Go Girl: The Black Woman’s Book of Travel and Adventure

FINALLY A TRAVEL BOOK FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN.

A rich collection of fifty-two stories covering the globe. Sister-to-sister advice on everything from destination selection, to traveling solo, to saving money on airfare. Exploration and discussion of issues of particular concern to black women; dealing with racism, overcoming fears, claiming entitlement, etc. The book also includes a planning guide and a resourceful guide.

Maya Angelou tells the story of arriving in Africa a stranger but leaving claimed as a member of the Bambara tribe. Evelyn C. White writes about finding new pride in being black after visiting Egypt. Opal Palmer Adisa evokes the sights, sound, and aromas of urban Ghana where she traveled to meet her lifelong pen pal. Lucinda Roy brings alive the year she spent teaching girls in Sierra Leone and talks how the villagers’ friendship overcame her loneliness for home.

Alice Walker offers a quite meditation on how the beauty of the country stirred her imagination. Audre Lorde captures her experience of being refused entry to the British Virgin Islands because of her dreadlocks. Gwendolyn Brooks recounts the camaraderie and tensions of a trip to Russia with a group of American writers. Gloria Wade-Gayles explores the complexities of being both an American and a woman of color as a paying guest in a Mexican home.

Whether you are traveling for escape and relaxation (“Sailing My Fantasy”), on a spiritual quest (“Red Dirt on My Feet”), in search of a mind-expanding, life-changing experience (“The Kindness of Strangers”), as a “going home,” finding one’s roots (“Before I Was a Bajan”), to find relief from racism (“Why Paris?”), to celebrate black culture (“In Search of Black Peru: Christmas in El Carmen”), to honor black history (“Visiting Nannytown”), to reach for understanding across cultural barriers, (“Japan of My Dreams”), to help others (“Seeing Things in the Dark”), or to open up new possibilities in one’s own life (“Genesis of the Traveling Spirit”), the travel experiences chronicled in Go Girl! will delight, enlighten, and inspire.