You Are a Global Citizen: A Guided Journal for the Culturally Curious

by Damon Dominique

So you're here. The world dealt you a random card, and you're dealing with it.

Maybe right now is the first time you're even realizing you got dealt a card. You did! You Are A Global Citizen ignites your inner curiosity and provokes self-discovery through thought-provoking questions about the cultures you have experienced--including your own--all while helping you become a more inquisitive, aware, observant, and engaged world citizen.

Whether you've never left home, are studying at university, are looking to live and move abroad, or are simply curious about your own identity within a global society, this book will help you understand how the outside world impacts what's going on inside your mind, and vice versa.

In three sections covering your origins, your external environment and your internal environment, with space for reflection at the beginning and end, Damon Dominique, pioneer of the modern day social media travel scene and star of countless popular You Tube travel vlogs and documentaries, shares his insights and stories from a decade of globetrotting.

He guides you through questions such as, 'Would you be happy if you knew you had to live in your hometown for the rest of your life?', 'What culture or country do you remember romanticizing about as a kid?', and 'How do you feel about a global language?', with the ultimate goal of encouraging you to consider the fundamental questions about who you are, what culture is and what it means to live in a global society, beyond the borders of our minds and countries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Self Help, Society, Cultural, History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2023

About the author

American Youtuber and world traveler

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm.

I don't think I'm the right audience for this book. I would say that most people who regularly watch Damon aren't the right audience either.

The point of the book is (to me) to point out how your culture, specifically your geographic culture, molded everything that you are.

Most people, or at least just me, who watch Damon are aware of these to varying degrees so I feel like it didn't really do anything for me.

A point I wished he expanded on more was that being aware that you have these characteristics/thoughts/morals/etc. and knowing where they came from will allow you to choose if you want to align with them.

For me, Damon excels at storytelling, and with the amount of topics he tried to tackle, that left little room for stories. I think showing us these things would've been better than to try and get us to walk through it. Ultimately, I think if the amount of topics were cut down, that would've allowed more room for Damon's voice to stand out.

Overall, I think those who have no idea about Damon and randomly pick up this book will enjoy it more because they may not have thought about their culture influencing them as much as I feel his viewers have.

Not a bad book, but didn't do much for me.

[Anaïs Chatriot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I waited so long for this book...perhaps, despite being a fan of Damon, I should have expected this book to sound like a abysmal attempt at philosophy wherein the author does not acknowledge or is even aware of the philosophers who made famous the discussed ideas.

The formatting, the cover, the change of a font throughout the book (what even 😭), arbitrary punctuation or the lack of thereof, errors upon errors be they grammatical or orthographical (I really would have hoped someone would have helped Damon with these)...is just as abysmal. Have the editors been sleeping when they were proofreading this?

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just after the introduction, I realized I was not the target audience for this. If anything, I think Damon wrote this for his inner child, and for all the kids in the middle of nowhere that require a bit of wanderlust to AT LEAST get to the coasts of America.

I love Damon! Always have. Followed him from his days in LA, to France, and now to all the places he goes. And I like the guy because he actually takes the time in learning the language outside of all these travel youtubers who frame their narratives as "Living in So-and-So Place" or "So-and-So Diaries" and y'all, let's be real, that isn't living! Renting out an Airbnb for one or two months isn't living! It's, simply, tourism!!! But also, shameless plug, I've got a youtube channel come pull thru hehe.

But I was disappointed in this because the wine chats that I've enjoyed doesn't hit home in the writing. Perhaps writing isn't his craft and that's fine. He's a man of words, honest words, but best presented in his Ted-Talk kind of way. It's the presentation, the performance, the gesticulation in hand gestures that we best know him for.

But wine-chat questions here were lackluster. I've noted a few here that actually made me think twice about my own life:

- "𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘻𝘪𝘨𝘻𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘴."

- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥?"

- "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥? 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳?"

But even the content is lackluster. And I think because Damon was writing for the middle of America. And even then, I'm not sure those in the middle of America want/need globalization. Because it's culture that isn't culture for them. And I wonder how this bridge can be made.

If there's one thing I'll be taking home with me, it's this:

"𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?” 𝘢𝘴𝘬, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?”

It's a good date question. Offers an opening, one more generous than the frame we've asked it in. Let's be real, Damon is so smart and sexy for this very question.

brb gonna use this ? on my next tinder date

[Alexa (Alexa Loves Books)]

One of our family book club picks for the year! It’s actually going to be one of those situations where it works as a discussion starting point, as Dominique challenges readers to reflect on a series of different aspects that affect who you are, how you act and the choices you make too.

[Abdullah T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been watching Damon on youtube since 2014~, and I've been captivated in his growth and ability to pivot his life. I think because he was a youtuber though, I had low expectations for the writing just because while anyone can write a book, I think not everyone is a good writer. I was, however, pleasantly surprised! I think the book does a good job in telling you what it's aim and organization is. It's more of a manifesto/journal than a book. I think because he has so many stories, I would love to read a memoir or even a collection of vignettes from Damon. That being said, I think the book does a really good job in the prompts it asks. Like I said, I was concerned that the book was going to be a bunch of clichés, but I think the questions are really insightful. It's a nice book to purchase in that aspect because it's nice to have these prompts for whenever I have the time to fully flesh them out. I plan to write in my Notion the questions when I can. The central thesis for the manifesto is cultural relativism, and I think because I subscribe to cultural relativism, I really valued him talking about it through his lens. While anyone who took a Sociology 301 course might not be impressed, I really liked the book, and if I wanted to explain to anyone how I kind of think, I'd give them this book because it's a short read (I finished it in an hour.) There's definitely so many passages I highlighted and was aggressively texting my friend at 2 am. I got the book at midnight at my front door after I came back from studying lol.

[Sarah M · Rating 4 out of 5]

really interesting!

I was a bit unsure at first but it definitely made me consider some of my biases. I feel like a learned a fair bit from this one, was great to pose the same questions to friends as well!

[Bellkoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could recommend this book with a random sentence it would be: I would say that this book is like embarking on a journey within oneself. I adore how it made me reflect and observe the small things around me - especially having moved recently. I haven't been so invested in a book since ... actually, I can't recall the last time! 11/10

[Nuno Ribeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so this book is what I was expecting from Damon Dominique since I follow him for a really long time now. It’s pages of what he believes in about us being a “Global Citizen” which I agree we fundamentally are. I found interesting the way we ties along the Origins the Internal and the External aspects that essentially makes us who we are as citizens of the world. Points where made with this book and there’s so many interesting lines of thought, I just wish they were more in depth. Either way this a nice book that makes u reflect, you got ‘em Damon ✨

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who has been following Damon for like almost a decade now, the contents of this guide are almost always what you've already known from his videos and mini-documentaries, but in book form. Divided into different contents and all aspects that involve traveling, his thoughts and personal philosophies are often highlighted. The check-ins and questions at the end of each chapter were helpful also. One comment is that there were some minor grammatical errors, but overall a decent guide. I'd really like this to be adapted into a full-on TV series because Damon's visual storytelling and editing are his strengths that could potentially make this even more enjoyable to digest.

[Skyler Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Damon. I would've preferred more about his experiences and less journal questions but interesting nonetheless

[Jstrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sidney bought me and I did it in Dakar. I didn’t fill everything out but it was thought provoking!

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damon Dominique is one of my absolute favorite YouTubers. His openness to other cultures and languages and his sense of humor is something I already appreciated on his old YouTube channel (shared with a co-host) “Shut Up And Go”. Because of him I was so excited to go see the world and to just shut up and go by myself. Because why not.

Now, after years of watching Damon become more and more philosophical and questioning life I was super stoked when I heard he was writing a book. Or better said a guided journal.

“You Are A Global Citizen” is a book you can use as a diary while traveling or just while reflecting your own and other people’s cultures. Each chapter has a few pages of Damon’s thoughts on said topic and then is followed by lots of questions that you can answer. I didn’t write anything down in this book as I personally really don’t like doing that. But I thought about lots of the questions and most of them really made me think back to past travel experiences, my childhood and what beliefs I grew up with. Which is awesome!

I just hoped to get much more of Damon’s funny stories that he likes to share online. Unfortunately there were only about 3 or 4 in the whole book (as far as I can remember) But I guess that’s why Damon has a YouTune channel! He talks about him and his experiences there and this book is more about getting to know ourselves. I was just missing a bit of his humor and style I see online while reading this. But over in all, I enjoyed it a lot and might be using the questions for future travels. 4/5 stars

[Valentina Soler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads more like an essay

[Ma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for travellers, not for Expats.

This book is thought-provoking and beneficial for many readers.
The author presents interesting prompts that stimulate thinking.

However, I made the mistake of not fully understanding the book's layout before purchasing it. Each topic consists of a brief page or two explanation by the author, followed by several pages of prompts and then the next topic is introduced.
My main concern is that the book lacks follow-up on the answers and the author's insights, which are impactful but brief. For instance, there is a prompt about racism. One person may write how implicit biases effect everyone and they recognise how their upbringing fed these ideas, whilst another person may declare they can't be racist as they have a black friend. In any case, these answers and never challenged and the reader gains nothing.

As an expat balancing multiple cultural identities whilst now belonging to neither, I had hoped for resolution or insights from the author's similar experiences. However, the book appears to be more suitable for individuals residing in their home country who wish to gain a deeper understanding of their own worldview.

[Victoria Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic literary debut from Damon Dominique.

“…When we’re undoubtedly seeking exotic destinations we’re not familiar with, more accurately, we’re seeking adventures that serve as reminders that our life is happening now.”

I’ve been a fan of Damon’s for a little more than a decade now so I knew his long-awaited book was sure not to disappoint. And this book definitely delivered - deep, thought-provoking questions seamlessly interspersed with his own anecdotes from his travels. I love traveling and learning about different cultures already, but I still appreciated the questions he raised in his book regarding everything I’ve known and taken for granted. A wonderful and quick read, perfect for anyone who is interested in travel, culture, and language. I hope he continues writing!

[Pearl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one: I feel like people that follow Damon on Youtube, like me, are probably not the right audience for this.

If you travelled a lot, lived abroad and/or were brought up in a culturally diverse household/community I feel like a lot of the questions being asked in this book were somewhat redundant. I expected a book with more input from his own experiences rather than a generalized travel guide with some bits and pieces of his travels.

However, I do think it could be valuable to people who are simply not that aware of cultural differences and barriers but then again... Why would they be interested in picking up a book like this anyways?

This book did add some new interesting conversation starters on my list so I will definitely use them to get to know new people and their outlook on life 😉

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love and appreciate this book, and I won't say it was bad, but it wasn't good either.
Firstly, it is very Dominique-esque and discusses observations and theories of culture, geographical that is, and the if's and but's, and perhapses.
I did my best to fill out the questions, but I quickly learned that I didn't have the patience.
Being born in one country, but having parents from another (vastly different) already had me doing epilogues of those cultural differences, before I could even get to answering the questions themselves.
And yes, that in itself is culturally interesting, but.... Who has the time!
I managed to fill out a fifth of the book, the rest was only read. Fun anecdotes, a nice little read, but I wasn't blown away.

[Christey Nolds]

Damon is that person who you want to become best friends with and I have so many reasons for that.
About the book though...
I am not kidding - I have been going through stuff and after reading (and writing in) the first few pages - I AM HEALED. I was thinking... Wait. Why do I feel... Cool? Why do I feel like I had the best therapy session in ma room, on ma bed, in 20 mins??

Thanks, Damon. You are literally my favourite person on the Internet and it would be a dream to meet you, so I am hoping to see you on the book tour in London! (or anywhere else in the world) :)

[Kaitlyn Wessels · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love damon and think he produces amazing work, but this book just wasn’t for me. I felt like I had already posed these questions to myself after living abroad for some time and generally being open-minded. I’d like to gift this book to some of my family members lol but I don’t think those that are in damon’s audience already need this supplement. Where I did find it entertaining was flipping through to talk through some of the questions with friends. A little disappointed :/ Wish he would write something more centered around his experiences.

[Jezebel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift from a fellow global citizen friend, they gave it to me saying this was their "bible".
I've been following Damon's channel for the past year so was super excited to dive into his book.

To be fair, it's a great set of questions but as a 28 yo binational who has lived in 6 countries already and thinks about such things on the daily, I fear I was not the target audience. Very few questions made me think deeply.

However, I FULLY recommend to someone younger starting this journey.