Black History Month 2025: Globetrotting communities embrace joy through world travel
Finding an online community of fellow Black travelers that had an insatiable curiosity about the world “was such a breath of fresh air,” said traveler Patricka Hogue.
Patricka Hogue’s friends were already calling her “the nomad.” While she had visited dozens of countries (at the latest count, at least 60), by 2012 she yearned for a community of Black fellow travelers she could share her traveling experiences with.
That was when she stumbled upon the Nomadness Travel Tribe, a Facebook group, now with 37,000 members.
“I literally found my tribe,” she said.
Patricka Hogue.Courtesy Patricka HogueHogue and thousands of other Black travelers have built communities — online and off — centered on globetrotting. While they share restaurant recommendations and envy-inducing photos, many members say the groups have instilled lasting friendships and led to marriages. In the worst cases, the groups have sprung to action in times of crisis. At its core, the groups encourage more Black people to experience the world — only 49% of Black Americans have traveled abroad, compared with 75% of white Americans, according to 2021 data from the Pew Research Center. Nomadness Travel Tribe’s founder, Evita Robinson, who has traveled to about 40 countries, said she launched the group in 2011 with only 100 members to fulfill her own need to find a Black traveling community — and it grew fast. Beyond connecting as an online community for travelers, members of Nomadness and others often coordinate smaller group trips outside their online communities.
“It was beautiful to kind of see these folks, particularly millennial Black and brown travelers, kind of come together in a home online and then adventure into something that lived offline,” said Robinson, who is 40 and lives in Newark, New Jersey.
Rating: 5