96: Founding NOMADNESS Travel Tribe for Black and Brown World-Travelers with Evita Turquoise Robinson
Aug 19, 2020
Evita Turquoise Robinson shares her story of how a transformative trip to France for a film workshop would change her life trajectory and set her on a path to live in Japan, Thailand and beyond. She opens up about her experience being the only Black person in a small Japanese town teaching English but how some of the cultural exchanges with her students had a lasting impact on the rest of her life. Evita then shares the tragedy of losing one of her best friends in a motorcycle accident, but how she gained a guardian angel and permission to pursue her dreams. She explains the intensity of “reverse culture shock” when she returned to The Bronx, and how she founded NOMADNESS Travel Tribe to create the community that she needed of like-minded travelers of color. Evita shares her entrepreneurial journey of growing NOMADNESS into a business with multiple streams of income, all while creating a supportive community for Black and Brown travelers and challenging under-representation in the travel industry. She explains the importance of Black travel spaces, as well as the importance of acknowledging “intersectionality” around age, disability, gender and sexual orientation, and providing a platform for discussing diverse experiences within the Black travel community. Evita then talks about launching “Audacity Fest” as an in-person gathering for travelers of color before successfully pivoting to a virtual format as “Audacity Digi” after COVID-19. She also shares her experience in the TED Residency and what it was like giving the first TED Talk on the Black Travel Movement. And finally, Evita offers suggestions on how white people can be better allies. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT: www.TheMaverickShow.com