![Quantcast](http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-GS-HF4BKvzCmv.gif)
![5 Black-Owned Companies That Will Up Your Travel Game](https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1Njg0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc3OTc1MDE3N30.7y6KMlYV5sGl9Z_hNAepLCS-bR0pTSClPR1wCfnOABM/img.jpg?width=1200&height=600&quality=90&coordinates=0%2C83%2C0%2C84)
5 Black-Owned Companies That Will Up Your Travel Game
Your wanderlust has had you eyeing multiple travel websites for a while now and finally, you've decided on your next location, and are ready to start planning. But, with the large number of travel apps and websites out there, the process of planning your travels can seem overwhelming.
The narrative surrounding people of color and travel has started to shift towards inclusivity. However, mainstream travel spaces have been known to exclude travelers of color. The underwhelming amount of Black travelers being showcased on travel sites and destination brochures makes it that much more important to support the businesses that have people of color sitting at the table. Seeing the world is an opportunity that is open to whomever wishes to act on it. Making your travel arrangements with black owned companies gives you the space to find the proper resources that cater to your specific needs.
From securing accomodations to booking flights and reserving excursions, there's a lot of work that goes into planning the perfect getaway. To save you some time, I've rounded up some of the best black-owned travel apps and companies to help get your next trip underway as seamless as possible. From your flight to your destination to your lodging, we've got you covered every step of the way.
For Flights: Airfordable
You know where you want to go but after checking for flights, you notice the fare isn't exactly in this month's budget. Sure, you can pick a new place but when booking with friends, I know how long it can take for the group to finally settle on one destination. Likewise, international travel often gets dismissed because of the cost of airfare. Airfordable offers a solution for when you have your heart set on a location, whether it be for a vacation or a trip to see family. Ama Marfo, CEO, launched Airfordable as a result of struggling to book travel back to Ghana while she studied at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Today, it's being used for trips all around the world.
How it works: Find your flight, submit the details to Airfordable, pay monthly installments then receive your booking once the total is paid.
Let's take a trip to Bali for example. Jessica, an Airfordable user, found a flight for a total of $820, an amount not everybody is okay dropping all at once. Airfordable allowed her to make a smaller payment of $303.40 upfront. She was then was able to pay the remaining $516.60 in installments up until her departure date. She'll receive her eTicket as soon as her last payment is processed.
For Accommodations: Innclusive
Now that you've picked a location and secured the airfare, finding a place to stay might be next on the list. Innclusive lets you rent rooms and homes in an Airbnb fashion but in a way that celebrates diversity. When Rohan, the founder and CEO of Innclusive, was denied an Airbnb based on what seems to be racial profiling, he took action and created a space where people of all races would be celebrated in their quests to see the world. With that, Innclusive was born.
How it works: Search for a room or an entire home, pay online, and check-in upon arrival.
For The Squad: Travel Noire
Let’s take a swim? Respond with 😍 or 😓 in the comments! 📷: @sennarelax #portofino #travelnoire
A post shared by Travel Noire (@travelnoire) on
Two common hiccups when it comes to travel is narrowing down a time and place and finding your travel squad. Travel Noire eliminated these obstacles. Zim Ugochukwu created Travel Noire after identifying the absence of people of color in the mainstream travel industry. To solve this, Zim and her team, now part of Blavity, carefully curate travel experiences that allow men and women of color to live out these lifetime experiences seeing places like Zanzibar, Bahia, Amalfi Coast, and more. TN does all the heavy lifting while your only responsibility is to pay your installments and show up. Sounds easy, right? The TN team sets you up in a charming boutique hotel, a photographer for the length of the trip, and insider access to some of the most exclusive local classes.
How it works: Sign up to receive an email when the next round of travel experiences is open for registration, select an experience, pay either in full or installments, purchase flights separately, and meet your travel tribe in the city of choice.
For Volunteering Abroad: Black Girls Travel Too
A post shared by Black Girls Travel Too® (@blackgirlstraveltoo) on
What started off as a regular Instagram account in 2015 has emerged into a full-blown travel company curating experiences and giving back while doing so. Now with over 106k followers, Black Girls Travel Too shares tips and creates the tools for female travellers. A key component of their business model is voluntourism, which is volunteering while traveling. Founder Danny Rivers Mitchell has been passionate about sharing her resources ever since she was a young girl saving up her lunch money to send it to the children she learned about through infomercials on sponsoring a child for 50 cents a day. BGTT now curates trips that revolve around voluntourism in addition to travel packages to events like Crop Over in Barbados.
How it works: Pick from the travel destinations offered, select a payment option, purchase flights separately, and meet your fellow black girl travelers in the city of choice.
For Getting Around: Moovn
A black-owned ride-sharing business has been around for just about three years. Goodwin Gabriel launched Moovn in 2015, an app that operates similar to Uber and Lyft. A key difference between Moovn and the more popular rideshare apps is that it does not employ private drivers. Instead, the system taps into existing transportation services like taxis and town cars. Moovn currently has a presence in countries like Tanzania, Gabriel's native, along with American cities (Seattle, Portland, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and New York). It is also available in Dubai, UAE; Vancouver, Canada; Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya.
How it works: Request a ride (for now or at least 2 hours in advance) through the website or app, select car type, select and confirm payment options, and wait for your ride to arrive.
Featured image by Shutterstock
- 8 US Travel Destinations Satisfying Your 2021 Wanderlust - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Airbnb Alternatives When Traveling - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Airbnb Alternatives When Traveling - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Going on a trip? Check out these black-owned travel businesses ... ›
- For us, by us: 5 black-owned travel groups you should know about ... ›
- 7 Black-Owned Travel Companies You Should Know About - World ... ›
- It's travel season! Here's a list of Black owned travel and ... ›
- Black-owned startup 'Airfordable' lets you pay for flights on layaway ... ›
- 7 Black-Owned Travel Groups That You and Your Squad Should Join ›
- After six decades, black travel agency continues to help tourists ... ›
- Black-owned Travel Sites Today Reflect Black Guidebook of Past ›
Jovania Pierre is a proud alumna of Rutgers University. She spends her time alternating between lifting heavy weights and traveling for food. You can keep up with her online @jovaniamichele on all social and her blog www.jovaniamichelepierre.com
How This New Bond Repair Line Transformed One Mother's Postpartum Shedding Into The Ultimate Curl Comeback
This article is in partnership with SheaMoisture
For Crystal Obasanya, her wash day woes came shortly after her son did. The beauty and lifestyle content creator had been natural for years, but during postpartum, she quickly learned about one reality many mothers can relate to experiencing: postpartum hair loss. “Sis had thinning hair. Sis had split ends,” she shared about her hair changes in a Reel via xoNecole.
Over a year into her postpartum journey, Crystal explained she also had dry, brittle hair, noting that keeping it hydrated before pregnancy had already been “a task.” The 4C natural recalled going from thick hair during pregnancy to a thin hairline due to postpartum shedding as “devastating.” When it came to strengthening and revitalizing her hair, the new SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection was just the thing she needed to elevate her damaged coils to revive and thrive status and get them poppin' again.
SheaMoisture is providing us with the cheat code for transforming dry and damaged strands into thriving and deeply nourished crowns. By unveiling their 4-step hair system, the SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection is equipping you with the tools to reverse signs of hair damage caused by protective styling, heat, and color and is uniquely formulated for Type 3 and 4 hair textures.
The haircare system revives damaged natural hair by repairing and rebuilding broken hair bonds through a game-changing combination of HydroPlex Technology and AminoBlend Complex, a unique blend of fortifying amino acids formulated specifically for curly and coily hair. Scientifically proven to reduce breakage by 84% and make your hair six times stronger (vs. non-conditioning shampoo), the collection infuses your hair with the nourishment it craves and the strength it deserves.
All five products of the SheaMoisture Bond Collection are infused with natural strengthening ingredients like Amla Oil and fair-trade shea butter. The collection consists of the 4-step breakage-fighting Bond Repair system, as well as the Bonding Oil.
“When trying it out, I quickly noticed that my hair felt revived and renewed, and my curls were so hydrated,” Crystal said while using the Amla-infused Bond Repair Leave-In Conditioner. “I also felt my hair strands were stronger.” So much so that the influencer felt brave enough to get her hair braided shortly thereafter. “I can definitely say that I will be keeping it in my hair wash routine,” she added in the caption of her Reel about her positive experience using the products.
SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection is making bond-building a key player in your wash day routines and the purveyor of life for thirsty manes. Because who doesn't want stronger, shinier, happier hair?
Step One: Bond Repair Collection Shampoo
Rejuvenate your hair with SheaMoisture Bond Repair Shampoo, your go-to solution for luscious locks. Packed with hella hydration power, this shampoo adds moisture by 60% while removing buildup without stripping your strands. This shampoo gently cleanses impurities while significantly enhancing shine, smoothness, and softness.
The Bond Repair Collection Shampoo is the first step in the 4-step Bond Repair system, all of which are powered by the uniquely formulated AminoBlend, and HydroPlex, SheaMoisture’s technology that rebuilds hair strength at its core.
Step Two: Bond Repair Collection Conditioner
Tailored to repair styling damage, this creamy conditioner locks in 12x more moisture than standard non-conditioning shampoos, boosting damaged hair strength by 1.5x with significantly less breakage. The creamy SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection Conditioner deeply hydrates, enhances manageability, and leaves your hair looking healthier and shinier.
Step Three: Bond Repair Collection Masque
This Ultra Moisturizing reparative masque is a moisture-rich game-changer for those dealing with the aftermath of hair damage caused by styling. The SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection Masque delivers 13 times more moisture compared to non-conditioning shampoos, ensuring your hair feels nourished and soft. Designed to repair and rejuvenate, this masque significantly strengthens damaged hair — making it twice as strong while reducing breakage.
Step Four: Bond Repair Collection Leave-In Conditioner
Elevate your curl game with SheaMoisture’s Bond Repair Collection Leave-In Conditioner. Lightweight and hydrating, the Bond Repair Leave-In Conditioner provides 12x more moisture than non-conditioning shampoos and tames frizz with 24-hour humidity control. Designed to define curls and coils, the leave-in conditioner enhances softness and shine allowing you to detangle effortlessly.
Bonding Oil
The SheaMoisture Bond Repair Collection Bonding Oil is a multitasking all-in-one formula that acts as a heat protectant and provides the hair with moisture, strength, shine, damage protection, and intense nourishment. This lightweight oil not only offers 24-hour frizz and humidity control but also fortifies your tresses, making them up to 5 times stronger with significantly less breakage.
Featured image courtesy
'ACross Generations With Tiffany Cross' Talks With Black Men About Safe Spaces & Their Love For Black Women
ACross Generations with Tiffany Cross, a podcast featuring intergenerational discussions on contemporary issues, has returned with an impactful episode exploring the challenges Black men face in America.
This week's show features host Tiffany Cross, Keith Dent, an entrepreneur, relationship coach, and author, alongside Isaiah Gaymon, a digital creator. The pair delved into various topics, including overcoming societal stereotypes, developing emotional intelligence, fostering platonic relationships, and navigating the complexities of modern dating.
A particularly engaging topic from the discussion was interracial dating and its prevalence in the Black community. According to a Pew Research Center study, Black men "are twice as likely" to participate in interracial marriages compared to Black women. The study also indicates that the higher a Black man's status or education level is, the more likely he is to marry a non-Black woman.
When Cross asked if the men had been in interracial relationships, Gaymon, who is married with children, revealed he had avoided dating white women. He explained this choice stemmed from his discomfort with being viewed as a fetish, a perception often rooted in stereotypes about Black men.
“Absolutely not. I want my family to be Black. The behaviors of white women I just don’t really favor,” he said.
As the conversation shifted to how Gaymon would react if a friend introduced a white woman to their social circle, the digital creator revealed he would question the dynamic to ensure all parties involved were entering the relationship for genuine reasons.
“I’m for sure asking questions. He must really like her,” he stated.
On the other hand, Dent has experience dating white women. The relationship coach, now married to a Black woman and father to adult children, explained that his environment and not being entirely accepted in the Black community influenced his past interracial dating.
“I would say yes… I went to a predominately white school,” he said. “Over time, I was seen as the nerd, but I was not seen as a part of the Black community.”
Following Dent's admission, Gaymon offered a counterpoint. He emphasized that many Black men deeply appreciate and value relationships with Black women, so much so that they are willing to be patient in their search for an ideal partner.
“There are Black men out here who love Black women. Who may take a longer time to find somebody [because] they haven’t found a Black woman that they want, but they won’t quit on that,” he stated.
For more on this topic and to explore other subjects discussed, the full episode of ACross Generations with Tiffany Cross is now available on the show's official YouTube channel.
Exploring the Emotions of Black Men With Keith Dent & Isaiah
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image ACross Generations/ YouTube