):
a little bit more about that.
It's going to take you to our onboarding platform, which is called Nasio.
And so, again, it'll tell you more about the the club and some of our features.
And then it's also going to give you the cost.
And so it's very flexible.
So we have several like membership tiers and options for you because, you know, just depending
(35:33):
on what season you're in, you may you know, you need it for a month.
You need it for three months.
You know, it's just whatever.
So there's various options there.
And then that's also where you'll fill out very like quick application.
It's more so just to collect information about you and kind of what you're wanting from the
(35:54):
group that helps me helps us to make sure we're creating or curating events and things
that people need.
And then once that is done, our space actually is on WhatsApp.
So you don't need to download another app because we know you probably have WhatsApp.
So that's where our community is actually run.
(36:16):
And so we we use WhatsApp communities.
And so there are subgroup chats that you can be involved in.
So again, you just head on to the website, travelblackwoman.com, click on membership
and join now.
Yeah, it's a pretty simple process.
You know, I love using the Naz.io platform because it taps into WhatsApp.
(36:37):
Many of us already have WhatsApp.
It's a meta, you know, it's another part of meta Facebook and Instagram.
And WhatsApp is right up there with it.
But if you're already a traveler, you know that WhatsApp is kind of like the way that
everyone connects nowadays.
Like you go to most other countries and they use WhatsApp much more than they use it online.
(36:57):
Yeah, lots of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like WhatsApp is really a big deal.
I remember being in Ecuador when WhatsApp went down for like a day and like everybody was
like up in arms and like American people were like, right.
Why do y'all care?
WhatsApp is like the connection to the world.
You know, I have a Facebook group now.
I mean, a WhatsApp group now with all my cousins and like we talk all day every day.
(37:21):
But like people are spread around the US.
They're in Trinidad.
Like we're all over the place, but we're in this one Facebook group and it just does not
seem like it.
So WhatsApp is definitely the place to be.
So I'm really glad that we have that option.
But more importantly, I think it's just something to really keep in mind if you are the kind
(37:42):
of person, especially the kind of woman right now who is just kind of in a transition, you
know, you're kind of feeling like what else is out there?
What else do I need to be doing with my life?
You know, how do I create this life for myself that everybody keeps talking about?
Right.
You go online and you see people saying create your best life.
And it's like, OK, but how?
You know, I haven't seen it or, you know, I don't even know where to start or, you know,
(38:05):
things like that.
That's what we're here for.
You know, it's it's also talking about like, how can you get your your finances together?
You know, what kind of credit cards do you need to start traveling?
And what kind of mindset do you need to take out these credit cards to travel?
You know, all these different things are conversations that we can have, you know, or that we are
having and just being able to be in those spaces where you're not feeling like, you
(38:27):
know, you'll be judged for what you don't know.
You don't know.
I think me as an individual, that's one of my biggest things.
Like, I don't like not knowing what I don't know, but it is a huge part of life.
However, when I'm around people that I feel safe with, then I can say, hey, I don't know
what I don't know.
What should I know?
You know?
And yeah, right.
Right.
And good people help you out.
(38:49):
Good people definitely help you out.
So we are definitely, you know, that space for women who are just in that in that time
of life where they're ready for something different, they're ready for something new.
They're looking for opportunities to just kind of live that best life, create a different
life for themselves, you know, write their own story, you know, change the narrative
(39:11):
about what people are saying black women should be or should not be.
But being able to have the space and exposure to create that narrative for yourself.
That's kind of what we're here to do.
So everybody come through, tell your auntie, tell your friends, tell your cousins, they're
(39:32):
black women.
They like to travel or they're interested in traveling.
Hopefully everyone is welcome.
Come through.
And we're just really excited to again, create that space for all of us and just really focus
on redefining what travel and embracing travel as a lifestyle, what that looks like for black
(39:55):
women.
So absolutely.
So all of our listeners out there, thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for working with us for the past two years.
You know, we only started in January of 2023, so it's really cool to be on season three
and to have had so many people tune in and just share their love of travel, especially
(40:16):
from the lens of black women with us.
So we're excited to start this new chapter.
You know, TBW Social Club is here.
So whether you're experienced, you're just starting out, whatever it is, you know, we
are a supportive and inspiring community that is just ready to be by your side.
So until next time, keep exploring and we can't wait to see you soon.
(40:39):
All right.
See you soon.
Thank you so much for tuning in to the Traveling Black Women podcast.
You can find us online at www.travelingblackwomen.com and there you can find plenty more travel
resources to help you plan your very next trip.
We've got travel guides, we've got a blog, we've got our blog and you just listened to
(41:03):
our podcast.
I look forward to seeing you around.
Thanks for tuning in.
Welcome to the Traveling Black Women podcast, where we are talking to black women around
(00:16):
the world.
I'm your host Nadine and I am so excited to take you on a journey with fearless black
women exploring the world.
Each episode we uncover hidden gems, share travel hacks and hear inspiring stories from
incredible travelers who look just like you.
So whether you're a seasoned flowchart or planning your very first adventure, we've
got something special for you.
(00:37):
So stay tuned and let's dive into today's episode.
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Traveling Black Women podcast.
I'm your host Nadine Duncan and the founder of the Traveling Black Women Network.
And today we have something a little bit different for you.
You know, usually we do some interviews, we've had a lot of great seasons where we talk to
(01:01):
amazing people who are just in the travel industry.
We're going to talk a little bit about what the Traveling Black Women Network has coming
down the road for you.
We're introducing you to the TBW Social Club.
Now you may have seen it online as TBW communities, but now we're going to kind of like, you know,
amp it up a little bit.
(01:22):
So today I have our community curator, Jabrila, she's going to introduce herself and we're
going to just have some conversation about what TBW communities is, which is now TBW
Social Club and what you can expect from us over the next year.
All right.
Well, hello, everybody.
My name is Jabrila Carr and I am the community curator for now the TBW Social Club.
(01:49):
I'm really happy to be here and we are going to give you an inside look at this community,
talk about why we created it and what you can expect when you join us.
Yes.
So in this bonus episode, we're diving right into why this club matters.
You know, why is this important to our community?
Why is it important to us as black women?
We are encouraging y'all to take that PTO.
(02:09):
So 2025 is going to be all about us living our very best lives.
And that is what we're going to focus on today.
So if you're a black woman who loves to travel and even in dreams of starting and has not
started yet, this episode is going to be especially for you.
Yes.
When I founded Traveling Black Women Network, you know, it was really about getting the
(02:32):
resources out there.
There was of course there was a lack of resources, lack of representation for us as black women.
And people would always say things like, oh, you're traveling so much.
You must have all this money.
And, you know, they just kind of made it seem like travel was like this big out of the way
thing and it's not right.
It was very, very accessible.
You know, it really gave us an opportunity to kind of disrupt that narrative that black
(02:54):
people don't travel, that we don't do adventurous things, that we don't dive, we don't swim,
we don't ski.
It really starts to say, hey, wait a minute now.
Some people don't do that, but I do.
I like to ski.
I like to dive.
I like to do these things.
And once those conversations started to become more and more of the norm, then you saw, you
(03:15):
know, a real evolution in this space, in the travel space, not just with Traveling Black
Women, but like with travel platforms throughout.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
And I think creating even more niche or smaller space such as TBW Social Club is really important
because it's so great to like be amongst community of women that just get it, that like they
(03:40):
kind of have that same explorer spirit.
They want to try all the things.
They want to go all the places because I know I found in my personal experiences or I thought
everybody wanted to go.
Like, why wouldn't you want to go to these places?
And that is not what everyone wants to do.
So for me, joining, you know, the network in general, and then even taking on this opportunity
(04:09):
to work with Nadine, with you guys, was really important to me because I'm like, okay, I
know that there are women out there like us that get it.
And I want to build the space for them to connect, to connect us all together just to
connect with one another so we can share those resources and just share our experiences as
(04:31):
well.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it's more than just traveling together, right?
It's like building these lifelong friendships, you know, having a place to just share our
experiences, get to travel it by celebrate our wins, find support.
You know, one of the things that I think is really interesting is when you start traveling,
especially if you start solo traveling, or you just start traveling in a small group,
(04:52):
it does become very hard to tell other people about your travels, whether it is before or
after.
If it's before, they're going to try to talk you out of it.
Oh my gosh, they're fighting out there.
They're doing this to all kinds of random information that they've got from CNN or Fox
News that's probably not 100% true.
You know, most of the time you've got a news reporter who went and found a one person in
(05:16):
the corner looking crazy and asked them some questions.
And then now everybody thinks the whole country is crazy, like, no, that was just that one
dude in the corner that they knew they shouldn't ask them any questions anyway.
I can relate to that.
When I went to the 2016 Olympics, I remember up and it was I wasn't even solo to my two
(05:36):
best friends.
And up until like the day we left and throughout the trip, people were sending us like videos
like this is happening in Rio.
And I'm just like, one, this is not helpful.
Trying to instill this fear in me.
And like you really have to do mental Olympics of like, okay, I'm just going to try to be
(05:56):
safe here.
But also like this is the Olympics.
Do you think that they're just going to let all of these millions of people be with the
whole world?
So yeah, that's really important that community of just like, we can share this with one another.
And we understand that, oh, that's exciting that you took that trip, not like, you know,
(06:16):
right.
Or that person who's actually able to tell you, okay, cool, you're going to take the
trip.
I went there too.
There is one or two places that you may not want to go just as someone who's not from
there, which is literally everywhere.
Right.
I live in Atlanta and there are certain places I'm still not going to Atlanta.
This place that I used to work in that I would not go back to in Atlanta if I'm not walking
(06:37):
into the school building clock in.
So is this what it is?
You need to have that community to be able to to one, not have that fear mongering, you
know, take over your thoughts and then to have somebody to say, okay, well, I've actually
been there and I can actually tell you what's cool, what you might want to, you know, kind
(06:59):
of keep an eye out for.
Yeah, that's important.
But then the other part is when you come back, you come back and you can't really share everything
with everybody.
Right.
And you can't just say, must be nice, you know, things that kind of make you feel just
slightly guilty.
Yes.
When I was reviewing some of the surveys that we took, someone specifically said that that,
like, they wanted a space where they could talk about the experiences without seeming
(07:22):
like they're bragging or, you know, because that's how they felt with their family and
friends.
And I was like, I never thought about that because I'm just so excited.
So I'm about to tell everybody.
But people probably didn't think I was bragging, but that was a really good perspective.
And that's, that's.
Yeah, it is.
It really is.
(07:42):
And I think that is something that, like, it allows us to make sure that as a community,
as a social club, that no one has to navigate life or travel like alone.
I mean, unless they want to.
Right.
Because in that respect, then there's a support piece.
Right.
Then there's someone who's there to say, OK, cool, go do it.
Ask me some questions.
(08:03):
I got you kind of things.
Like, the world is ours to see, too.
You know, and that's my biggest thing.
Like, it's just ours to see, too.
Yeah.
And we're everywhere.
Why not?
Yeah, absolutely.
We all know we love travel.
We're all Black women who love travel.
But we're also going to bring in a new factor to consider, which is career interests, career
(08:24):
or professional interests.
So that is a big component of how the community is structured.
So we have subgroups where we can share career tips.
We can travel together, maybe to career professional conferences, things like that.
So we do have sub communities of service and education, corporate professionals, creatives,
(08:50):
STEM professionals, entrepreneurs, and travel professionals.
So just really wanting to focus on other aspects of our, you know, personalities or our passions
and interests that we can also kind of merge together with travel.
Just wanting to create more space and community for like-minded women.
So that's something that I'm really excited about with this community.
(09:12):
Yeah, same here.
Like, one of the things that I thought was really interesting about just life in general,
especially like once you're 80s babies, 90s babies, once you're in those like mid 30s
to 40s and up, now it's kind of that space where you're like, OK, I've done all the
things.
I've checked all the boxes.
I've gotten a degree.
(09:33):
I've gotten the good job.
I've made my parents or whoever else happy because I did everything that I was supposed
to do, you know, as a black woman trying to make it in the world.
And you get to these mid levels of your career, especially at around, you know, mid to late
30s and up.
(09:54):
And you realize, OK, I'm either bored or I'm unhappy.
And the passion is still there.
Like I can use myself as an example, as an educator, the passion is still there.
I still love children.
I still believe in education and exposure as like the ticket to, you know, a bright
and successful future.
However, I don't always agree with the ways that, you know, the education system has gone
(10:16):
about it.
That has made me very frustrated, anxious, depressed even sometimes.
And it's like, OK, I don't want to do this.
I don't want to do this anymore.
It's kind of such, you know, that's real.
But there is still there's still this level of like wanting to still be in a space with
other people who have that same level of passion.
(10:38):
And I think there's something different when you connect with people who have those similar
passions or similar career interests and you're able to lean on them in ways that can address
your strengths as well as your weaknesses.
One give you something to talk about because, you know, sometimes you go on a trip and it's
like, I don't know any of these folks and I don't even know how to break the ice without
(10:59):
like some cheesy icebreaker.
My middle name is this, you know, like, no one wants to do that.
Like we want to have like real conversations.
So I do feel like that is one thing that I'm excited about as well, because I love seeing
people connect over things that bring them both passion and joy that they can talk about,
that they can dig into.
Because when you see those conversations start to happen, that's when you see things start
(11:21):
to change.
Because a lot of times we're in our own little worlds.
We're trying to figure out things on our own and we don't recognize that the person just
two seats away from us has the same idea.
And we probably just need each other to say, green light, like act on your idea.
We can probably support each other.
We can probably put an idea together, you know, whatever.
(11:43):
And building those types of relationships within a travel opportunity is pretty dope.
At least I think so.
Yeah, I agree.
I love it.
I'm excited.
And even as someone who's in somewhat of like a career transition, I think there's space
(12:04):
for that too.
And because I'm in that situation here.
And so it's an opportunity for me to kind of reminisce with the old crowd.
But then also, as I'm transitioned to something new, like learn more and just be connected
to more resources.
And we're already starting to see that in a lot of our sub communities just sharing resources
(12:26):
and information.
So I think it's a good place.
It's definitely a good place.
Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Because I mean, one thing that you get from that too is your skill set, right?
So it becomes less about the actual job, the actual structure of the job, and more so about
you as an individual and your skill set.
Because all our skills are transferable.
It doesn't have to just stick to that one particular job that we got maybe 10 years
(12:49):
ago and never branched out of it.
So those are good conversations to have too.
Yeah, definitely.
But outside of that, we do have our curated trips.
I just came from World Travel Market in London and that was amazing.
That was amazing.
I really had an opportunity to sit face to face with a lot of the providers, the travel
(13:12):
provider and just talk to them about what traveling black woman is, what we need, why
we're different, all that kind of thing.
Because I mean, it's easy to email people and set things up that way and whatnot, but
you can never really get the real, I guess you can say alignment of another company with
yours, the B2B, the whole B2B thing.
(13:34):
You can never really get that connection just over email.
I mean, you could do a Zoom or something like that, but it's still kind of like, you want
to be sure.
So I was really glad to just sit down and be like, look, we're all about diversity.
We're all about sustainability.
I'm looking for the woman owned companies.
And I was able to sit with a lot of woman owned companies and that was cool because
(13:58):
they're not necessarily struggling.
That's probably not the best word, but they're not as out front as the men who are standing
here like, yeah, come over here, come see me.
This is what I have.
Look at my paperwork.
They're kind of sitting there, they're cool, they're chill.
And you kind of go up to them and you're like, hey, this is what I represent.
And they're like, oh yeah, okay.
And they're like ready to work.
Like I talked to this one lady from Jordan and she was just like, yeah, we do women only
(14:22):
trips all the time.
Like, come on, sit down and have some tea.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's, and it's really cool to see that like groups that don't look like us have been
doing this thing for years, which is why a trade show like London could be, I mean, like
WTM could be so huge.
You know, there's also ITB in Berlin.
(14:42):
There's all these trade shows that are just like the one I just came from.
And let me tell you, when I walked in, it looked like Times Square.
And I'm like, what is going on?
You know?
That's awesome.
You having this experience, you know, obviously it's going to lead to some great partnerships
for our members, but even you are, this is a perfect example of the representation we
(15:04):
need.
I wish we could take a show of hands right now.
Who's listening?
Who's ever heard of World Trade Market?
I'm not putting my hand up because I learned about it from Nadine.
So there we go.
Like we're building this network.
And if you, and specifically if you are a travel professional or in the travel industry,
like that's a fantastic resource and information you should know about.
(15:26):
And even as just a consumer traveler, like I would go to that, just, I'm just trying
to learn about all these countries and information.
And if you're passionate about that, fantastic opportunity, and that's kind of what, that's
one of the things I'm most excited about for this group.
And I know I keep saying connect to resources and that's, I used to be a social worker.
(15:46):
That's the core of what we did.
We connect people to resources to meet needs.
So this is, to me, this is doing that, you know, live and in action and within the travel
space.
So that's really awesome.
I love that.
And I agree with you because like, I mean, I've been working on this network for, what
are we in 2024?
(16:06):
So officially six years.
And I just heard about world travel market at the top of this year.
And then I started looking at LinkedIn, adding people on LinkedIn.
And then on LinkedIn, I started seeing ITB pop up.
ITB is the international trade something with a B in Berlin or maybe the B is for Berlin.
I don't know.
(16:27):
I don't know.
I'm going to have to set up again.
So don't worry.
But ITB in Berlin, I started seeing the after posts from that like, oh, I had such a great
time and ITB in Berlin and we met this country and that country.
And I was like, oh, this is good.
I'm going to go follow them too.
Yeah!
Following them is LinkedIn.
What does it do?
It links you.
So I started following them, following people that were talking about them, different tourism
(16:53):
companies, tourism agencies, and then WTM started showing up.
And I remember going to TravelCon and there was this guy there who was talking about all
the different travel shows that we should be attending.
And I was like, oh, wow, like half of these I haven't even heard of.
So when WTM popped up and they were like, hey, you know, go ahead and register because
(17:13):
registration is actually free.
But you have to just register as a.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I registered as a media person, a buyer, or of course, an exhibitor.
Of course, I registered as a buyer because I was looking at trips or whatnot.
But that's how I found out about it.
And even in finding out about it, I registered and then I got this influx of people like
(17:34):
trying to set up meetings and I was like, whoa, what do I do?
What do I do?
So I'm like signing things up, but I still did not quite know that I was going to walk
in to Times Square and like literally travel the world in three days because I mean, every
section of that hall in London had like a different experience.
Yeah, it was really cool.
(17:55):
There were only a handful of us there.
The majority of other brown faces that I saw there, other black faces that I saw there
were from London, were from UK and were actually from Africa.
Like they were actually, you know, publicizing their travel or their tourism industry there.
And it was crazy because I was like, man, we are really just now getting our foot in
(18:17):
the door in this industry because it's not looking like us yet.
Yeah.
You know, so that was exciting.
It was exciting to just kind of be like, yes, traveling black woman is here.
We're busting down some doors.
With the shirt too.
With the shirt.
K-Fa didn't know.
I had the shirt and the bag, girl.
And the bag.
There you go.
(18:38):
There you go.
Oh man.
I love that.
Another thing I wanted to highlight though, too, as far as like perks of joining, I know
we're talking about, you know, coordinating group trips and things like that, but we're
also working on like a list of people or I guess suppliers to work with for discounts
(19:00):
for our members, as well as like a list of events.
We talked, I talked about a little earlier about like traveling to different conferences.
So we kind of have this like master list of professional conferences either geared towards
black people, black women that some of our members will be interested in.
And we're starting to work on those collaborations.
(19:22):
So that's something that's coming down the pipeline that I'm really excited about as
well because we really want to give people the opportunity to invest in themselves, you
know, both professionally and then just to feed that travel passion.
So that's something I'm definitely excited about for the upcoming year.
Absolutely.
(19:43):
And you know, now that I'm now that my my like blinkers are on to see what these conferences
are, I just found one the other day, the ASD ASCD education conference in Ghana.
So I'm like, oh, let me write that down.
Yeah, yeah.
I need to add that.
Yes, yes.
I literally found it today.
So I was like, oh, OK, cool.
You know, because, you know, the thing about it is like there are so many opportunities
(20:08):
for us to grow in our profession that also cross with being able to travel a little bit,
see what other countries are doing, you know, see how they handle things.
There was one stall, for example, for Turkey that had their their whole medical center.
It was literally a medical medical tour provider.
So it's like, oh, OK, you can go there.
(20:28):
And of course, there's lots of surgeries that are probably tens of thousands of dollars
in the US that are cheaper there.
But there is.
Yeah, yeah.
I heard that about there's a whole medical.
Yes, that's exactly what that's the word I was trying to be.
But that's exactly it.
And they have so many things built around it where it actually includes a tour, you
know, so like you tour Turkey for your surgery.
(20:49):
Take a nap.
Take your surgery.
Go sit down somewhere, I guess.
I don't know.
But I mean, it's a great class.
Yeah, you know, it is.
I love that.
And so, you know, when you shared with me your experience going to TBEX and being able
to go to those tours, I think they were like fans before the conference and after the conference,
(21:16):
that's such a really good resource and opportunity to especially if you are in the travel industry
or anything like that.
And a lot of those trips are free because they they want people to come so that they
can then go and sell the experience or disinform their community about the experience.
So yeah, that was that was the cool thing I learned about from you.
(21:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Like TBEX, I love TBEX.
I always talk about TBEX because it is literally the only experience that I have had, especially
as an educator who used to also go to professional learning.
Like I love going to conferences, but it's the only conference that I've ever been to
where I pay the conference price and then I get all the perks.
I'm more than likely not pulling out my card or my phone to tap for anything the entire
(22:01):
time that I'm there because there's the pre-experiences, there's the post-experiences, and then there's
the companies that are sponsoring lunch that are sponsoring drinks throughout the day,
things like that.
And it's just like, wait a minute.
You know, this is an industry that really looks out for those who are within the industry.
Like this is pretty cool, you know.
So yeah, but you also see that with really well-done conferences.
(22:26):
So I think that's another opportunity.
Like when you're in a profession or in a certain industry and you're like, okay, I'm just going
to work and going home, going to work and going home, go to the conferences, see what
that's like.
And if there's no one for you to go with, that's where we come in, you know.
But it's like, that's where you kind of learn how to get out of your bubble and see different
things and realize that your skill set is more than the actual job.
(22:52):
And I think that is probably one of the underlying messages of it all too.
Once you learn that skill set, that kind of debunks a little bit of anxiety, that debunks
a little bit of imposter syndrome, because now you're separating who you are as an individual
with these amazing skills and abilities from who your job says you are or how your job
defines you or how your title defines you.
(23:14):
And that's really powerful.
And I think travel actually helps with that.
It does.
I agree.
I agree.
And it can also serve as kind of like to help you if you're in a profession where you may
be experiencing burnout or just frustration.
A lot for me, those conferences have usually like reignited my passion.
(23:38):
Because you're learning new things, you're getting to collaborate or experience with
other people in the profession.
So I think it's very motivating.
The more that we grow, you may find that, oh, there's like six of you guys in New York.
Oh, there's like five of you guys in Tennessee.
There's like three of you guys in California.
(24:00):
Why not meet up, right?
Make that connection.
Even if you don't go on a trip together right away.
But being able, especially in adulthood, we know friendships are not as easy in adulthood
as they were like when we were in high school walking around slamming lockers.
You know, now it's like a whole different thing, right?
You don't see people as much anymore.
You know, and being friends with coworkers is not always safe.
(24:22):
So, you know, there's like, I don't trust you.
Often times you find out a little too late, you're like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like, it also gives us the opportunity to like tap in like, all right, like these
people live in my area.
And we don't have the same profession, but we have the same desire to travel or we just
(24:44):
have the desire to connect.
And that offers you that opportunity as well.
So you know, yeah, I think that desire to connect is, is a really good point to bring
because nowadays we are so disconnected for various reasons.
You know, some of it being just being adults and having life, life be life.
(25:06):
And as they say, but just having an opportunity to connect with people that want to connect,
that want to travel more, that, you know, just to have these shared experiences.
You know, I'm always going to support that.
And I think that this club is a really good opportunity to do that.
Yeah.
(25:26):
Yeah.
I mean, I mean, I think we can all agree that traveling while Black, especially as a Black
woman, I mean, that's going to have its unique challenges.
So having the foundation of being a part of something even before, you know, embarking
on that, especially those of us who are going to be new to travel, you know, I think it
just it, it offers something different and puts something different in the space, you
(25:47):
know?
Yeah, definitely.
And I think it's, it also kind of gives you that idea of safety where it's just like,
like I went to Morocco for 10 days.
It was my, my graduation gift to myself to spend 10 days solo in Morocco, like just moving
around my backpack.
I went from the train.
I flew into Casablanca, spent a couple of days there, took the train to Rabat, which
(26:08):
is like their business center, spent a day there, then took the train over to Fez, spent
another couple of days there, explored the maze and all of that.
They have all these like older, it's just a very historical area.
Right.
And then I took the train to Marrakesh, which I flew out of.
(26:29):
But I also spent three days in the desert, like rode a camel, slept in a tent, did all
the things.
Right.
It was so amazing.
But part of me, one, didn't really tell people much of what I was doing because I didn't
want the, the, the voices, you know, I already knew that people were going to talk about
the cat calling and they did a little bit of that, but they called me Bob Marley most
(26:51):
of the time.
Like they weren't even like, Hey, hot stuff.
They were like Bob Marley.
Oh, okay.
Thanks.
I bet you were not expecting that.
I was like, Oh, everyone was telling me, Oh, they're going to be cat calling.
It's going to be uncomfortable.
And I'm like, they're going to be Bob Marley.
Like that's not cute.
(27:11):
But okay.
Thanks.
I almost wanted to be cat cloned at certain points.
Like, Hey, that's how y'all feel.
Okay.
But also, but that also brings me to the point of even though I stayed away from as much
conversation from the outside as possible, I still had my own like fears within me to
be like, all right, I am not going to be cute at all.
(27:32):
I am going to wear like, you know, very loose clothing.
I'm going to make sure I try to blend in a little bit.
I lived in Abu Dhabi, so I kind of know a little bit of the Muslim culture, all of that
kind of stuff.
And it probably ties into why it was like, Hey, Brianna, but instead, Hey, Bob Marley,
like I don't get Beyonce.
Like I see people on Instagram all the time, but they call me Beyonce.
(27:53):
What?
No, they didn't call me Beyonce.
But I was also I also presented myself in a way that I was like, I do not want to attract
any attention.
I'm by myself.
I don't know what to expect.
And I, I myself feel a little ways.
So you know, I'm I don't want any more, you know, voices because I'm not going to tell
(28:14):
people.
But at the same time, I can't deny that I myself feel a little nervous, you know.
So I think that's another thing to kind of like put out there that safety is a big deal
and having that community to say, well, you know what, it's it's not really too bad.
Just be mindful of certain things.
Yeah.
And having that community to check in with, you know, one safety wise, like if we exist
(28:36):
and you could have been like, OK, yeah, I made it to, you know, this place.
I'm feeling this way, just like a little check in with people who, again, like minded with
support should be like, Oh, girl, OK, how you feeling like that?
It reminds me of when I was traveling in Kenya and I had finally like settled in Diani, a
(28:57):
little beach town.
And the culture shock was real because it's one thing when you're like visiting and you're
saying a resource and things.
But like I was like in an apartment in the neighborhood.
And I remember I had this experience where I went just like across the street to buy
some like fruit and some water or something.
(29:19):
And I just got so nervous because, you know, a bit of a language barrier.
I didn't know like if they were overcharging me.
If not, like I just was overwhelmed.
And it was like very simple interaction, but I was overwhelmed.
And I remember posting like how I was feeling because I had no one to talk to about this.
Like, no, I had no one to talk to about that feeling and that experience.
(29:43):
And I remember posting it in a larger Facebook group of like, you know, 30,000 people who
knows the huge Facebook group and like three fourths of the responses were actually very
mean.
It was like, well, you need to get on.
You need to adjust that.
You don't know, you know, just like very negative.
And I'm like, little do they know I'm like in my little apartment in Kenya, like crying
(30:07):
because I'm just I'm overwhelmed.
And there was a it was mostly women who was like, you know, it'll get better.
Like words encouraging.
And I just know if I had a TVW social club at that time, like I would have gotten, you
know, better support and, you know, just better support and understanding of like what I was
(30:29):
experiencing.
So yeah.
So the safety, like physical safety and probably like emotional safety is definitely key in
these types of communities and definitely what we're going to be promoting.
So yes, yeah, absolutely.
Because like even when I think about like when I first started the Facebook group and
(30:50):
this is one of the reasons why I was like, OK, we need to figure out how to make a smaller,
more intentional community that revolves around our passions, our desires, our desire to connect
with each other, you know, all of these different things, because like those larger groups,
you never know who's in there and people get really mean because they can hide.
(31:11):
You know, I've had to put out a lot of people out of that Facebook group so much so that
I remember running into this one girl, I think was like Black Travel Expo.
It was some event that I was at.
And I'm a smiley person.
Like I'm I'm always teasing at someone, you know, hello, hello, hello.
And I remember saying hello and smiling.
(31:31):
And she just had this very stoic face.
And I was thinking like, but for whatever reason.
My first thought was like, dang, I hope I didn't kick her out the Facebook group and
know me.
I'm like, my bad.
Let's talk about this.
Right.
But I've I've I've I've religiously put people out who have been mean to other people about
(31:51):
stuff like that, you know, just because you don't know what you don't know.
You know, there are there are still several stories that I have from traveling solo that
I still have not really shared openly, like with a lot of people, like maybe one on one
with a friend here and there, mainly because I didn't want that blowback.
I was always nervous of like, people don't know what they don't know.
(32:12):
They say whatever they want behind the screen.
And I don't feel like that.
A lot of most people are really not trying to harm you, especially there.
I say it outside the US.
Most people are very kind and helpful.
Like it's just part of their culture.
And they're usually very excited to see you and excited to talk to you and help you.
(32:33):
So it's like I said, it's a lot of mental Olympics, especially coming from our environment
where that's it's like you don't do that.
Like you don't go get in the car with a random taxi driver and like because it is literally
not safe.
And it's again, I'm not trying to put a blanket statement out there that like you should just
do whatever.
(32:54):
But the more you travel and the more time you spend abroad, you you learn that, well,
that is kind of part of their culture.
Like they're just going to help you because sometimes they will force you like like, no,
we're going to help you.
We're going to take care of you.
And you just be like, OK, thanks.
But you know, so yeah, that's what that reminded me of.
I think I've been in a lot of situations where I was like, OK, let me just let me just trust
(33:18):
this process.
It's different from what I would do back home.
But I'm not I'm not home.
Like this is different.
And I think that's powerful to in itself because for whatever reason, many of us are disconnected
from being able to trust our instincts to like really trust ourselves.
And when you're traveling solo or when you're just kind of in a space where you have to
(33:41):
figure it out, you have to listen to your gut, like everything becomes louder.
Then you can finally hear yourself.
Right.
You can finally hear yourself think you can finally hear yourself like, you know, really
kind of look at all the different things you you're paying attention.
You're aware you're present.
And I think being present is the biggest thing because you learn so much just being present.
Like when we're thinking about the past that we can no longer change and sitting around
(34:05):
worrying about the future, you're still not really paying attention to what is.
And I think when you're in that space, when you can say, OK, this is what is, then you
can recognize like, oh, OK, this is not too bad.
Yeah, I can I can trust myself here.
Now, of course, there's people who are impulsive.
And like you said, we're not talking about like just go out there and do anything.
(34:26):
But being able to learn how to trust yourself, I think is is a huge part of travel that I
just have immensely like become grateful for over the years.
Yeah.
Mm hmm.
Oh, I love travel.
All right.
So how to get involved and what's next?
(34:47):
Let's talk about that a little bit.
OK, yeah, definitely.
So if this is your cup of tea, if any of this is resonating, we definitely want resonating
with you.
We definitely want you to join us get involved.
So it's pretty simple.
You can just head to the website, TravelinBlackWomen.com and click on membership and then you'll see
(35:08):
a little bit more about that.
It's going to take you to our onboarding platform, which is called Nasio.
And so, again, it'll tell you more about the the club and some of our features.
And then it's also going to give you the cost.
And so it's very flexible.
So we have several like membership tiers and options for you because, you know, just depending
(35:33):
on what season you're in, you may you know, you need it for a month.
You need it for three months.
You know, it's just whatever.
So there's various options there.
And then that's also where you'll fill out very like quick application.
It's more so just to collect information about you and kind of what you're wanting from the
(35:54):
group that helps me helps us to make sure we're creating or curating events and things
that people need.
And then once that is done, our space actually is on WhatsApp.
So you don't need to download another app because we know you probably have WhatsApp.
So that's where our community is actually run.
(36:16):
And so we we use WhatsApp communities.
And so there are subgroup chats that you can be involved in.
So again, you just head on to the website, travelblackwoman.com, click on membership
and join now.
Yeah, it's a pretty simple process.
You know, I love using the Naz.io platform because it taps into WhatsApp.
(36:37):
Many of us already have WhatsApp.
It's a meta, you know, it's another part of meta Facebook and Instagram.
And WhatsApp is right up there with it.
But if you're already a traveler, you know that WhatsApp is kind of like the way that
everyone connects nowadays.
Like you go to most other countries and they use WhatsApp much more than they use it online.
(36:57):
Yeah, lots of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like WhatsApp is really a big deal.
I remember being in Ecuador when WhatsApp went down for like a day and like everybody was
like up in arms and like American people were like, right.
Why do y'all care?
WhatsApp is like the connection to the world.
You know, I have a Facebook group now.
I mean, a WhatsApp group now with all my cousins and like we talk all day every day.
(37:21):
But like people are spread around the US.
They're in Trinidad.
Like we're all over the place, but we're in this one Facebook group and it just does not
seem like it.
So WhatsApp is definitely the place to be.
So I'm really glad that we have that option.
But more importantly, I think it's just something to really keep in mind if you are the kind
(37:42):
of person, especially the kind of woman right now who is just kind of in a transition, you
know, you're kind of feeling like what else is out there?
What else do I need to be doing with my life?
You know, how do I create this life for myself that everybody keeps talking about?
Right.
You go online and you see people saying create your best life.
And it's like, OK, but how?
You know, I haven't seen it or, you know, I don't even know where to start or, you know,
(38:05):
things like that.
That's what we're here for.
You know, it's it's also talking about like, how can you get your your finances together?
You know, what kind of credit cards do you need to start traveling?
And what kind of mindset do you need to take out these credit cards to travel?
You know, all these different things are conversations that we can have, you know, or that we are
having and just being able to be in those spaces where you're not feeling like, you
(38:27):
know, you'll be judged for what you don't know.
You don't know.
I think me as an individual, that's one of my biggest things.
Like, I don't like not knowing what I don't know, but it is a huge part of life.
However, when I'm around people that I feel safe with, then I can say, hey, I don't know
what I don't know.
What should I know?
You know?
And yeah, right.
Right.
And good people help you out.
(38:49):
Good people definitely help you out.
So we are definitely, you know, that space for women who are just in that in that time
of life where they're ready for something different, they're ready for something new.
They're looking for opportunities to just kind of live that best life, create a different
life for themselves, you know, write their own story, you know, change the narrative
(39:11):
about what people are saying black women should be or should not be.
But being able to have the space and exposure to create that narrative for yourself.
That's kind of what we're here to do.
So everybody come through, tell your auntie, tell your friends, tell your cousins, they're
(39:32):
black women.
They like to travel or they're interested in traveling.
Hopefully everyone is welcome.
Come through.
And we're just really excited to again, create that space for all of us and just really focus
on redefining what travel and embracing travel as a lifestyle, what that looks like for black
(39:55):
women.
So absolutely.
So all of our listeners out there, thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for working with us for the past two years.
You know, we only started in January of 2023, so it's really cool to be on season three
and to have had so many people tune in and just share their love of travel, especially
(40:16):
from the lens of black women with us.
So we're excited to start this new chapter.
You know, TBW Social Club is here.
So whether you're experienced, you're just starting out, whatever it is, you know, we
are a supportive and inspiring community that is just ready to be by your side.
So until next time, keep exploring and we can't wait to see you soon.
(40:39):
All right.
See you soon.
Thank you so much for tuning in to the Traveling Black Women podcast.
You can find us online at www.travelingblackwomen.com and there you can find plenty more travel
resources to help you plan your very next trip.
We've got travel guides, we've got a blog, we've got our blog and you just listened to
(41:03):
our podcast.
I look forward to seeing you around.
Thanks for tuning in.
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