Jessica is a Detroit-born Ugandan-American who got her start with traveling when she was just four years old, and in October 2019, she became the first Black Woman to travel to every country in the world.
Jessica is a cultural ambassador, writer, photographer, travel expert and entrepreneur, whose work is about changing the travel narrative and making the travel space more inclusive. She is the founder and CEO of
The Catch, a lifestyle brand featuring goods acquired during her global adventures.
Jessica is committed to raising cultural awareness and encourages people to think positively about other countries and the world at large, so that we don’t miss out on opportunities to have amazing experiences with our neighbours.
Jessica is currently working on her first book, to be published by National Geographic in May 2022.
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Show notes
- Being a liver and lover of life
- Being known as the first Black woman to travel to all 195 countries in the world
- Being a Global Citizen
- Growing up in Detroit, Michigan
- Travelling a lot as a family
- Going to Canada when she was 4
- Wanting to become a lawyer when she was younger
- Getting into travel and wanting to be an entrepreneur
- Working and living all over the world
- Figuring things out on her own
- Turning 25 and spending 9 months travelling
- What draws her to travel
- Being curious about the world and finding beauty in the mundane
- Magical moment with people while travelling
- Planning and paying for the travel
- Making space for travel
- Being location independent and working for herself
- Doing a Go Fund Me and raising $28,000
- Dealing with burnout from travel
- Visiting Iraq
- Having a home base in Detroit
- How 2020 made Jessica appreciate stillness
- Top tips for women who want to travel more
- Why you should just go
- Corey Lee @CurbFreeCorylee
- Char @travelingblackwidow
- Her biggest challenge while travelling
- Swimming with Wales in Tonga
- Visiting high risk countries….
- Travelling with open, positive energy
- Travel routines and what a typical day looks like
- Writing a book about her travel experiences
- 100 stories - 100 countries being published by National Geographic in 2022
- Dealing with Covid and not being able to travel
- Visiting the last country
- Completing her challenge!
- Spending time in Uganda
- Enjoying solo travel
- Wanting to settle down at some point
- Practical advice for women
- How to follow along with Jessica
- What’s behind the website name…
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