DETROIT (WXYZ) — She smiles just as big when talking about her days at Shrine of the Little Flower as she does her dazzling time on the beaches of Maldives.
A woman with Ugandan roots is making history by taking the humility of her Detroit upbringing to every country on the globe.
At age 39, Jessica Nabongo is the first African American woman to travel to all 195 countries.
Nabongo, a former Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations worker, is back home in Detroit for a bit, which is her favorite place to be.
To hear her complete list of travel destinations means hearing the name of every country in the world. She says we are far more similar than different.
“I’ve realized over time, it’s less about me,” she said. “I’ve become the blueprint for a lot of people and I’m grateful for that because it’s allowed a lot of people to remove their fear. And I’m not just saying Black women — (people) of all races.”
She traveled to most places alone but with an open mind and heart that shows up more than her skin color.
“People often ask me ‘where is it safe to travel as a Black person?’ And I think more than my blackness, a lot of my travels are colored by the fact that I’m African-appearing. Usually, I’m bald. And so, that has had an affect in terms of immigration.
"But I say to everyone ‘is there racism in the world?’ Have I let it stop me from seeing the world? Absolutely not. So for me, I really try to encourage people don’t try to figure out which countries are best for Black (people.) Go anywhere you want to go. Go with a positive attitude, go with positive energy and you’re going to receieve that back.”
If you can't make it around the world, you can make it there in the pages of her new book titled "The Catch Me If You Can," where Nabongo takes you on her travel journey in the order she experienced it through the lens of her own camera.
“It’s 100 stories from 100 countries, and it was amazing just putting it together,” she said.
From the jaw-dropping view of her east side condominium, Nabongo rests on her Ugandan-Detroit roots with the wind beneath her travel wings.
“I started traveling internationally with my family at the age of 4, and I came back from Antarctica a week ago,” Nabongo said with a smile.
With dozens more flights to get in this year for her book tour, Nabongo is also focused on her next chapter.
“So, my 40th birthday is in May and I’m on a mission to finish my last six states before my 40th.
The last six states she wants to visit before turning 40 are Alaska, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.
Soon she’ll have a cookbook out with 75 recipes from 75 countries, inspired by her vast food memory that will highlight all the rich flavors and cultures of Detroit.
When asked what's the common thread between people, especially Americans, she said there’s more good people than there are bad people, and we’re all the same under the surface once we get past what’s on top of that.
