Houstonia Magazine
329 NE Couch Street, Suite 200
Portland, OR 97232
By Brooke A. Lewis
Image: Houstonia Composite/Shutterstock.com
Andrea Jones travels the world because she knows there might be a time when she can’t. With a desire to take in as much as she can, her adventures have ranged from admiring the historic architecture in Barcelona to relaxing on a beach staycation in Galveston.
The 41-year-old Houstonian says her limited time on earth became even more precious last year, when one of her close friends, who also loved to travel, passed away unexpectedly after developing a heart condition. They were the same age.
The loss made Jones rethink how she wanted to spend her time. “I don’t want to look up and have those moments pass me by,” Jones says. “I see people all the time say that, ‘Oh, I wish—I want to.’ You never know what could happen. Anything could happen.”
Jones is now part of a growing group of African Americans across the country who are prioritizing travel. According to a study by MMGY Travel Intelligence, more than 76 percent of Black travelers planned to take a domestic vacation in 2025, a trend that continues to fuel the US economy. The global research company also reported that in 2023, Black leisure travelers spent $145 billion and accounted for 11 percent of the US leisure travel market. But for Black travelers, that enthusiasm often comes paired with calculation.
For generations, travel wasn’t simply about where Black Americans wanted to go—it was about where they were allowed to stop. During the Jim Crow era, Black families relied on The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide published from 1936 through the mid-1960s, to identify hotels, restaurants, and service stations where they could safely eat, sleep, and refuel without harassment or violence fueled by racism. While segregation laws are gone, the instinct to vet destinations remains deeply ingrained. Today, that vetting happens online.
Black travelers like Jones say the current momentum can be attributed to greater access to travel, changing social norms, and the rise of social media. With sprawling networks, platforms like Facebook have built communities where people candidly share travel experiences and recommendations throughout Texas and beyond. Thousands of members in groups like Black Girl Solo Travels and Black Travel Movement dish on everything from the food and lodging to customer service—and, crucially, how they were treated. For Black travelers, especially in a politically charged time, such details are not optional—they’re essential. “There are more tools that assist you in planning,” Jones says. “The fact that we can see it on social media and see that it’s possible has opened up the eyes of a lot of people to say, ‘Hey, I can do this.’”
Traveling solo has also become a celebrated movement, particularly among Black women, as reflected in shows like Roku’s Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross. Viewers get a glimpse of the Black-ish actress venturing solo, traversing mountaintops and valleys, taking a refreshing dip in a pool in Mexico, battling food poisoning in Spain, feeling lonely after a glamorous solo dinner in Morocco, and indulging in french fries as she takes out her braids in her hotel. Ross’s series became so popular that it earned a second season and is now Roku’s most-watched unscripted show in the platform’s history.
Jones says she developed her appreciation for solo travel after her divorce in 2017. Once accustomed to traveling with her ex-husband and children, she pushed past discomfort during her healing and began to embrace independence. “Satisfying your need for travel is getting out of it what you choose to get out of it,” says Jones. “And not how far you went.” Her trips now commonly include hiking excursions and destinations by the water. “It was definitely [about] finding what works for you, what makes you happy, loving your alone time,” Jones says. Still, solitude comes with strategy.
Safety remains a top concern. Armed with notebooks filled with potential itineraries, Jones, a self-professed meticulous planner, spends hours researching hotels and destinations, often choosing luxury hotel chains and private drivers. She books group excursions and tours for the social interaction, but she’s always careful not to share too many personal details, she says. Sometimes, she’ll even make calls while dining alone or tell people she has a friend staying with her in her hotel room.
Others prefer traveling in numbers. Cypress couple Deanna, 61, and James Holt, 51, average three to four trips a year, often joining group tours and spending one annual vacation in the Caribbean with extended family. For Deanna, the motivation is simple: “Just wanting to see the world—wanting to get out and experience different cultures and see how other people live outside of the United States.”
Her travel journey began with Black Travelers International, an Atlanta-based travel agency that organizes luxury vacations for Black women 40 and up, complete with structured itineraries, flexible payment plans, and curated cultural experiences.
Deanna first traveled with the agency to Cartagena, Colombia, in 2023, and later to Ghana with her husband. The Ghana trip left a lasting impression. Deanna still tears up thinking about a special naming ceremony, where she was dressed in white and African garb. “When you walk into the room to get dressed, the first thing they say is ‘Welcome home,’” says Deanna, noting that she felt a “sense of belonging.… It was emotional for me.”
For James, it was a tour of the slave dungeons in Ghana that stuck with him. He felt the magnitude of being in the same place as his ancestors. The couple’s trip also coincided with AfroFuture, a multiday cultural festival celebrating African fashion, music, and art.
For some, travel becomes a way to serve others. Following her solo journeys, Jones most recently planned a trip to Galveston for her 21-year-old daughter and her boyfriend. The Holts have become travel hosts for Black Travelers International. In 2025, they led a group through London and Paris, where they marveled at the Eiffel Tower’s beauty at night and visited landmarks tied to Black history, including Langston Hughes’s former apartment and the many hotels James Baldwin frequented while writing.
While many of these trips extend abroad, Houston itself is becoming a draw. Nearly 54 million people visited Houston in 2024, contributing $16.6 billion to the local economy. Brandon Suggs, a Georgia resident and member of the Facebook group Black Folks Travel Too!, rang in 2024 in Houston with his wife. They dined at the now-closed Turkey Leg Hut and Trill Burgers, cruised through Aquatic Playground on jet cars, explored Galveston by golf cart, and ventured to the Bolivar Peninsula by ferry. Suggs even went “snuba diving,” a mixture of snorkeling and scuba diving, at the Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve, and admired the Texas-shaped lazy river at the Marriott Marquis Downtown.
“I feel that Black people, culturally, we love to travel more. We love to push the [buttons] more and live outside the box that’s surrounded us for a long time,” Suggs says.
Jones, who belongs to online groups focused on family travel, where Black parents share trips taken with their children, says that being able to see others’ experiences expands what feels possible.
“At the end of the day, we have to continue to pass on to the next generation what we’re capable of,” Jones says. Traveling builds confidence—not just to explore new places, but to imagine new futures. “The main point being ‘I can,’” Jones says. “It starts with showing and proving that it’s possible.”
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