She Just Became The First Black Woman to Visit Every Country In The World – Because of Them We Can

Jessica Nabongo, a Ugandan-American Black travel influencer, just became the first Black woman to document her visit to every country in the world, Pulse Nigeria reports.

Nabongo had already been bitten by the travel bug, beginning her travels in 2009, establishing herself as a travel influencer. But in 2017, she set out on a quest to travel the entire world. She was in Bali, Indonesia and had already traveled to 60 countries before embarking on her new journey. She decided to commit to this quest by visiting all 195 countries that are members of the United Nations.

The Detroit native said her love for travel began early. My parents normalized it in advance. I think this turned into wanderlust because my parents never made a big deal out of travel [it] wasnt something to be fearful of, she told Airbnb Magazine.

She was already running a full time travel agency called Global Jet Black when she made the decision to travel the globe and used her own funds to get started. But in order to begin, she stepped back from her agency and started documenting her excursions full time via Instagram @thecatchmeifyoucan and her blog of the same name. She began using her skills as an influencer to fund her new endeavors. Utilizing various brand partnerships and the money she made as a freelance writer, content creator, United Nations consultant and help from a GoFundMe she created, she was able to make her dreams a reality.

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ISLAMAPHOBIA Firstly, Islamaphobia is steeped in racism. It distorts the religion and gives it an Arab face. And while the origins of Islam (and Judaism and Christianity) are in the Arab world, most Muslims do not live in the Arab world, in fact only 20% do. 13% of the worlds Muslim population is in Indonesia. Around one third of Muslims live in South Asia e.g Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. They are not Arab though often mistaken to be. There are large populations of Muslims in Africa, Central Asia and Europe. More than 50% of Bosnians and Albanians are Muslim! Islam comes in many shades and nationalities, it isnt just the Arab boogeyman weve all been taught to fear. Ive traveled to nearly every Muslim majority country in the world, my first being Oman in 2012 and my most recent being Pakistan. I only had to cover my head the entire time in Afghanistan, Iran and Somaliland. I have had to cover my shoulders and legs and always keep a scarf handy just in case. There is a common misperception that traveling in a Muslim country for women is dangerous. This has not been my experience at all. While I have certainly been uncomfortable because typically most public spaces are dominated by men, it was not them making me feel uncomfortable, but rather my own reaction to being, the only woman in a space. Ive noticed substantially less harassment in the Muslim world versus traveling in Europe or North America. Of course this does not hold true for everyone as Ive heard stories of foreign women being harassed in Muslim countries as well. I have seen many women say they will not travel to the Muslim world because of the oppression of women, but that typically only refers to Arab countries, but not Morocco, UAE and Egypt because fave tourist destinations. There are bad people everywhere in all religions, but what traveling to 191 countries has taught me is that most people are good. Much of what is shown on the media around Islam is propaganda. I think it is best to travel and see for yourself and dont let the media scare you. Have you ever been to a Muslim country? What was your experience? @projectfairplay

A post shared by Jessica (Jess) Nabongo (@thecatchmeifyoucan) on Aug 19, 2019 at 9:23pm PDT

Nabongo told CNN Travel that she wanted to travel the world to bring diversity to the landscape of travel. Its about changing the perception of female travelers, of travelers of color and of anyone who doesnt have the option of passing for a local in a given community. Racism is a thing. Theres nothing we can do to get around that. History has made it that way. I exist as a Black person in this world and Im not going to let that hinder me from going anywhere I want to go. Namely, everywhere, she said.

She uses her platform to document her voyages as well as shed light on important causes in various regions of the world including endangered species and environmental issues. Nabongo said her mission is important because representation is important. We see Instagram, the travel industry and we are just not seeing enough people who look like me traveling as extensively as I am. So I think its really important for me to be doing this for other people that look like me, she told BBC.

In the beginning, Nabongo set a goal to finish her mission by May 15, 2019, her 35th birthday. But she eventually changed the date to honor her late father, setting a new date of October 6, 2019.

My Dad passed in the city in 2003. What I decided is that for my last country which is Seychelles, were going to land on October 6th, which is his birthday. He hasnt been here for most of this journey but were able to bring him in the fold by getting there on his birthday. The reason I picked Seychelles is because it is in Africa, she said.

On October 6, 2019, Nabongo landed in Seychelles, a group of islands in East Africa off the coast of the Indian Ocean, completing her mission of visiting all 195 UN member countries.

Congratulations Jessica!! Keep inspiring us!

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She Just Became The First Black Woman to Visit Every Country In The World - Because of Them We Can