BLACK FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER IN EUROPE
BLACK FEMALE SOLO TRAVELLER IN EUROPE
TALES OF A BLACK FEMALE SOLO "Caribbean" TRAVELLER IN EUROPE
Being a black female solo traveller in Europe can bring you lots of good and bad attention from the airports to the streets. From both males and females, especially when travelling alone. I meet women sometimes, who will walk up to me and compliment me on my hair (if I am wearing the African braids), my skin colour, etc. The men most times see you as an “unfamiliar species” and want to be the first to “get to know you better”. I will share some views and tales of a black female solo traveller in Europe.
Nb. Countries featured in this post are some of the friendliest and most welcoming countries visited as a black woman). See my Destination page for full reviews and more photos.
WHAT TO EXPECT AS A BLACK "Caribbean" TRAVELLER IN EUROPE
- Suddenly you have become this exotic creature. You may be surprised to know this, but in Europe, you can hear the word exotic being used a lot. To be honest, I don’t know if it relates only to skin tone or because of the region I am from, but this is a word I have heard in almost all European countries I have visited.
- You have taken on the role of or ambassador and a representative for your race and country (unwittingly), every time someone sees you at establishments you may frequent, restaurants, stores, etc. they automatically refer to you by your country’s name. I think they also form an opinion of you and by extension country, according to how you conduct yourself.
- Your Caribbean accent is so beautiful and sexy (many people want to hear you speak).
- Height is a big factor, men and women, everyone loves your height, the taller the better, you get lots of compliments for simply being tall.
- Everyone loves your skin color or the texture of your skin (people you do not know will walk up to at times and pay you this compliment).
- The strange thing about some countries I have visited in Europe, regarding Blacks and Black skin, many have a different view and perspective of the word Black as it relates to your race. If you are a light-skin black woman many will have a debate with you telling you, you are not black, many of these regions Black is seen by the physical color and appearance of the skin and not the race. This is my personal experience, many times I must explain that the black race, comes in many different skin shades.
- Your butt is extra “bootylicious” lol, no matter how small it may appear to be in comparison with others in your country. In Europe, you are suddenly hearing the line “You’ve got a big butt!!..take it as sexual harassment or a compliment, but this a definite comment many black women will hear from some European men and women.
- Many times, you are the only black “Caribbean” person on the airplane, city, restaurant, train, etc. so learn to be comfortable with yourself and don’t feel you need to fit if. Just enjoy and know you are one of a kind.
- Be prepared for some silly questions, I remembered speaking to someone for like 40 minutes and then after they asked, what language I speak in my country. My response was, a sarcastic.. what language am I speaking now? The same person asked me if we speak the pirate language in the Caribbean… lol.
- Know you must speak very slow, even for those who speak English as well, they do not understand you when you speak too quickly (I guess due to the accent) so slow it down.
- Racial issues are still very much alive and not everyone will accept you the same way or treat you as you wish to be. I can’t say I have had any incidents regarding racial issues, maybe I have, but saw /mistook them for impoliteness or unprofessional behavior. I know I have heard of stories where black female travellers have been either shunned or refused service in some restaurants, or even called ugly to their face.
- Everyone always think you are much younger than your age.
Black Encounters in Europe
It may come as a surprise the way other blacks react when they see another black person in Europe. Some cities like Paris, you may see lots of blacks, others, days before you see one, or none.
Zagreb, Croatia – one cold day in Zagreb, after being in the city for almost 5 days, in the corner of my eyes, I saw this black lady in one of the parks as walked by. She was waving in my direction, I thought to myself, wow, finally another black person. I didn’t know her, so I looked around to see who she was waving at, not to look silly reciprocating a wave not meant for me and neither to snub her if she was waving at me. She was indeed waving at me and I smiled happily waved right back at her, as though we knew each other. This lady was so excited to see another black woman and was only too happy to reach out…I knew exactly how she felt and felt I good seeing another black traveller.
Vienna, Austria – a similar scenario occurred while site-seeing in Vienna. I was passing by in a “faxi”, and this black male waiter, who was serving customers at a sidewalk cafe, saw me, and with both hands, frantically waved at me as I passed by. He gave me a broad smile, shouting hello, as though we were familiar with each other, and he was happy to see me once again.
Budapest, Hungary – it is rather a strange occurrence when I encounter black male workers in any of the European cities. It is as if the lions in the jungle have seen their prey, ME! These guys will relentlessly ask me out on dates every time they see you, it is as if they haven’t seen a black woman in ages. I remembered in Budapest, this guy abandoned his booth at the establishment where he worked and followed me for like 25 minutes and kept asking me out, he even mentioned “I should be happy to see him because only white men are there…with nothing to offer“…lol… what he meant by that, only he knew. It just shows how black females can be seen/treated in many parts of the world where it is mainly white-dominated.
Ladies know that some men in Europe will constantly stare at you or compliment you because you stand out, (especially if you are alone). As previously mentioned, you will hear the word exotic a lot, many will even tell you they have never had a black girlfriend etc. etc.
You don’t want to be their experiment or the “dummy run”. Keep your head on and know you are passing through for a short time and some may want to do the same. Know what you are for and know that true love, don’t happen in a few days. On very rare occasions it may happen but know you must always protect your health and your sanity.
MOST COMMON TRAVEL CHALLENGES AS A BLACK TRAVELLER AND HOW DID YOU RESOLVE THEM?
My travel challenges seem to be more of an ongoing issue. It varies at different airports, hotels, etc. Same with the people I encounter during my travels. I will, therefore, share some of my most common challenges.
Airports
Airports – one of my biggest challenges is usually at airports. My experiences may be much different than the next person’s and may vary at some airports. One of the exceptions was Amman – Jordan, the procedures (smooth) and the immigration officers at this airport were the nicest and most welcoming Officers I have encountered in all countries visited.
As previously written in my review of Russia, my unpleasant experience was only at one of the 2 airports I used in Moscow with regards to the immigration officers (see my Destination page – Russia). Even at Minsk airport – Belarus and Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia, immigration was overly thorough. In these two countries, I stood at the immigration booth, what felt like forever, the officers acted as though my passport was some sort of alien document, they had this glass, (which looked like the glass used for checking diamonds) inspecting my passport, repeatedly.
Airline Check-in Staff – I am not certain if it’s because I am the only black woman in the line (most times) or if these agencies in these countries do not know the islands that make up the Caribbean. ( I have met people who thought the Caribbean is A country). I am however, usually very surprised that some immigration officers and airline check-in staff either do not seem to know or care to know the Caribbean countries. I have even witnessed airline counter staff sending my passport down the line so that others can see what it looks like. Others I have seen going online to verify there is such a country because, at the end of it, some will tell you it’s the first time they are seeing your country’s passport.
There was this incident where I got nervous, this was leaving Egypt, via Cyprus, to return to Dubai and I stood at that counter no less than an hour and a half. The airline check-in staff were getting a “no entry” for me into Dubai, even though I was in Dubai two weeks before this, this one had me rattled. Egypt air had to call in a supervisor who was not even at the airport at the time to resolve the situation. At the end of this ordeal the issue had nothing to do with me but with some systemic procedure with the airlines, talk about being grateful to get out of that situation.
Apart from this incident, I am never nervous, maybe bemused or more so annoyed that many times I am always the last one to leave the counter. I know I have done my research and have all the necessary documents, visas, etc, so therefore, I am always prepared mentally for it. Therefore, it is the main reason I am an advocate on the importance of thoroughly planning and preparing for your vacation.
Hotels
Bad hotel experiences – the minute I check into a hotel I usually know right away, from the reception, if it will be a good stay or not. I like to get the genuine and true hotel experience (good or bad), so I do not usually tell the staff at the hotels that I write reviews nor that I am the no.1 Snr. Reviewer on TripAdvisor in my country. However, if I observe within a day or two, the hotel staff is extremely nice and welcoming, I may mention it through casual conversations. On the other hand, If I observe from check-in the reception was “so so”, then escalated to dreadful like that hotel in Russia (worst hotel stay ever) and a lesser extent Malaysia. I will not say a word, because what happens is that the hotel/staff will fake being nice just to get a great review.
I always want to see how genuine the people and service are at any hotel I stay, to get and write an unbiased review about the experience.
Restaurants
Restaurants – to be honest, I haven’t had many bad experiences at restaurants. Unlike hotels where i do not not mention I write reviews on TripAdvisor, I do mention at some restaurants, jokingly of course. This is not that it’s going to change the price nor the serving size, but I always drop hints of not wanting to get food poisoned on my vacation. I usually do this so that they take extra care with my meal.
I can recall only one bad experience at a restaurant at the hotel I stayed in Scotland. This hotel served breakfast which was about the same price as eating elsewhere, but due to convenience, I chose to have my meal there. The waiters were 4 whites and 1 black lady.
The strangest thing I observed was, no matter how pleasant I was with the black waitress, she never smiled, neither did she served me, not once, but instead avoided me. I also noticed, she would begin sweeping the room, even though she saw that I was still having my breakfast, this I found was rather impolite. Did I report her? No!! I just chose a different restaurant to have breakfast. It seemed maybe she had an issue serving another black woman. Whatever was her issue, I chose to handle it my way without any management issues or confrontation, of course after I left the hotel, I wrote about it on TripAdvisor.
Disrespectful Men
Disrespectful Men – regarding some men and their Cat-calling, this can be downright obnoxious as they go into details as to what they would like to do to you, as you pass by, it is tantamount to verbal/sexual abuse. I could care less about what they are saying, or the insult that follows when I ignore some of them or tell them to “F” off. I just avoid them so that they don’t get too close and ignore them and continue walking as if I didn’t see or heard them, eventually they walk away and let you be.
PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF BLACK “CARIBBEAN” WOMEN IN EUROPE
- Black women are in Europe because you are there as an immigrant worker. It could never be that you have paid for your vacation and confident enough to travel alone.
- Men have actually become very excited not only because you are black woman, but many have heard that Caribbean women are “hot women”, when asked further what is meant by this the talk went straight to the bedroom, but usually my response to this is ”I am one of the cold ones” lol, because automatically I already know where this talk is heading.
- Most black Caribbean women are loud, fat or ugly, I have heard other women complained that they were laughed at or even pointed on as they walked the streets.
- I have been asked silly questions like…is it genes or abundance of the sun that makes black “Caribbean” women better in bed, and some of these fools think I want to have such discussion with them.
- Questions like, is it true that black women in the Caribbean practice voodoo!? A friend of mine in Bulgaria told me his friend was afraid of me because he was afraid, I do voodoo…think some people watch too much pirate and folklore movies…lol.
MUST HAVE ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR ALL TRAVELLERS
These are my essentials and gadgets I can never do without for a smooth and stress-free vacation. All are available on Amazon for direct links to the products and information and suggested uses .
For MUST-READ BOOKS Think and Grow Rich is an excellent book for those who who are looking to improve their life and personally grow and develop. How to win friends and Influence people (#Ad) another self improvement and and social skills development read (excellent read …perfect for long airport layovers and during your flight) or during your free time. CLICK HERE for the entire list of travel essentials and uses/descriptions
CONCLUSION
I aim to share some of my personal experiences with you the readers. Giving you a “heads up” as to what to expect in the travel world. Please be mindful, that my experiences may or may not be the same for you when you travel. The main idea is, therefore, to inspire more black women to get out there, let the world see more of you.
Take the next bold step and travel, alone or with the company. Conduct yourselves as true ambassadors for your region and country and dispel some of these myths and outrageous statements regarding blacks.
Share your feedback and situations you have experienced, as a black female solo traveller in Europe or elsewhere.
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