Anyone who travels on a so-called “developed world” or “first world” passport, i.e. US, Canada, Europe, etc. may not understand what the big deal is on traveling on a Kenyan passport – usually categorized under the “third world” or “developing world”. I’ve always wondered why there’s no “second world”so my country could probably aspire to get there.
What's Covered in This Article
Challenges of Travelling on a Kenyan Passport
Anyhow, travelling on a Kenyan passport brings with it a host of challenges. Some of these include:
- As a Kenyan, you can only travel to 68 of the world’s 193 countries without a visa. And visa fees are not cheap. And this is worsened by the fact that visa fees are non-refundable even in instances when the visa is denied. Other times, one has to deal with the challenge of a limited time – single entry visa. Therefore, that means that each time you want to travel, you must go back to the said embassy’s consulate. This not only comes along with cost implications but also time constraints. Most times, one has to take the entire morning off to process the visas.
- Discrimination and ill-treatment by some airline staff. Due to persistent wars and civil strife in most African states, some misinformed people tend to think that every other black girl or boy at an airport is seeking political asylum. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, ask Mrs Culberton who claims to have suffered racial discrimination in the hands of AirAsia staff at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok. The general lack of people of color in travel narrative has also perpetrated the drama.Check out this post entitled The Lack of Black in Travel Blogging and Travel Media by my my favorite travel blogger Oneika.
- Air travel in Kenya is considered a luxury hence attracts a very high ticket cost. This includes both domestic and international travel – even within Africa itself. Hotel accommodation isn’t cheap either. From experience, most times my travel and accommodation costs have been internationally than domestically.
With that backdrop therefore, let’s delve on
How to travel most of the world on a Kenyan passport:
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Consider the visa free countries or visa on arrival for Kenyan Passport holders
As I’ve already stated above, as at 2017, Kenyan passport holders can visit 68 countries of the world without the need for a visa or that issue a visa on arrival. Thus, by prioritizing your travel plans on these countries – most of which are in Africa – not only prepares you for travel to further off places but also prepares your candidature as well-traveled for future visa applications. Most embassies need applicants for tourist visas to show that they have previously been avid travelers.Besides, you could also benefit from the reduced costs due to foregone visa fees, and if you’re lucky, cheaper costs of living.
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Apply for longer term multiple visa
Luck favors the prepared mind – Louis Parker
Whenever possible, and depending on your circumstances, apply for a longer term, multiple visa rather than a single short term visa. Even though sometimes costly in terms of visa fees, in the long run, it is “cheaper” in terms of peace of mind, and the ability it gives you to take advantage of impromptu airfare and hotel sales. Personally for instance, I always make sure that I have a valid American visa and Schengen visa on hand at all times to enable me jump onto the next error fare or sale.
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Network Network Network
In these days of social media, there is no excuse as to why you should not keep in touch with your friends, family, and acquaintances. This takes away from the awkwardness of asking for “free” accommodation or city tour from someone you last communicated with a decade ago. One advantage of being in touch is that sometimes you don’t even have to ask. You get asked instead.
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Subscribe for airline fare and hotel booking alerts
As already mentioned above, air tickets originating from Kenya are quite pricey. Hence, it is a great disaster to pay the full ticket price for a destination just because you missed a recent sale. Just a reminder though, most cheap tickets have their downsides including long airport layovers, or multiple stops. With proper planning, these shouldn’t be a big deal as is elaborated below.
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Take advantage of free international stopovers and/or long layovers on connecting flights
As mentioned above, most cheap tickets usually include multiple stops and/or long layovers. Personally, I prefer airlines -such as Turkish Airlines, Emirates, etc – that offer free international stopovers on connecting flights. For instance, a Kenyan passport holder with a round trip ticket on Turkish Airlines and a valid Schengen or American visa only need to get a Turkish visa for $50- either online through this link or on arrival at the self-service kiosks at the airport – and take advantage of the free stop over in Istanbul before proceeding to their onward destination. I do it all the time on my long-haul flights to the US. Instead of doing a 24 hour all at once, I do 6.5 hours from Nairobi to Istanbul, then 2 days in Istanbul – at no extra ticket cost – then continue on.
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Just do it
Many are the people have met who for the longest time have been wishing they could travel more. Well, just do it. From making that visa application, to the embassy appointment, to booking that air ticket and hotel booking. If you don’t submit your visa application, how will you get it? If you don’t book that airline ticket, how will you get to your destination. And it doesn’t matter if friends and family don’t want to travel just yet. Go alone. Trust me, its doable. I have traveled to more places – internationally – than with family and/or friends. And in my experience, though there are nasty people out there, most people are naturally nice and just want to help. And after all is said and done, who cares, its your hard earned money that is taking you places – I hope so- so just ignore the rotten tomatoes and focus on the good things – and good people.
Overall, I hope this article has been of help to you and are now ready to kick more countries out of your bucket list in 2018.
If you’d like to share with our readers how you travel on Kenyan passport, do so in the comments below.
Photo by pina messina on Unsplash
