A cursory glance at social media updates reveal a quite depressing situation.
The most common pattern for a Kenyan to unwind is head out to some random Naivasha campsite on a drinking spree.
Nothing against how you choose to spend your money.
Nothing against Naivasha.
Actually, Naivasha is one of my most favorite places to go for a quick day trip from Nairobi.
All I’m saying is that there’s opportunity to do more with less.
As long as you have hopes, dreams, a plan.
On the flip side, rarely does even our own local mainstream media celebrate our very own Kenyan voyageurs.
Instead, the typical tourist, even in our local establishments, is almost always depicted as a blonde mzungu.
Whenever there’s a black Kenyan, there’s almost always an old white sponsor.
#tagyoursponsor
Or it’s usually tagged as a #sponsored trip.
Again, I have nothing against influencers.
We all actually are, in our own small ways.
If you extend your horizon further global, Kenyans are also characteristically missing in the international travel discourse.
For whatever reason, Kenyans are not part of the wider global mainstream travel narrative either.
I believe that there is no better time to act on the silent burden that should resonate with every patriotic Kenyan when it comes to representing this great nation.
That is, the acknowledgment that by getting out of these borders more, we get a chance to either perpetuate, or diffuse the biases already placed on us by those who are currently telling the Kenyan story on our behalf.
This could be negative media depictions of a war – ton Kenya;
or the foreigner who spends 48 hours in Nairobi and then believes that they know how to travel Kenya like a local;
or your local government representative on a learning mission abroad;
Or even others from nations with melanin abundance.
Personally, I have lost count of the number of times I have traveled abroad and when people learn that I’m Kenyan, they immediately conclude that I am a Maasai, that I can run a marathon, and that I’m running away from the war in Kenya…
#IfikieMatian’gi
And then without permission, shamelessly starts to caress my hair (because I’m the first exotic breed of humanity to ever land in their universe) as they innocently wonder aloud, how many days it took me to walk from Africa to the US.
#dead #niokotwe
True story!
Seriously though, and with all due respect to members of the Maasai community, I don’t have a red Maasai shuka.
Never owned one.
I love it more on other people.
You can actually get yourself one here.
And just for the record, there’s 40+ very interesting and dynamic ethnic groups in Kenya besides the Maasai who account for just about 0.7 percent of Kenya’s population.
Furthermore, in case you’ve been hiding under a mugumo tree, Kenya Airways, the national carrier has started selling tickets for the inaugural and subsequent non-stop flight between Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and New York’s JFK Airport.
Oh, and by the way, Africa is not a country.
Comparing apples with oranges.
So you probably should have asked how long it took to walk from Kenya.
And the scope of this post doesn’t permit me to narrate that time when my son was CHATTING IN ENGLISH, with a fellow 10 year old traveler from France, and he kept asking my son – not once, not twice – whether he speaks English.
Like seriously!
And it’s not their fault.
That’s the narrative they’ve been exposed to.
But this is pretty much what travelling while black, and Kenyan, is like.
Although such encounters tend to be frustrating, and sometimes borderline infuriating; they also open doors for us to offer some much needed education.
Every single trip outside the borders of Kenya offers you, the average mwananchi, a golden opportunity to contribute your unique Kenyan voice and opinion to the important discourses that will ultimately help shape and influence world history.
One way or the other.
A leisure trip abroad is an opportunity to share our truths as we know them, and to set the record straight.
A chance to tell a more accurate narrative of the Kenyan story.
From the horse’s mouth.
That we’re not all corrupt. Some of us actually genuinely work hard.
That we’re not all always running away from something.
That sometimes we just want to spend our hard – earned money on experiences.
That #wegotoo.
That sometimes, actually more often than not, we – gorgeous Kenyan girls – do go unaccompanied…
Not because we are lonely.
Not because we are economic refugees.
Not because we’re illegal immigrants.
Or drug peddlers.
But because we take wise counsel seriously…
Travel only with thy equals. Or thy betters. If there are none, travel alone
– The Dhammapada
Hey, I’m looking at you Mr. immigration officer with a sniffer dog who is always picking on me from a thousand others at airport arrivals.
#shindwe!
Just because I’m traveling solo; and rocking twisted braids; and my flawless skin is melanin abundant and as tight as a bolt of fine cloth.
#nasiringi
Increasing the Kenyan globetrotter’s presence in mainstream travel narratives is a first step towards propelling the story of melanin abundance in international leisure travel.
It is indeed a first step towards helping to perpetuate the accurate narrative:
That Kenyan citizens, and people of color in general, too, do visit exotic locations for LEGAL REASONS such as leisure, relaxation and fun.
The mission of the EvaMtalii brand is to inspire Kenyans to think outside the box when it comes to traveling for leisure.
And to constantly remind you that you only live once but if you live well, once is enough.
Throughout this blog, I share tips, hacks, and guides on to how travel with your world famous ‘shit hole’ aka ‘powerless’ Kenyan passport.
I want to change the way Kenyans think about leisure travel.
I’m sick of hearing that you need connections or to be attached to some old mzungu or a ka sponsor to see the world.
This beautiful world belongs to us all.
See as much of it as you possibly can.
And if for no other reason, do it in honor of my all time travel crush.
As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly. You leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful.
– Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018)
RIP Boo.
Keep contemplating on his words.
In the mean time, I, together with all the other globetrotting Kenyans, will keep heeding to his subtle reminder.
We’re gonna be biting the bullet on your behalf and taking some BS for the rest of y’all.
Hopefully by the time you finally get the courage and resources to cross those borders, the narratives will have been aligned.
And you will get a better reception than we currently do…
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