The Conversation We Need to Have

This post covers material that most travel guides treat with uncomfortable vagueness or avoid entirely. We are going to address it directly because the travelers who most need this information — Black travelers, South Asian travelers, other travelers of color, LGBTQ+ travelers, travelers with disabilities — deserve the honest preparation that allows them to navigate the world with both their eyes open and their spirits intact.

Racism abroad is not the same as racism at home. It is not always smaller; it is not always larger. It is different — in its forms, its frequency, its social meaning, and the practical response it calls for. Understanding these differences allows you to travel without being either naive (assuming that leaving the US means leaving racism) or paralyzed (assuming that racism is so omnipresent abroad as to not be worth attempting).

The Forms of Racism You Will Encounter

Curiosity-Based Attention

In parts of Southeast Asia, East Asia, Eastern Europe, and rural areas in many regions, a visibly Black or South Asian traveler may attract attention that is primarily curiosity-based rather than hostility-based. Staring, requests for photographs, questions about your hair or skin — these behaviors are often genuinely curiosity-driven in contexts where diverse travelers are genuinely rare rather than societally marginalized.

This does not make them comfortable or acceptable from a consent perspective. But misreading curiosity-based attention as hostility creates unnecessary fear and impedes the genuine connections that those same contexts often offer. Context matters enormously: a child in rural Vietnam who has never seen a Black person staring at you is a different phenomenon from a drunk adult in a European city making derogatory comments.

Anti-Blackness in East Asia

Anti-Blackness is present in several East Asian societies in ways that are distinct from Western racism. It is shaped differently by history, by colorism (skin tone hierarchies within Asian societies), by media representation, and by economic relationships. Black travelers in China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam report experiences ranging from professional exclusion (the TEFL market example we addressed in the jobs guide) to explicit hostility to simple curious discomfort. The experience varies dramatically by city tier, by context, and by individual personality.

Colorism Globally

Colorism — differential treatment of people based on skin tone within communities of shared racial background — is present in virtually every formerly colonized society in the world. Dark-skinned South Asians navigating India, dark-skinned Afro-Latinos navigating Latin America, dark-skinned East Africans navigating tourism industries that market light-skinned East Africans — colorism creates a layer of complexity that supplements racial dynamics rather than replacing them.

Strategies That Work

• Research from community members before you go: The specific experience of Black travelers in a specific destination, in a specific year, with a specific type of trip is the most valuable preparation you can access. Facebook groups, blog posts, YouTube vlogs, and community forums with recent contributions from Black travelers to your destination are not optional supplementary reading — they are primary research.
• Know your legal protections (and their limits): Some countries have meaningful anti-discrimination legal frameworks; others do not. Knowing whether discrimination in accommodation or service is actionable in your destination gives you practical options if you experience it.
• Build community into your itinerary: Knowing there are other travelers of color in your destination city, knowing where the community spaces are, knowing one or two names of people who can provide support if something goes wrong — this preparation transforms the psychological experience of navigating difficult situations.
• Practice selective engagement: You are not obligated to educate every person who says something ignorant. You are not required to represent your entire demographic. You are allowed to decide, in each specific situation, whether to engage, deflect, or simply leave. This selective engagement is not avoidance — it is wisdom about how to protect your own energy on a long journey.