Blog Posts — WILL DRINK FOR TRAVEL

In my experience, people decide to book trips to destinations that usually fall into one of three categories:

Places that they've always wanted to go and have set airfare alerts for certain dates because they definitely plan to go;
Places that they never thought about going but because there was an airfare sale, they decide to open their minds and wallets and go anyway; and
Places that they've heard stories about from family or friends, or have seen on TV or in movies and decided to go based on their recommendations.

Any of these reasons is valid. Who cares why you decide to book travel? It really just matters that you've decided to go. In all of these situations, however, it is always imperative to keep an open mind and travel without expectations.

Don't we all have expectations?

You might ask, "Don't we all have expectations when traveling?" Sure. You expect for your hotel to be the same way it looked in pictures when you booked it. You expect to see that city's landmarks and take the typical tourist picture. You may even expect to have a sorted fling with someone you met at a local bar. Hey, no judgment here. But it is my firm belief that you should not have expectations about how much fun you will have, how much you will love or hate wherever you are, or expect that your experience will be the same as someone else's. Let me explain.

Since I am a travel blogger, people will ask about my experiences around a certain destination because I've been and they're soon headed there. I love when people ask for my opinion and will answer as many questions as I can. I love travel; I love being a travel blogger; and I love sharing my experiences - what to eat, drink, see and do. However, I am not a psychic, fortuneteller, nor am I certified destination tour guide. I can only share my experiences and make recommendations based on those experiences. It is up to you to form your own opinions.

Additionally, when listening to the recommendations of family and friends, or reading travel blogs and publications, people have the tendency to leave out the bad aspects of their trip. Whether intentional or not, your hopes and dreams of the destination being what you thought it was may be shattered instantly depending on your own experiences. Maybe you encountered rude locals or it rained so much that you weren't able to see as much as you'd hoped. That's life and ish happens. There is no way of guaranteeing similar experiences.

Why Read Travel Blogs?

Now you might be wondering why you're even bothering to read my blog if I do not consider myself a destination expert. Great question! As I said before, I love sharing my experiences and hope that they will guide and help you to make the best possible decisions to enjoy your trip. But they are my experiences. Yours may be different. And truth be told, this is the case for any blog or travel publication you read. If it is not a fact, it is an opinion and therefore (like your mom always told you to), you need make up your own mind.

Let me tell you a short story. I went to a certain destination not to be named and had a fabulous time. I loved my experience and since I knew an acquaintance had a trip planned shortly after mine, I made mental notes about activities or sites I thought they may be interested in. As it turns out, they did not have such an amazing experience. They didn't enjoy the beach, the restaurants, the nightlife and so on. They went expecting to love it because I did and when they didn't, disappointment ensued. However, several factors may come into play here:

I may have been looking for a relaxing vacation and that's what I sought out, but they may have been looking to 'turn up';
I love cultural experiences, but they couldn't care less about a destination's history and local culture; and
I might have gone with people who I know that I travel well with (always the case) and they may have traveled with people who annoyed them to no end.

I could go on and on but you get the point. There are many varying factors about why my trip was different than theirs, so it's impossible for us to have the same experience.

How has having expectations worked out for me?

I've been to a few places that were never on my bucket list or on my radar, but after I went, I fell in love and couldn't wait to go back. Remember London? I didn't think I'd care for it and only went to check it off my bucket list. But I loved London's energy and vibe so much that it's a city I can't wait to get back to. I set my expectations low and my experiences surpassed them. This is an example of having expectations working in my favor. But this is a rarity. Usually having expectations works the other way around. I will scream from the mountaintops that I do not like Paris. I thought I would love it, and left feeling disappointed and feeling like it's a place I don't need to return. The people weren't nice, I didn't enjoy the food and I didn't feel it was culturally diverse. Now, this is my experience and may not be the experience of someone else. But should you let that deter you from seeing for yourself? Absolutely not.

Should We Lower Our Expectations?

Without question, YES. When you set your expectations high, your experience never stands a chance to meet them. You're not able to enjoy your experience and destination for what it is and what it has to offer. While I definitely recommend reading up on what to do, see, taste and drink before embarking on a trip, do not let the opinions (read: not facts) of others sway your decision-making and impact your expectations in a good or bad way.

At Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia

Since I have traveled to quite a few places around the world and do consider myself a great travel blogger (hey, if I don't love me, who else will?), my advice is to taper your expectations or let them go entirely. I promise that you will enjoy your trip and will be able to appreciate the beauty of your surroundings so much more.

A few months ago, Jessica van Dop DeJesus of The Dining Traveler reached out to me and said she wanted to host a panel discussing women of color in travel media. Of course I thought it was an awesome idea and fast forward to last Tuesday, the sold out event took place at the Park Hyatt Washington.

During the cocktail hour, we were served light bites and delicious cocktails courtesy of the hotel's Blue Duck Tavern. I was immediately a fan. So much so, that I plan on going to Blue Duck Tavern in the next few weeks for a full-sized meal. I.can't.wait.

After Jessica's opening remarks, Norie Quintos, Editor-at-Large of National Geographic Travel Media, gave the keynote address about why travel is important and how the passport is the 'new diploma.' "People of color are always the locals when you open a publication. Ads are even worse," Norie stated in reference to travel media marketing to people of color.

After Norie's speech, Mel Burgos of Rock Yo Rizos talked about growing up in New York and her first travel experience being on the subway. She joined the United States Navy to travel and hasn't stopped since. Bren Herrera, media personality, was up next and discussed how travel was important to her parents who passed their love of travel to her.

Next was the panel, consisting of Metanoya Webb (The Globetrotting Stiletto), Bethany Manimbo (Visit Montgomery County), Talia Salem (Brand USA), Robin Bennefield (Marriott Traveler), Tanvi Rastogi (Tanvii.com) and me.

Moderated by Jummy Olubanji of ABC7 News, the panel was asked a series of questions about our favorite destinations, how and why we started in the travel media business, some of the challenges we've encountered as women of color and problems with representation of women of color in the media.

Each attendee received gift bags with items from Soul Amenities, Yuk-B-Gone travel antibacterial sprays, US Virgin Islands Tourism, Miami CVB, Roam Right Travel Insurance, Visit Maryland, Brand USA, and NatGeo Traveler Magazine.

Women of Color Travel Panel: Me, Metanoya Webb, Bethany Manimbo, Talia Salem, Robin Bennefield, and Tanvi Rastogi — Women of Color Travel Panel: Me, Metanoya Webb, Bethany Manimbo, Talia Salem, Robin Bennefield, and Tanvi Rastogi

This was my first time being on a panel and I'm happy that it was to discuss a topic I am passionate about. In my opinion, women and people of color are oftentimes overlooked and not marketed to because many destinations do not feel we are interested in visiting. And this couldn't be further from the truth.

In the past almost 2 years since Will Drink For Travel's inception, I've been to the New York Times Travel Show and more recently, TBEX, a conference for travel bloggers. At these conferences, I've noticed that most media are white but there are journalists and bloggers of other races present. In an effort to be transparent, I will share that I have been given the freezing cold shoulder from representatives of Greece and Israel at these conferences. And I believe it was because I am Black. But is that surprising? And will that stop me from visiting Greece or Israel? No and no.

As I said during the panel discussion, I think diversity is reflected in a destination's marketing when it is a priority to the destination. When diversity is not a priority or the country has heavily imbedded racial turmoil, diversity will not be reflected. It's just that simple to me. But that doesn't stop my desire of wanting to visit because I know there are people of color there. We are everywhere.

I do not write this blog specifically for people of color. I want people of all races to read and love my blog just as much as I hope they do. However, I do not shy away from the topic of race when it rears its sometimes ugly head, as can be read here and here. I can name several bloggers and media representatives of color who feel the same. However, it seems we have a tougher time having our work recognized. We are here and we want our narratives to be heard.

Black Americans spend close to $50 billion dollars on domestic travel and 17% of Black Americans take one international trip a year, according to 2011 research by the Mandela Firm. It is time for travel media to open its arms and welcome people of color. I have been to Romania, Turkey, and Iceland...all countries that are not exactly known for their Black populations. However, those trips have been some of my greatest travel experiences.

I believe travel is important for having an open-mind and not putting limitations on yourself. Not only do I learn about wherever I'm traveling, but I learn more about myself. And those sorts of experiences are priceless. I will continue to go to off-the-beaten path destinations and discuss them on my blog so that travel media can see that travelers who look like me will indeed visit. And if destinations increased diversity in marketing to show it is important to them, they would see increased patronage from more travelers who look like me.

Jummy Olubanji, Me, Metanoya Webb, Jessica van Dop DeJesus, Mel Burgos, Bethany Manimbo, Tanvi Rastogi, Talia Salem, Robin Bennefield, Norie Quintos

Thank you to the Park Hyatt Washington D.C. for being such amazing and accommodating hosts. And special thanks to Jessica for conceiving a great idea and actually seeing it through. This is an issue that needs to continually be brought to the forefront. Event attendees, including me, left inspired and will continue to travel and represent women of color well while doing so. The narrative of travel is changing and it's time for destinations and brands to take notice.

The Women of Color in Travel group will continue to have monthly Twitter chats on the 1st Wednesday of each month. To join the discussion, visit #womenofcolortravel.

*Updated* Thanks to Tanvii.com, we have video of the entire panel. It's about 40 minutes of the 2-hour event and while it's not the highest quality, you'll get to hear some of our discussion!

Check out more pictures from the event below!