11 Myths Black Men Have About Travel
In the words of Public Enemy "Don't Believe the Hype"
“Guys, get your passport; you’re gonna get all the pussy you didn’t get in the States. You will live in paradise, and your life will be just like mine or what you see when you watch my videos.
Buy my digital nomad course; it will enable you to make six figures and live the travel dream. Every day out here is an adventure.”
Cousins, when it comes to life abroad and social media, ‘Don’t believe the hype!’
Many of you weren’t outside in ‘88, when Strictly Business Samurai Suzuki’s patrolled the hood, with Public Enemy’s anthem on repeat. The hook was infectious, and it told listeners that we should not believe the hype: that being the bullshit in the media, politics, and/or any slander about the group.
The hook also had a haunting loop of a soul brother wailing. It was slowed down, but jarring enough to wake your punk ass up and remind you not to believe any of the bullshit the masses were trying to push on you at the time, and basically forever.
It ain’t ‘88, but I definitely have to patrol the travel block and drop science on the Black travel community. I’m the older travel God, with seven years to this life abroad.
Social media has you gassed; many of you are hyped up, and I’m here to dispel some travel myths and call out all the folks who are lying on their dicks.
You’re missing out - Social media travel is kind of like reality TV years ago. You’re watching people on different platforms, and their job is to make you think that their lives are very interesting. You’re watching them instead of going out in the world for yourself. Life abroad is filled with difficulties. Your favorite social media personality often edits their darkest moments and failures. Take care of your shit; focus on your purpose. Your time for travel will come when you are ready, and if it is even necessary.
You need to get a passport to have a fulfilling travel experience - This isn’t true. One of my most significant travel experiences was leaving NYC and heading to Atlanta in the ‘90s. The ATL was the new Black Mecca, and it was a wonderful time to be alive. Although I’ve traveled around the globe, the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes is the Grand Canyon, and if you’re a Black American who believes that you might be indigenous, that place will speak to your soul. Traveling within your own country is just as enlightening.
Travel cures depression - We’re all a bit crazy, but the pandemic fucked a lot of us up even more so, and many brothers participated in “Revenge Travel,” hopping on the first flight out of the country without actually doing any healing and knowing where they were going in life. Traveling won’t fix your problems. Sit with yourself and deal with your stuff, and despite what Andrew Tate says, therapy can help. I know.
Black travel is something new — Crazy thing about travel and social media. You see all the stuff on the vlogs now? The YouTuber who had a taco in every city in Mexico? The lady who visited every country on the planet? All of that was done a decade ago. It wasn’t on YouTube, but it was actually featured on blogs. Before that, much of it was on MySpace. Really, the first Passport Bro (he didn’t refer to himself as a Passport Bro) I ever met was a guy named Shawn Don, who had pics of himself and international shorties on his MySpace page back in 2010. Brothers been out the door for a minute. I’ve mentioned several times that the first time I heard about anyone going to Brazil was 1997. Still looking for that Maxim magazine article from the turn of the century that featured the brother traveling around Europe in a hot air balloon.
Paradise abroad — There have been people in the social media world, and many who are so-called Black men, who’ve tried to sell you on a location, presenting it as an ongoing paradise. If you go to YouTube, you’ll see a number of people admitting that places like Thailand aren’t sustainable long term. In fact, recent reports suggest that a high percentage of foreigners who move there, don’t make it. Timing is everything with travel. Many of us so-called Black men missed the golden years to experience Thailand, which was in full effect in the ‘90s to mid-2000s. Many of the places being advertised heavily on social media have had their day.
You can escape racism - As long as there are Caucasians on this planet who believe they are so-called White people and the rest of the people in the world subscribe to their color coding fantasy, there will be racism. We’re all looking for less of it, but yeah, White Jesus is in the so-called motherland, amongst the descendants of the Mayans and out in Asia, Buddha’s image has been lightened. So yeah son, whatever.
Africa is the motherland — A number of Black Americans are doing the knowledge to so-called African American history and the slave trade, and as one brother in Harlem mentioned, “the math ain’t mathing.” Many of us have come to the realization that we have not only been in America but other parts of the Earth. As I have traveled around this planet, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to decrypt portions of the out of Africa story. The so-called motherland is a middle chapter in a larger portion of this history of the so-called Black man on this planet.
You’ll get better women abroad — Yeah, you can buy better pussy, but the woman who will be your girlfriend or woman - she will be the equivalent of what you have had back home. If you’ve never had a woman or a solid relationship in the States, don’t expect anything different abroad.
The digital nomad lifestyle is functional - Internet stays talking. The word, from myself and other experienced travelers who became digital nomads unintentionally years ago: The lifestyle is actually dysfunctional. The remote work lifestyle became popular after 2007 thanks to Tim Ferris’ book THE 4 HOUR WORK WEEK, which created the illusion of life abroad and an ongoing vacation. A number of nomads have come to the realization that the digital nomad lifestyle doesn’t really work long term; in fact, it creates dysfunctional habits for travelers. Choose a country and plant your flag. Moving around every few months prevents you from maturing as a traveler.
You need to be where everyone else is - When it comes to travel, truthfully, you want to avoid any hotspots. As I’ve previously mentioned, my people, we arrive at places late and by that time, the best years at that spot are already done. Don’t believe me, check out what happened to Tulum. What is currently happening with Black folks inundating cities in Thailand. While you’re plotting your journey, avoid the crowd, and plant your flag somewhere before too many people get there.
Black folks will have your back abroad — Honestly, you can join all of the Black Facebook groups in any foreign city if you want, but when shit goes down, your tribe will consist of people from various races and ethnicities. When I have been down and out abroad, helping hands have included a female Maori from New Zealand, a so-called redneck from the South, a Chinese explorer, and a DJ in the favela. Not saying Black folks will write you off, but your travel tribe is from every walk of life.
Remember cousins, the goal of content creators is to entertain you. If any traveler has a place that was really good, they would go out of their way to keep it to themselves. If they had any sense. That’s my spin around this travel block, and for this build, I’m Harry Allen, the media assassin, warning you about travel entertainment and the shit that don’t sound right when it comes to life abroad and influencers: “Don’t believe the hype!”
WORDS: ILLMATICAL
IMAGE: MIDJOURNEY
i'm considering digital nomad life. can you talk more about why you say it's dysfunctional?