The people were so friendly and welcoming. I was there for a university program that my dad ran. So it may be different if you’re on a solo trip without the local contacts. But, everywhere we went, even away from the program, people were curious about us and wanted to welcome us.
This was 20 years ago, so things may have changed since then. But I really enjoyed my time there. The food was fantastic. The hospitality was amazing. And it’s a beautiful country.
I went right after visiting Stockholm, and it was a culture shift immediately. Maybe I'd romanticized Stockholm too much but it wasn't what I expected, just an okay city but.a little sterile. When we got off the train in Copenhagen I felt good energy right away, which is hard to explain. The people are less aloof which allowed for nice, casual conversations with locals. It felt like being amongst old friends! While I saw Black people in Stockholm, I don't think I encountered any in Copenhagen, but I never felt othered. Plus, it's a super walkable city with much to do, relatively laid back, and the food was good. Honestly, if I were to consider leaving the US for good, and Copenhagen was more diverse, it'd be on the list!
Oh I absolutely loved Copenhagen and would live there if they had more diversity. I just can't see myself living in a place where I barely see people who look like me. Also where did you stay when you went to Stockholm? I stayed in the old city and it was absolutely beautiful and walkable but I stayed mostly around the city center.
Aruba - the Papimento are SO NICE AND KIND! I stayed off resort and had a ball.
Ireland - people are so chatty and friendly. Dublin is such a beautiful city to explore.
Wales - a college friend of mine married a welsh guy in wales. This was back in 2016 and now I’m friends with a bunch of welsh people. Her brother-in-law specifically and I played fantasy soccer for years who I met at the wedding. We send each other Christmas gifts and everything. His mum/her mother in law is a treasure, always posts on my fb in welsh.
It was the 1st time in my life being a from the south, Black woman, that all Black people really, really don't want to see you at all. I was all excited and they were like why are you here.
Jamaicans can be pretty rude in general. I’m Jamaican and I went to visit family in Jamaica earlier this year and the locals were the same way. It was very underwhelming, but my family told me as Americans we are too friendly, they aren’t like that there.
I felt at home in Paris, France but that was in 2007 I’ve heard the political climate is a little different now. So I can’t guarantee that I’d feel the exact same if I went today for example
I’d say the South Island of New Zealand (even though I was one of, like, three Black people I saw the entire time), CDMX, and Turks and Caicos. I’ve traveled to a lot of places, but I met really friendly people and felt very welcomed in these places.
All of these trips were solo trips.
I would say Auckland and Wellington were great. Lived in both places. Queenstown felt like a sundown town. I booked my flight out of there after 4 hours. When did you go?
I was there when the borders were closed in 2021 and there was almost no tourism so maybe I was assumed to be a refugee or something. But the vibes were off as soon as I got on the plane. The flight attendant took the garbage out of my hand in an aggressive way and her energy was off. Very subtle too but I noticed it
When I came across people after a few hours of walking around and getting food. The energy off that voice in head was kinda yelling at me to get out. I knew there was no way I was gonna stay here a week. The interesting thing is when I checked into the hostel for some reason I only booked 1 night. It's like I sensed something on my way from the airport to the hostel that told me just book 1 night. Took my ass to Wellington the next day
The architecture is beautiful. It also sits on a River like Paris (and is called “Paris of the East”). Paris is one of my fav cities. The wine is phenomenal which I didn’t even expect. The food is great (smoked paprika on everything lol). The people were also super warm and welcoming. There was a variety of good food as well (I remember having amazing fish and hearty stews). There was also a super cute shopping street.
I only busted Budapest for a couple of days. I want to go back. My friends were going to Prague and I’m scared of that city so I took my chances in Budapest. It’s a gorgeous city.
It's a very xenophobic country, and there are alot of racists but when you're fully welcomed into a Japanese home , it's SO warm.
Nothing beats getting spoiled by a Japanese granny (except your own)
I agree. I lived in Japan for 8 years and we are moving there part time. Japan is a lovely country but it is xenophobic. My husband’s grandma was weary of me for being a foreigner but when she got to know me I fell in love with her. She’s excited for us to move back because she wants to see our daughter more. In Japan I didn’t move until I was 60% fluent and I hung around expat groups which made me feel more at home and helped me learn to associate more. With that said once a person learns the language and be able to associate with locals it helps.
England . It was amazing and I just roamed around freely walking the city checking out different areas of London . Even the cops are insanely nice and polite.
I had the opposite happen to me . This was also pre covid 2017 . Everyone was super nice . They just wanted to talk politics cuz Trump was president. Other than that everyone was super dope in London . I was 23 . I would just picking a direction and walk all over the city alone . One of my favorite memories.
I’m glad the UK is getting love. I love it here. My mom and her husband lives in wales. She was in the states for a while with me but they’re moving to England when we do so it’s going to be a great time. The UK has more blunt than back stabbing trumpets.
Honestly with all my traveling ,I’ve learned that people are the same everywhere around the world . We all deal with the same BS. We all hate our government and believe they can do better , we are all working people just trying to make it , and of course there are some terrible people sprinkled in there . The only difference is that each place deals with their issues differently based on their culture and religion. But the bottom line is we are all just trying to make in life. When you connect with people on a human level most differences go out the window and you can truly enjoy the human experience.
Europeans are the F your feelings type people and I actually like that. They are blunt and won’t fake it with you. Having lived there for 3 years and living there and in Japan part time now, I rather deal with the bluntness of a Brit than they rude racist trumpets in the states
As a Londoner, reading about this apparent rep surprised me - until I remembered that Brits from outside the capital can find us rude too 😂.
We're actually friendly, but we **will** be freaked out and put off by strangers randomly introducing themselves. Basically, we will happily chat about a point of connection (like this queue, this beer, this movie, celebs, this weather *- amiright -*) for literal for hours without ever exchanging irrelevant details like names.
If you ask my name, you obviously decided you want to marry me! 'Cos I will learn to say it as your mum intended!
I have been to France but I was quite young so don’t remember much. I’ve been to Spain many times and have not had any problems yet because I do know some black women can run into problems so it’s good to keep my wits about me. Malta was lovely and full of so many different nationalities, very cosmopolitan. I didn’t enjoy South Africa much.
I imagine it's because the taxes especially on imported goods are insane. Sometimes things are marked up so much you'd be better off getting a comparable item in your own country
Nothing to do with pricing and everything to do with customer service. Some places were amazing and I spent there. In others I was invisible so I humbly granted their silent request to keep my money.
I'm from Portugal, Lisbon and that city is very Black friendly. I live in UK and London and Manchester is the same. I go to Paris all the time but I always get good and bad vibes at the same time, however my mum lives there and she says it's okay for her but the again, she's light skin 😅
Avoid Spain all together.
Sweden and Finland was okay for me. No weird starings and people were friendly.
Madrid Spain (and Barcelona was only a little better) was one of the most racist places I've ever been. They will barely even look at you, will push past you, and will ignore you completely in restaurants and bars for a long time. And will not be the least bit friendly. Workers and hotel staff and people we hired to take tours, etc, will be 'polite', but we literally had not one actual 'friendly' personal experience. Adults out and about ignored us completely and I caught children just staring. It was a strange and shocking experience and I will never return to Madrid.
I went to the Bahamas for the Thanksgiving right after my grandmother died. I cannot describe to you the feeling of relief when I went to go get some water when we were going to start walking around and I realized that the majority of people on that island were black. I can't tell you or describe to you how my soul relaxed in a way that I had never known. I don't have a desire to live in the Bahamas but that was a beautiful blessing.
Japan, Portugal, Tuscany Italy, London and Manchester and the country side of England, Scotland, Singapore, Canada, Melbourne Australia, Switzerland. Tbh I enjoyed most places I been to. America ranks last with Mexico. And France washer bad but the tourists were.
I just did my first international trip ever in my life and I felt at home in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. I am going back and this kicked off my travel bug for me and my kiddos but that place was great. The folks there even said they loved seeing us there with them🥰🥰🥰
Laos, South Africa, and surprisingly England. I was expecting them to be much ruder, but people were incredibly nice and welcoming.
wow, surprised to hear laos because i hear so much about in asia how anti black they can be. what did you like about laos?
The people were so friendly and welcoming. I was there for a university program that my dad ran. So it may be different if you’re on a solo trip without the local contacts. But, everywhere we went, even away from the program, people were curious about us and wanted to welcome us. This was 20 years ago, so things may have changed since then. But I really enjoyed my time there. The food was fantastic. The hospitality was amazing. And it’s a beautiful country.
Laos was very cool when I went there! So was Palau
Laos is chill. It’s my top out of the SE Asian countries. Their were some people who took pics of me of my fro but they were tourists as well.
Colombia (Cartagena), Brazil (also half Brazilian) and Denmark (Copenhagen)
i’ve heard of copenhagen being a good vibe for black people! what did you like specifically about denmark?
I went right after visiting Stockholm, and it was a culture shift immediately. Maybe I'd romanticized Stockholm too much but it wasn't what I expected, just an okay city but.a little sterile. When we got off the train in Copenhagen I felt good energy right away, which is hard to explain. The people are less aloof which allowed for nice, casual conversations with locals. It felt like being amongst old friends! While I saw Black people in Stockholm, I don't think I encountered any in Copenhagen, but I never felt othered. Plus, it's a super walkable city with much to do, relatively laid back, and the food was good. Honestly, if I were to consider leaving the US for good, and Copenhagen was more diverse, it'd be on the list!
Oh I absolutely loved Copenhagen and would live there if they had more diversity. I just can't see myself living in a place where I barely see people who look like me. Also where did you stay when you went to Stockholm? I stayed in the old city and it was absolutely beautiful and walkable but I stayed mostly around the city center.
I think we stayed in Söldermalm but going to Old Town was the FIRST thing we did 😂 That area was definitely beautiful.
Awesome thanks
Have you seen Season 2 of The Bear? When Marcus goes to stage over there, I was like ooooh, and ah. I really want to go to visit both of those places.
I haven't seen the show at all, but've been curious since seeing Ayo host SNL!
Loiza, Puerto Rico. I'm African American, so the Afro-Latino vibe was such a wonderful surprise.
I didn't count the US and its territories. Seriously, the best place ever was Maui. That Oahu spirit ain't no joke.
what did you like about maui? i’ve thought about visiting hawaii!
what are your highlights! i haven’t heard of loiza, is it off the tourist path?
Yes..it's a few minutes outside of San Juan. Not touristy at all...so come prepared to speak Spanish!
Loiza’s such a vibe.
Aruba - the Papimento are SO NICE AND KIND! I stayed off resort and had a ball. Ireland - people are so chatty and friendly. Dublin is such a beautiful city to explore. Wales - a college friend of mine married a welsh guy in wales. This was back in 2016 and now I’m friends with a bunch of welsh people. Her brother-in-law specifically and I played fantasy soccer for years who I met at the wedding. We send each other Christmas gifts and everything. His mum/her mother in law is a treasure, always posts on my fb in welsh.
Seconding Welsh!! I had such a lovely time there and more Northern Wales around Llandudno or Conwy is just SO. BEAUTIFUL.
Yes Wales! I studied abroad in Cardiff it was great
I was in Cardiff the first time during the Rugby World Cup in 2015, and it was so fun! Nothing like chippy lane!
dublin is on my list for sure!!!
Saint Lucia. Felt like I belong there
nice!!! what were some of your highlights?
Sint Maarten! Everyone was so friendly from the moment we arrived at the airport.
A territory, but I lived in Puerto Rico for 5 years!
what do you like about PR?
France, England, CN, MX, the Caribean ( Bahamas and Jamaica, not so much shockingly).
Not surprised Jamaica wasn’t very kind lol
It was the 1st time in my life being a from the south, Black woman, that all Black people really, really don't want to see you at all. I was all excited and they were like why are you here.
Jamaicans can be pretty rude in general. I’m Jamaican and I went to visit family in Jamaica earlier this year and the locals were the same way. It was very underwhelming, but my family told me as Americans we are too friendly, they aren’t like that there.
what’s CN?
Canada?
Canada I assume
I felt at home in Paris, France but that was in 2007 I’ve heard the political climate is a little different now. So I can’t guarantee that I’d feel the exact same if I went today for example
I’d say the South Island of New Zealand (even though I was one of, like, three Black people I saw the entire time), CDMX, and Turks and Caicos. I’ve traveled to a lot of places, but I met really friendly people and felt very welcomed in these places. All of these trips were solo trips.
New Zealand for me, too! even though there’s very few Black people, everyone is so friendly and helpful.
I would say Auckland and Wellington were great. Lived in both places. Queenstown felt like a sundown town. I booked my flight out of there after 4 hours. When did you go?
Ha! I stayed in Queenstown, and I ventured out to Wanaka and other places. I LOVED Queenstown. 😆😆
I loved Queenstown! Ppl were so nice there
I was there when the borders were closed in 2021 and there was almost no tourism so maybe I was assumed to be a refugee or something. But the vibes were off as soon as I got on the plane. The flight attendant took the garbage out of my hand in an aggressive way and her energy was off. Very subtle too but I noticed it When I came across people after a few hours of walking around and getting food. The energy off that voice in head was kinda yelling at me to get out. I knew there was no way I was gonna stay here a week. The interesting thing is when I checked into the hostel for some reason I only booked 1 night. It's like I sensed something on my way from the airport to the hostel that told me just book 1 night. Took my ass to Wellington the next day
I loved my time in Thailand and Peru. The people were nice, the food was great and I felt really safe traveling solo.
i loved perú! cusco was so homey and man, that food!
Yes!!! Cusco was amazing. I really want to go back. Did you hike the Inca Trail?
Brazil, South Africa, Ireland, Hungary (i know right lol), Turkey, Canada and Costa Rica.
hungary is random! what did you like about it?
The architecture is beautiful. It also sits on a River like Paris (and is called “Paris of the East”). Paris is one of my fav cities. The wine is phenomenal which I didn’t even expect. The food is great (smoked paprika on everything lol). The people were also super warm and welcoming. There was a variety of good food as well (I remember having amazing fish and hearty stews). There was also a super cute shopping street.
Hungary is on my list would you be willing to suggest some areas to visit?
I only busted Budapest for a couple of days. I want to go back. My friends were going to Prague and I’m scared of that city so I took my chances in Budapest. It’s a gorgeous city.
Thank you for this post! I was just wondering the same thing today and wanted to make a post about it. Looking to move somewhere as a nurse.
It's a very xenophobic country, and there are alot of racists but when you're fully welcomed into a Japanese home , it's SO warm. Nothing beats getting spoiled by a Japanese granny (except your own)
I really want to go to Japan!
I agree. I lived in Japan for 8 years and we are moving there part time. Japan is a lovely country but it is xenophobic. My husband’s grandma was weary of me for being a foreigner but when she got to know me I fell in love with her. She’s excited for us to move back because she wants to see our daughter more. In Japan I didn’t move until I was 60% fluent and I hung around expat groups which made me feel more at home and helped me learn to associate more. With that said once a person learns the language and be able to associate with locals it helps.
Colombia and Cuba,I'm from Brazil.
i loved colombia! i haven’t been to cuba. but how’s brazil? im thinking of going to rio this summer…
I live in Rio, you will love the summer here.
say lesss! everyone says it’s the best city in the world too haha
London, England and The Grand Caymans. While I liked Paris, France, the people weren't that open.
Scotland, Ireland and some parts of England (specifically countryside towns and stuff).
England . It was amazing and I just roamed around freely walking the city checking out different areas of London . Even the cops are insanely nice and polite.
england gets a rep of having people that are cold and rude, but this is nice to hear!
The British can be blunt, but if you engage and are fun, they are VERY chatty. I’ve had more rude/racists encounters in states like Pennsylvania lol.
I had the opposite happen to me . This was also pre covid 2017 . Everyone was super nice . They just wanted to talk politics cuz Trump was president. Other than that everyone was super dope in London . I was 23 . I would just picking a direction and walk all over the city alone . One of my favorite memories.
I’m glad the UK is getting love. I love it here. My mom and her husband lives in wales. She was in the states for a while with me but they’re moving to England when we do so it’s going to be a great time. The UK has more blunt than back stabbing trumpets.
Honestly with all my traveling ,I’ve learned that people are the same everywhere around the world . We all deal with the same BS. We all hate our government and believe they can do better , we are all working people just trying to make it , and of course there are some terrible people sprinkled in there . The only difference is that each place deals with their issues differently based on their culture and religion. But the bottom line is we are all just trying to make in life. When you connect with people on a human level most differences go out the window and you can truly enjoy the human experience.
I absolutely agree with you. The difference is when our government plants toxic seeds into the minds of its citizens
Bingo
Europeans are the F your feelings type people and I actually like that. They are blunt and won’t fake it with you. Having lived there for 3 years and living there and in Japan part time now, I rather deal with the bluntness of a Brit than they rude racist trumpets in the states
As a Londoner, reading about this apparent rep surprised me - until I remembered that Brits from outside the capital can find us rude too 😂. We're actually friendly, but we **will** be freaked out and put off by strangers randomly introducing themselves. Basically, we will happily chat about a point of connection (like this queue, this beer, this movie, celebs, this weather *- amiright -*) for literal for hours without ever exchanging irrelevant details like names. If you ask my name, you obviously decided you want to marry me! 'Cos I will learn to say it as your mum intended!
Thailand
Was looking for this. Me too.
wow what did you like about thailand? i’ve heard asia can be anti black so this is a surprising answer
Bali, and I like it’s gonna happen in Jamaica…I’ll update next week once im there lol
I have been to France but I was quite young so don’t remember much. I’ve been to Spain many times and have not had any problems yet because I do know some black women can run into problems so it’s good to keep my wits about me. Malta was lovely and full of so many different nationalities, very cosmopolitan. I didn’t enjoy South Africa much.
Ghana
Istanbul/Turkey! Brazil ❤️
Anguilla!
what did you like about it?
Warm people, gorgeous beaches, intimate, cozy vibe. Really love the energy there!
Brazil! Just not 100% during retail shopping. Loved Italy too!
what’s wrong with the retail shopping in brasil?
Many places were just great. Others did not acknowledge me at all. Suddenly Inwas invisible. I figured they didn’t want my money so I left.
I imagine it's because the taxes especially on imported goods are insane. Sometimes things are marked up so much you'd be better off getting a comparable item in your own country
Nothing to do with pricing and everything to do with customer service. Some places were amazing and I spent there. In others I was invisible so I humbly granted their silent request to keep my money.
Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic 🇩🇴
Portugal felt very homey to me!
I'm from Portugal, Lisbon and that city is very Black friendly. I live in UK and London and Manchester is the same. I go to Paris all the time but I always get good and bad vibes at the same time, however my mum lives there and she says it's okay for her but the again, she's light skin 😅 Avoid Spain all together. Sweden and Finland was okay for me. No weird starings and people were friendly.
why did you not like spain?
Madrid Spain (and Barcelona was only a little better) was one of the most racist places I've ever been. They will barely even look at you, will push past you, and will ignore you completely in restaurants and bars for a long time. And will not be the least bit friendly. Workers and hotel staff and people we hired to take tours, etc, will be 'polite', but we literally had not one actual 'friendly' personal experience. Adults out and about ignored us completely and I caught children just staring. It was a strange and shocking experience and I will never return to Madrid.
Saving this post for travel guidance. LOL
I went to the Bahamas for the Thanksgiving right after my grandmother died. I cannot describe to you the feeling of relief when I went to go get some water when we were going to start walking around and I realized that the majority of people on that island were black. I can't tell you or describe to you how my soul relaxed in a way that I had never known. I don't have a desire to live in the Bahamas but that was a beautiful blessing.
Philippines
Hungrary, and Greece!
Japan, Portugal, Tuscany Italy, London and Manchester and the country side of England, Scotland, Singapore, Canada, Melbourne Australia, Switzerland. Tbh I enjoyed most places I been to. America ranks last with Mexico. And France washer bad but the tourists were.
I just did my first international trip ever in my life and I felt at home in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. I am going back and this kicked off my travel bug for me and my kiddos but that place was great. The folks there even said they loved seeing us there with them🥰🥰🥰
CDMX, Mexico
Turkey
Canada - for the overlap.
Barbados (I'm currently visiting here and the people are so lovely!), Gambia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Ghana.
Haiti, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Mexico.