(CNN) – As her plane began to land in the Seychelles on October 6, 2019, Ugandan-American travel influencer Jessica Nabongo peered out her window, gearing up for the big event to come. .
Not only is she about to become a member of a prestigious club of very few people who have traveled to every country in the world, she is also the first Black woman on record to have done so.
Nabongo was accompanied by 28 of her friends and family, who flew on that last flight with her.
It has flown more than 450 flights and over a million miles, but she has been to all 195 countries recognized by the United Nations globally.
The experience is exhausting – Nabongo flies over 170 flights in a year and says she almost quit a few times.
She told CNN Travel: “There have been a number of times where panic started to happen and I was like ‘oh my god, is this going to lead to public failure?’.
Epic challenge
In 2019, Jessica Nabongo became the first Black woman to document travel to every country in the world.
Jessica Nabongo
Named after her popular blog, it recounts her record-breaking journey, focusing on 100 of the 195 countries she visited.
“I’m a geography junkie,” Nabongo said of her decision to accept the challenge, explaining that it was something she wanted to do at least a decade before she actually tried.
“In 2017, I made a decision that I wanted to do it for my 35th birthday,” she tells CNN Travel.
So can she meet her deadline?
Nabongo explains: “I previewed my birthday five months in advance. “But I finally finished on my dad’s birthday. He passed [away] just two days after my 19th birthday, it’s great to be able to get him into the fold that way. “
According to Detroit-born Nabongo, one of the main reasons she felt the urge to write “The Catch Me If You Can” was because there were so few Blacks out of the 400 visitors believed to have been to the area. visit countries around the world.
“We’re so used to seeing the world through the lens of white men,” says Nabongo, who used photos of herself in the book. “And this is different. Obviously there is some uniqueness in the experiences that we have, as we exist in the world, as very different people.
“But also, in terms of how I see people. My respect for people. I see a huge difference.”
Nabongo addresses her experience traveling as a Black woman in the book, which was released June 14, noting that such representation is of utmost importance.
Create space
The travel influencer has released a book, “Catch Me If You Can,” showcasing the 100 countries she has visited.
Jessica Nabongo
“It’s about normalizing our existence, because, yes, even in 2022, I’m usually the only Black on a 300 plane,” she wrote.
“I could travel for days and never see someone at the same end of the color spectrum. My mission is to create space. To shake things up. Having said that, we are. here and we belong together.”
She feels a responsibility to represent destinations that are not necessarily tourist hotspots as sensitively as possible to challenge stereotypes.
“That was really important to me,” she admits. “To tell stories about places most people probably never go to, and really use my platform to put these places in a more positive light than we’re used to.
“I’ve found so much beauty in so many places that perhaps people wouldn’t expect.”
These include Afghanistan, where she was fascinated by the Hazrat Ali Shrine, also known as the Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Pakistan, where she could not get enough street food. , and Iran, where she visited the ancient city of Yazd.
While social networking was certainly around when Nabongo first started traveling widely, it wasn’t as influential as it is today.
“When I was in Maui [Hawaii]I found this truly amazing forest,” she said. I don’t geotag [add the geographic coordinates of the location] because I know what it can do to that forest. “
“As an influencer or an influencer, you have to be extremely careful with how you share. For me, it’s really important to make sure the places I’m visiting are maintained. “
Influence of influencers
Nabongo during a trip to Bali, Indonesia in 2017.
Jessica Nabongo
Nabongo is upset about the concept of “traveling blindly,” noting that this is nearly impossible in the modern world.
“It’s definitely something that I particularly miss,” admits Nabongo, noting that Peru is one of the destinations where she feels a bit overwhelmed because she has seen so many pictures of historical attractions. its.
“When I got to Machu Picchu, I was like, ‘Oh, it looks like paintings,'” she admits.
“You think about places like Bali and Morocco, everyone is going to the same destinations and doing the same things. And that’s not interesting to me.
“But there’s Yemen, Afghanistan and South Sudan. There are a lot of places that people don’t think are worth the tourism, where I had an absolutely amazing time.
“I really hope that through my storytelling, there will be less prejudice about Black and Brown countries in particular.”
During some of the toughest moments on the road, Nabongo began to wonder if she would make it to the Seychelles, the last country on her list.
But the trip turned out to be so much more than just hitting her goals at the time – she knew she was recommending places her followers would probably never count on. the visit.
When she reached her breaking point during a visit to Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, it was the words of some locals that convinced her to move on.
“One of the men said, ‘It’s not for you. It’s for us. “It was really a big turning point. Because as my audience grew and people emailed and messaged me directly, I realized that the journey was becoming a lot bigger than me. Those men really helped get me to the finish line.”
While Nabongo noted that having a US passport gives her privileges not available to visitors of other nationalities, she explained that she has been able to travel to more than 40 countries on her Ugandan passport.
Secret Weapon
Nabongo was able to get a visa on arrival in Iran to visit Iran thanks to his dual citizenship.
Jessica Nabongo
“Having both an American and a Ugandan passport really benefits me,” she admits. “Because it’s very difficult for Americans to come to Iran.
“That was my secret weapon. If I only had an American passport, I probably wouldn’t have finished when I did.”
Her success, along with that of other travelers like her, will no doubt have inspired others to attempt to travel to every country in the world, but she’s keen to point out that this particular goal isn’t for everyone.
Before jetting off on such a quest, Nabongo stresses that travelers should really question why they want to embark on this challenge, “because that’s the motivation that’s going to get you to the finish line.”
She hopes her story will encourage others to go after their dreams, whatever they might be.
“I don’t think everyone is interested in going to every country in the world,” she says. “But what I do want people to know is that they have everything inside of them to do whatever it is that they want to do in life.
“And if I could go to every country in the world, which is wild, I feel like everyone’s dream is attainable.”
Worldwide network
Nabongo’s thirst for adventure has remained strong since ticking all the countries in the world off her bucket list.
Jessica Nabongo
In “The Catch Me If You Can,” Nabongo shares various tales of strangers who’ve been particularly kind to her during her travels, including a tour guide named Maha in Jordan who gave her a dress as a symbol of their friendship.
“I definitely have friends from all over the world,” she says, before expressing her delight at how writing the book has helped to put her back in touch with many of those she’s met on the road.
“It’s been really great,” she adds. “At any given time on my WhatsApp, there’s probably conversations going across 20 countries.
“People, of course, will always start out as strangers. But if you’re open to it, you can quickly make friends and in some cases, even family.
“For me, home isn’t about people. I think that’s why I feel so closely connected to people when I travel. Because it’s like I’m building little houses all over the world, if you will.”
While she found the process of visiting every country in the world grueling, Nabongo confesses that writing “The Catch Me If You Can” has been harder “hands down.”
But she hopes the book will inspire more kindness in the world, explaining that she’s noticed a shift in the behavior of others, particularly while traveling, since the early days of the pandemic.
“It was all love and kindness, and then it became madness,” she says. “Now you’re seeing people fighting on planes and being just really mean.
“So, I think unfortunately, that initial bump of love and humanity that we got in the first four to six months has dissipated.”
Nabongo admits that this has left her feeling rather disheartened at times.
However, she remains encouraged by her own experiences of human kindness and continues to look for beauty in the world wherever she goes.
And now that she’s visited every country, Nabongo’s passion for travel has only grown stronger.
At the time of writing, she’s about to take another trip to Senegal, which she describes as her “happy place,” and eventually plans to tick off another goal. visiting every state in the US.
“I have six left,” she explains, before stressing that she’s in no rush, and will complete this particular task, “when I get to it.”
