Traveling While White: The Luxury of Ignorance.
Not all vacations are equal.
A chat about:
Vacation privilege
Travel advice given by white individuals
What white travelers don’t notice
My experience with both privilege and racism as a mixed traveler
The racial realities of travel for Black and brown people
An anti-racist guide for those who care to make a difference
The Luxury of Not Having to Notice
There is no shortage of travel pages and recommendations written from a privileged white perspective. If you can love and vacation somewhere repeatedly and never notice, or never have to notice, that the place has a reputation for racism, that alone is a powerful example of how privilege works.
White travel recommendations do not automatically apply to Black and brown people. If you are white, it’s important to reconsider how you talk about travel destinations and who you imagine your advice applies to.
A major part of white privilege is the freedom to remain unaware that a place you find relaxing or beautiful can feel completely different for a Black or brown traveler. That mental and emotional freedom is a luxury. No amount of beautiful scenery or amazing cuisine balances out an environment that is hostile to people of color.
Do you notice microaggressions? Subtle comments, assumptions of criminality, poor or dismissive service, or the quiet body language that signals someone is being treated as second-class? When you’re out shopping, dining, sightseeing, or people-watching, pay attention to how everyone is treated, not just how people treat you or people who look like you.
What I Notice When I Travel
I’ve been to over 20 countries, and while I’ve had many incredible experiences, I absolutely notice immediately how Black and brown people are treated. As a brown person, you do not have the choice not to notice. That vigilance has been shaped by lived experience.
When I travel, I’m not only evaluating scenery, activities, or food. I’m paying attention to people of all colors: how they treat me, and how they treat others who don’t look like me. That alone tells me something important about a place.
If people are disrespectful or hostile towards me because I am a mixed/Black woman, I have zero interest in returning, no matter how “amazing” white travelers claim the destination is. And that awareness isn’t optional for me. None of us wants to think about these things while trying to relax, but racial trauma doesn’t disappear just because the setting is beautiful.
But when you truly care about everyone’s well-being, you pay attention regardless of the dominant group. Even in predominantly Black or brown countries, I observe how white travelers are treated, and realistically, it is rarely comparable.
Globally, white people benefit from privileges rooted in a long legacy of white supremacy. In many places, a white traveler may be perceived as superior or even treated like royalty, likely because they are seen as someone with money, opportunity, and status.
Privilege Is Not Always Simple
Being mixed, my treatment often shifts depending on the situation or who is perceiving me. Sometimes I am targeted; other times I am extended privilege because of my skin tone. I’m aware of this dynamic, and when I can use any privilege, I do it without hesitation. Using privilege effectively requires awareness, compassion, and education. You cannot challenge racism if you don’t understand what it looks like when it isn’t aimed at you.
That is part of what I mean when I talk about privilege. It isn’t always as simple as one person having it and another person not having it. Sometimes, the way you are perceived changes depending on the environment, the people around you, your skin tone, or what assumptions others make about you.
I can recognize when I am being treated differently because of how I am perceived. And when that perception gives me an advantage, I can choose to use that advantage in a way that helps someone else. Still, caring, paying attention, standing in solidarity, and speaking up costs you nothing.
Racism Does Not Take a Vacation
Racism is a global issue, and it does not pause for someone’s vacation. I’ve found myself in many situations saying, “Excuse me? Why are you treating that person this way?” They are the only person who is [insert observation: brown, Black, dark-skinned, etc.]. In my case, it would usually be the only “darker-skinned person” in the space. Because nothing changes when people stay silent. Ignoring racism has never fixed it, and it never will.
And for those who say they’re “tired of hearing about racism,” the question is: What are you doing to make things better? And does it even make sense for you to be tired of something you aren't actively doing anything about? Come on now. You may be tired of hearing about racism, but Black and brown people do not have the option of simply opting out of experiencing it. If you are not actively working to understand or challenge it, you do not get to use your discomfort with the conversation as a reason to dismiss it. That simply makes you unqualified to dismiss the conversation.
What White or Privileged Travelers Can Do
Being aware of privilege is one thing. Knowing what to do with that awareness is another.
If you are traveling with privileges that someone else may not have, use them thoughtfully. Pay attention. Listen. Learn from people whose experiences differ from yours. And when you see something that is clearly wrong, don’t automatically assume it has nothing to do with you simply because it isn’t happening to you.
1. Do Your Research
Before visiting a destination, seek out reviews and travel accounts from Black and brown travelers. Many destinations have known issues that white travelers never see, simply because they are not experiencing them.
This does not mean assuming every negative experience represents an entire country or community. It means broadening the information you use to make decisions. If you only listen to people who experience a destination the way you do, you are only getting part of the picture.
2. Pay Attention to Everyone
When you’re shopping, dining, sightseeing, or simply observing your surroundings, pay attention to who gets ignored, followed, disrespected, overcharged, or questioned more harshly.
Notice who receives warmth and who receives suspicion. Notice who gets the benefit of the doubt. And ask yourself whether you would have noticed any of it if it were happening to someone who looked like you.
3. Intervene When You Can, and Do It Safely
Sometimes a simple, calm interruption can make a difference.
“Why are you speaking to them like that?”
Or:
“I notice they are the only person of color in this space, and you didn’t treat anyone else like that.”
Privilege can change the dynamic. Sometimes a person behaving badly will respond differently when challenged by someone they perceive as having social or racial privilege.
But intervention does not always have to mean confrontation. Sometimes it means checking in with the person being targeted, creating a distraction, getting help, or supporting them afterward. The goal is not to make yourself the hero. The goal is to help without making the situation worse.
4. Challenge the Conversations Around You
If a fellow traveler says something racist or dismissive, don’t just laugh it off or stay quiet because you don’t want to make things awkward. Bring awareness to what they might be overlooking.
Sometimes anti-racism is as simple as saying, “That’s not okay,” or asking, “Why do you think that?” You don’t always need the perfect speech. You just need to be willing to challenge something that shouldn’t be normalized.
5. Be More Careful With Your Recommendations
Stop recommending places as “safe,” “amazing,” or “friendly” without nuance. You can say, “I felt safe, but I’ve heard from Black travelers that their experiences can be different.” Your experience is your experience. It does not automatically represent everyone else’s. A destination can be beautiful and racist. It can be welcoming to you and hostile to someone else. Both things can be true at the same time.
6. Vote With Your Money
If a hotel, restaurant, shop, or tour company mistreats someone based on race, choose not to support them and tell them why. Travel is an industry, and our money has power. Where we stay, where we eat, which tours we book, and which businesses we recommend all contribute to what gets rewarded.
7. Get Comfortable With Discomfort
Feeling defensive or unsure is normal. It’s not a reason to shut down. It’s a reason to grow. You may realize that you have benefited from something you never thought about before. You may recognize that you have recommended a destination as “safe” without considering who you were actually speaking for. That realization does not require shame. It requires honesty.
8. Amplify Travelers of Color
Share Black and brown travel creators, guides, comments, and warnings, not just white influencers or bloggers. If someone is telling you about an experience you have never had, listen before explaining why you didn’t experience the same thing. Their experience does not become less real because yours was different.
9. Look at Yourself, Too
Are you being loud, entitled, or dismissive with locals? Are you assuming English should be spoken to you? Are you talking down to people because you are a tourist, because you have money, or because you assume your way of doing things is better? Privilege shows up in actions as much as in systems. Travel gives us the opportunity to see the world differently, but that only happens when we are willing to question ourselves too.
10. Commit to Lifelong Awareness
Anti-racism isn’t a trend or a moment of awareness. It’s a lifelong practice. You don’t have to personally experience racism to care about it. You don’t have to be the target of discrimination to recognize when it is happening. And you certainly don’t have to wait until something happens to you before you decide it matters.
Travel should expand the way we see the world. That includes seeing the experiences of people who move through that world differently than we do. So the next time you tell someone that a place is “amazing,” “safe,” or “so friendly,” ask yourself one simple question first:
Amazing for whom?