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I love to travel, but I often feel restricted, in terms of where I should go, due to my race, gender and marital status. Long story short, I"m a single black American woman.
I shouldn't impose such restrictions on myself, but I will admit that I do worry about safety a lot, so much so, that whenever I travel, I don't venture outside of my room during the evening or at night. Also, I don't ever consume any alcohol while traveling, because I know it's important to always be aware of my surroundings at all times.
I would very much like to travel more, but I worry that as a solo black female traveler, it will be unsafe for me to visit certain African, Middle Eastern or European nations.
Is anyone else in a similar predicament?
You are vey sensible (especially about alcohol). As a white women, my rule of thumb: If a Fortune 500 will not send an employee there without a private driver, it is off the list. Mexico City and rural areas of South American are off the list. Then, Buenos Aires is very safe.
When my husband went to South Africa, he was told not to leave the hotel at night.
Middle East - no!
Libya was once an Italian colony. Libyans in Italy are poor and more likely to be involved with petty crime. Libyans are almost all Muslim whereas Italy is almost all Catholic. Italians prejudiced is less to do with skin color than poverty and law and order.
If you are well-spoken, not loud, and well-dressed, I doubt there would be a problem in Rome or north of Rome. If you are with a tour group, I am sure they will worked out all the arrangements. This definitely is not true that Italians would think any black woman is a prostitute.
Southern Italy is difficult for most Americans regardless of race. Naples is crazy even for northern Italians so I wouldn't recommend it.
Europe and Russia are always good options. What I tell my kids is stay at nice hotels and don't drink. When going out at night, go with a buddy (like in swimming).
Good Luck!
Last edited by YorktownGal; 05-05-2019 at 01:09 PM..
I love to travel, but I often feel restricted, in terms of where I should go, due to my race, gender and marital status. Long story short, I"m a single black American woman.
I shouldn't impose such restrictions on myself, but I will admit that I do worry about safety a lot, so much so, that whenever I travel, I don't venture outside of my room during the evening or at night. Also, I don't ever consume any alcohol while traveling, because I know it's important to always be aware of my surroundings at all times.
I would very much like to travel more, but I worry that as a solo black female traveler, it will be unsafe for me to visit certain African, Middle Eastern or European nations.
Is anyone else in a similar predicament?
Unfortunately, it sounds like a personal problem to me
If you are not comfortable travelling solo, try a group tour
MrsM and I are not fans of group tours, we like to go out on our own. But, in your case, it sounds best for you.
MrsM and I are not fans of group tours, we like to go out on our own. But, in your case, it sounds best for you.
Big difference between traveling as a couple and being a single gal on her own. Even single men have more options especially in more patriarchal countries like Italy, Spain, South America or the Middle East.
I love to travel, but I often feel restricted, in terms of where I should go, due to my race, gender and marital status. Long story short, I"m a single black American woman.
I shouldn't impose such restrictions on myself, but I will admit that I do worry about safety a lot, so much so, that whenever I travel, I don't venture outside of my room during the evening or at night. Also, I don't ever consume any alcohol while traveling, because I know it's important to always be aware of my surroundings at all times.
I would very much like to travel more, but I worry that as a solo black female traveler, it will be unsafe for me to visit certain African, Middle Eastern or European nations.
Is anyone else in a similar predicament?
Have you checked YouTube? You might be pleasantly surprised by the number of travel vlogs created by women, some single and black. For example, this young woman has traveled the globe:
Have you checked YouTube? You might be pleasantly surprised by the number of travel vlogs created by women, some single and black. For example, this young woman has traveled the globe:
Thank you for sharing the link. Apparently, Maryjane has visited over 150 countries (and counting). I just subscribed to her channel. She's definitely living her best life.
In the video, she mentioned that her two brothers accompanied her during many of her travel trips, therefore she wasn't always traveling solo (especially not during her travels to Middle Eastern nations).
You are vey sensible (especially about alcohol). As a white women, my rule of thumb: If a Fortune 500 will not send an employee there without a private driver, it is off the list. Mexico City and rural areas of South American are off the list. Then, Buenos Aires is very safe.
When my husband went to South Africa, he was told not to leave the hotel at night.
Middle East - no!
Libya was once an Italian colony. Libyans in Italy are poor and more likely to be involved with petty crime. Libyans are almost all Muslim whereas Italy is almost all Catholic. Italians prejudiced is less to do with skin color than poverty and law and order.
If you are well-spoken, not loud, and well-dressed, I doubt there would be a problem in Rome or north of Rome. If you are with a tour group, I am sure they will worked out all the arrangements. This definitely is not true that Italians would think any black woman is a prostitute.
Southern Italy is difficult for most Americans regardless of race. Naples is crazy even for northern Italians so I wouldn't recommend it.
Europe and Russia are always good options. What I tell my kids is stay at nice hotels and don't drink. When going out at night, go with a buddy (like in swimming).
Good Luck!
You're really missing out on a lot of terrific places to see based purely on the overly cautious nature of U.S. capitalists. Keep in mind that between them and the wildly unhelpful cautions displayed by the U.S. State Dept's useless travel advisories, these folks have to ensure their employees' safety otherwise they'd be on the hook for who knows what when it comes to hazard pay and insurance payouts.
Mexico City, for example, is a perfectly safe place to visit with some of the nicest neighborhoods you'll find in all of Latin America. I've been 5 times and never had an issue. I was just in Havana, Cuba and would rank that as maybe the safest international destination I've ever been to.
Don't let crappy people formulate your own opinions of fine places.
Thank you for sharing your story. I imagine that it had to be frustrating for you, but were you primarily staying in a remote village or the city area?
I have black American friends who visited China and they didn't have a good time due to the language barrier. They mentioned that random strangers would take photos of them when they were out and about. I've heard that this behavior is common throughout Asia.
When I traveled to West Africa, I pretty much blended in due to my skin color. Though I didn't share their exact facial features, the people that I encountered assumed that I was from a neighboring African nation. I was only there for a few weeks, but turned the situation to my advantage. I learned that at the market places, there were tourist prices and native prices. I of course wanted to receive the native prices, therefore I was able to get two natives from the area to accompany me to the market place to negotiate on my behalf. The store owners would speak to me in their native Wolof tribal language and my associates would tell them that I was shy. I'd quickly leave the store and he'd purchase the items that I picked out.
I have two beautiful hand carved mahogany wood chess sets and a hand carved drum made from lion's skin. The total cost was around ~14 dollars. I should add that the purchases were made a while ago, but I'm still very much pleased that I was able to get such a great price for those high quality items. I also purchased a number of beautiful fabric at very low prices, as well.
I would love to visit Egypt, but I'e heard that if you are a black woman, you need a male companion, otherwise you will be ridiculed and sexually harassed. I also want to visit Italy, but I've heard it's not a good place to visit if you are a black woman, because most of the locals think that any black woman is a prostitute, due to the Nigerian sex trafficking rings throughout Italy and Spain.
Primarily in big cities or sometime second tier cities, which in China would be cities with 1-5 million people. The photos are fairly common throughout Asia but it's not really meant to be hostile. I kind of wish I stood out as I feel certain foreigners receive preferential treatment from the ordinary Chinese citizen.
Sounds like you had a good time in Africa, I'd like to visit one day, but it's not the highest on my list at this time. The biggest obstacle to me would be finances.
Good that you purchased those items. I'm sure you can always look back at it'll remind you of the place.
Well for Egypt, I don't know if being black will effect your time there as much as being a woman. I've heard sexual assault is a big threat there. Remember that news reporter who got groped on air? India is another country where I've heard it's not safe for single women. I've heard what you've heard about Italy too. Then again these are all stories I've heard, not experience first hand so I can't say how much is true. Maybe you can visit solo the countries you feel are safer and use a tour group or companion for the less safe ones.
In the third world, If you dress non-touristy and present yourself with dignity, local people may think you are working in-country and taking some R&R. Such people are always treated with respect, whether they are diplomats or Peace Corps volunteers..
As for the question of travel RESTRICTED, no, I've never felt hesitant about going anywhere, and I nearly always travel to places where I am an ethnic outsider. In fact, I usually forget that I look out of place, and think I am more inconspicuous than I am.
I love to travel, but I often feel restricted, in terms of where I should go, due to my race, gender and marital status. Long story short, I"m a single black American woman.
I shouldn't impose such restrictions on myself, but I will admit that I do worry about safety a lot, so much so, that whenever I travel, I don't venture outside of my room during the evening or at night. Also, I don't ever consume any alcohol while traveling, because I know it's important to always be aware of my surroundings at all times.
I would very much like to travel more, but I worry that as a solo black female traveler, it will be unsafe for me to visit certain African, Middle Eastern or European nations.
Is anyone else in a similar predicament?
Ummm...why not just go with a group of friends?!?
If you are putting THAT much restriction on yourself while traveling, you might as well not even travel.
Last edited by NoClueWho; 05-06-2019 at 10:54 AM..
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