Where Black travelers should go this year.
A gift from me to you.
A few weeks ago, my Mom and I went to dinner in Georgetown, then afterward spent a few minutes driving around the neighborhood admiring the gorgeous Christmas decorations. While observing in silence, my Mom literally read my mind and said aloud “I am amazed at how many of these homes have no curtains in their front windows and you can stare straight into their houses.” It reminded me of so many other times when I’ve strolled affluent, mostly white neighborhoods in D.C. and noticed the exact same thing.
My response? “White people experience a level of comfort in this country that we will never know.”
This lead to a conversation about if the roles we reversed, there would be a level of surveillance through the windows of these fictional Black families that would be absolutely unbearable. Sure, it possible that leaving your blinds and windows open could be a class thing (after all, Georgetown is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in D.C.), but I’m pretty confident in my belief that Black families would never feel comfortable enough to throw back the curtains of their windows to the world, because we know how the world judges us, and our homes so often are the only places we feel safe.
I absolutely hate that for us.
The desire to find and share the places in the world, and especially in this country, where we can feel safe and welcome is exactly why I created The Road We Trod. I want Black travelers to know that we deserve to feel safety, inclusion and celebration wherever we go, especially in the places where we decide to spend our hard earned money (and hard earned time off).
So, as we enter a new year, I have a gift for all of you subscribers who’ve rocked with me through so many major life transitions and publishing inconsistencies 😅
Introducing the The Black Traveler’s Safe and Celebrated City Guide! This is a mini-guide to four American cities that I have personally visited that are rich in Black history, Black culture and Black-owned businesses. This guide is not extensive, but is a great start to help you plan your Black culture-centered travels in the new year. Even if you can’t make it to these cities, I hope this guide will serve as inspiration to help you plan a culture-rich trip closer to home. Please tell me what you think of it!
Thank you so much for supporting me in this mission. This guide is just a small way for me to show my appreciation, and I’m definitely planning for more ways to share my gratitude in 2026.
To everyone relatively new here: welcome! I’m so glad you found me. To learn a bit more about me, read this and this.
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Wishing you many blessings and many travels in 2026!
Shayla
Love that you saw a need for Black people to travel safely and provided this solution! It’s a lovely guide!!
I’m a big fan of Baltimore and have the Ivy Hotel on my list! I have yet to visit Seattle, but have also a heard great things about it from other Black women.
Thank you for creating and sharing this!!
I couldn't access article on cities via download.