Black Travel Anxiety Part VII: Going over what I’ve learned while on the road
By: Siraj Abdul-Malik
Tags: Anxiety, Travel Writing, Travel, Writing

So…we’ve reached the end of the Black Travel Anxiety blog series. There are still many places I would like to visit, and languages I would like to brush up on, once the global situation improves of course. The small list of places that I have been to so far were quite a contrast from my little Island home, so this has led me to greatly change my view of the world on a whole, and also keep my travel anxiety at bay. Most importantly, I hope this series of posts has managed to do the same for others, no matter what your ethnic background or personal beliefs may be. I will go through a few things to reflect on what I’ve learned and hopefully put those lessons into perspective for others.

Firstly, I learned to have more control of how I view things. With everything I do now, I actively seek to find the positives and focus on them more. If you imagine all of the worst things that could possibly happen, you will go into things with a negative mindset. As the mind controls the body, the things we say and do with naturally follow, thus affecting our experience. Speaking about experiences, it’s important to understand that everyone experiences things differently. I’m not at all saying to ignore advice from others, but rather understand that their experiences aren’t absolute, and yours may be very different. Always be open for experiencing things for yourself, or you may miss out on quite a bit.

The next point about valuable lessons I’ve learned, is not to generalise others, and especially myself. We all have our stereotypes, and they make for a good laugh from time to time, but it’s important not to have them control how we view other people and their cultures. If you haven’t experienced a culture first hand, you seriously don’t have the right to an opinion on it. You certainly shouldn’t base your opinion on an entire country on that one asshole you may have worked with from there, or your friends crazy ex…etc. Another thing we all need to stop doing is putting ourselves in a category, saying what we will or will not do based on who we are or where we are from. Stay true to your values, but don’t close yourself from trying new experiences such as food, music, clothing styles, or thrill seeking based on how popular they may be where you are from, or what people back home may think if they knew you had tried something. Keep an open mind on other cultures, and be open to experiencing what they have to offer when you’re on the road.

Lastly, do what you would like to do. Don’t seek the approval of others, you are living your own life. Take what you see in the media with a grain of salt, and like I’ve said before, see things for yourself. Most importantly if you really want to go somewhere, chances are you will be fine even if the place has a bad rep when it comes to things like racism. Stupidity and cowardice are very common among racists, so ignore the keyboard warriors because face to face, they would most likely keep to themselves or mumble something after they have passed you in the street. How you choose to react in those situations is up to you. The same common sense things you need to learn to stay safe are universal, so if you don’t know these things, get out there anyway. Travelling will help you develop street smarts, and you will be able to read situations a lot better.

As we are at the end of Black travel anxiety, I will like to thank everyone that has contributed to making my travels as awesome as they have been in the six years since I’ve left home. I would like to give a special thanks to my language exchange partners, and my students for adding so much value to my life. Thank you so much to the readers that have followed along the BTA series. Keep those eyes peeled because there is more to come. Until next time!