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The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World
In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo—the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world—shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.
It was a daunting task, but Jessica Nabongo, the beloved voice behind the popular website The Catch Me if You Can, made it happen, completing her journey to all 195 UN-recognized countries in the world in October 2019. Now, in this one-of-a-kind memoir, she reveals her top 100 destinations from her global adventure.
Beautifully illustrated with many of Nabongo's own photographs, the book documents her remarkable experiences in each country, including:
A harrowing scooter accident in Nauru, the world’s least visited country,
Seeing the life and community swarming around the Hazrat Ali Mazar mosque in Afghanistan,
Horseback riding and learning to lasso with Black cowboys in Oklahoma,
Playing dominoes with men on the streets of Havana,
Learning to make traditional takoyaki (octopus balls) from locals in Japan,
Dog sledding in Norway and swimming with humpback whales in Tonga,
A late night adventure with strangers to cross a border in Guinea Bissau,
And sunbathing on the sandy shores of Los Roques in Venezuela.
Along with beloved destinations like Peru and South Africa, you'll also find tales from far-flung corners and seldom visited destinations, including Tuvalu, North Korea, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Nabongo's stories are love letters to diversity, beauty, and culture—and most of all, to the people she meets along the way. Throughout, she offers bucket-list experiences for other travel-lovers looking to follow in her footsteps.
For armchair travelers or readers planning a trip around the globe, this arresting collection will awe and inspire!
It was a daunting task, but Jessica Nabongo, the beloved voice behind the popular website The Catch Me if You Can, made it happen, completing her journey to all 195 UN-recognized countries in the world in October 2019. Now, in this one-of-a-kind memoir, she reveals her top 100 destinations from her global adventure.
Beautifully illustrated with many of Nabongo's own photographs, the book documents her remarkable experiences in each country, including:
A harrowing scooter accident in Nauru, the world’s least visited country,
Seeing the life and community swarming around the Hazrat Ali Mazar mosque in Afghanistan,
Horseback riding and learning to lasso with Black cowboys in Oklahoma,
Playing dominoes with men on the streets of Havana,
Learning to make traditional takoyaki (octopus balls) from locals in Japan,
Dog sledding in Norway and swimming with humpback whales in Tonga,
A late night adventure with strangers to cross a border in Guinea Bissau,
And sunbathing on the sandy shores of Los Roques in Venezuela.
Along with beloved destinations like Peru and South Africa, you'll also find tales from far-flung corners and seldom visited destinations, including Tuvalu, North Korea, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Nabongo's stories are love letters to diversity, beauty, and culture—and most of all, to the people she meets along the way. Throughout, she offers bucket-list experiences for other travel-lovers looking to follow in her footsteps.
For armchair travelers or readers planning a trip around the globe, this arresting collection will awe and inspire!
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2022
332 people are currently reading
9528 people want to read
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January 23, 2023
Well, this is awkward.
The trouble with analyzing the autobiographical is that one is also, to some extent, analyzing the person. And that just seems rude, right? Thinking of the autobiographies I have read, I try to tread that fine line, but I confess I drift into murky waters with the public personas, the people who deliberately live their lives on-camera. The Gen-Xer, anti-establishment, and introvert in me can't imagine such a choice, but it seems to me that in becoming a brand or a product, one has opened oneself up to deconstruction of what that brand is, right? Since this book is based on Nabongo's long-standing blog and Instagram of the same name (she describes herself early on as a "content creator"), I will proceed.
The book itself is a pleasure; solid, photo-focused, high-quality paper with large color photos on nearly every page. Although it does not have an entry for each of the 195 countries she visited, it highlights many of them in rough chronological order. It also includes a nice introduction to the book, an epilogue, a list of the 195 countries with year visited, and a suggested bucket list for the reader. Each section has small detail map of the country highlighted within the continent it is located, which I appreciated a great deal as a geography-challenged American. There's also small sidebars, in the manner of some of the Dummies books, with 'Tips,' extra explanations, and 'Must Do/See,' but these are infrequent. Kudos to the design team.
As the book takes place in chronological order, and it takes some time to travel all these places, it is, in many senses, also a rough journal of Jessica's life changes. In a strange way, it goes from simple to complex, as Jessica is young when she starts and the countries she goes to are close and familiar; it gets more complicated as she gets older and the countries require more strategizing to reach. Thus, the initial countries are places like U.S., Canada and Jamaica, from 2008. Her piece on the U.S. was one of the more interesting, allowing her to address the issue of safety and traveling as a woman. She makes the unfortunate point that it was in the U.S. that her most frightening and unsafe interactions with the law happened, reminding us that safety is truly a matter of the speaker's privilege when we talk about safety and travel.
On the one side, she's done an amazing thing on a number of levels. Unsurprisingly, the majority of people that have travelled to 'every country in the world' are largely wealthy people, and unsurprisingly, often white men. It's even become a competitive sport, according to Slate; when one millionaire was upset with the Travelers' Century Club and Guinness World Records, he went on to found his own travel-validation website. So what I am saying here is that major kudos need to be given to Jessica for muscling her way in to this club as a Black American woman and a first-gen immigrant.
And on the other side, this was terribly challenging due to the self-centered nature of the book, both textually and visually. A significant portion of the full pictures centered on herself with a gorgeous and scenic background, à la social media. Again, great--celebrate Black beauty. But flip side--in a travel book? It begs the question, now that I think about it, why visit all the countries? She answers this question early on, and for me, it sounds, well, admittedly self-centered. Because she can, because she'd be the first Black woman, and because she'd be setting an example. However, is that any less self-centered than the millionaire who wanted to make Guinness Book of World Records? At least she's also doing it from the position of a potential role model. You get my ambivalence, obviously.
But, role model a little less mirror-gazing, if you would. There are few insights in the first third of the book; it's mostly "I did this, I ate this, I shopped here, the people are lovely." (The people are always lovely). There is a surprising amount of complaining about the quality of accommodations for someone that plans to be traveling the world. In Honduras, she writes, "I put my foot down. I demanded luxury." There's some kvetching about the village in Benin that was the absolute epitome of the self-centered American. Eventually, it becomes less about meeting her expectations as she grows up--her time in Benin was transformative, she thinks, but it was also one of her first jobs post-college--but it remained a generally surface-level gaze at most of the countries.
Take the chapter on Ghana: The city Accra in Ghana, she writes "quickly became one of my favorite party cities." But why this is, she doesn't say. She will say sort of meaningless things like "I love Ghana because I love Ghanaians. Whether at home or in the diaspora, Ghanaian people have a warm and fun energy." To be sure, there's other information: a paragraph each about her favorite meal, a tattoo she got, celebrating New Year's Eve in 2019, dancers, a bus ride, and a brief mention of St. George's Castle and the slave trade. But truly, she wants to stay away from all that nastiness and what she reports reflects that desire.
Saudi Arabia, which she traveled to in 2018, is pretty emblematic of the entries, although perhaps slightly more detailed because it is three pages. I'll quote quite a bit under the spoiler, so that you can decide for yourself:
TL;DR
What I am saying, then, is that if you'd like an Instagram-level overview of all the countries in the world, it's lovely to look at, easier to read than Insta, and less annoying than the imperialistic white dudes out there. So, endorsement, I guess? But if you want to know something about the world's countries and their people, even at a surface level, I imagine you could do better. Even if it was a picture book, because you'd have zero pictures of the author.
Review at my site will have links to articles/organizations mentioned.
Update: I've since learned Woni Spotts was the first Black woman to travel to all the countries, and did it about a year before Jessica. There's some back and forth between the two, I suspect. But it also means that Jessica is that much more challenging to support.
Two stars on the enjoyment scale.
The trouble with analyzing the autobiographical is that one is also, to some extent, analyzing the person. And that just seems rude, right? Thinking of the autobiographies I have read, I try to tread that fine line, but I confess I drift into murky waters with the public personas, the people who deliberately live their lives on-camera. The Gen-Xer, anti-establishment, and introvert in me can't imagine such a choice, but it seems to me that in becoming a brand or a product, one has opened oneself up to deconstruction of what that brand is, right? Since this book is based on Nabongo's long-standing blog and Instagram of the same name (she describes herself early on as a "content creator"), I will proceed.
The book itself is a pleasure; solid, photo-focused, high-quality paper with large color photos on nearly every page. Although it does not have an entry for each of the 195 countries she visited, it highlights many of them in rough chronological order. It also includes a nice introduction to the book, an epilogue, a list of the 195 countries with year visited, and a suggested bucket list for the reader. Each section has small detail map of the country highlighted within the continent it is located, which I appreciated a great deal as a geography-challenged American. There's also small sidebars, in the manner of some of the Dummies books, with 'Tips,' extra explanations, and 'Must Do/See,' but these are infrequent. Kudos to the design team.
As the book takes place in chronological order, and it takes some time to travel all these places, it is, in many senses, also a rough journal of Jessica's life changes. In a strange way, it goes from simple to complex, as Jessica is young when she starts and the countries she goes to are close and familiar; it gets more complicated as she gets older and the countries require more strategizing to reach. Thus, the initial countries are places like U.S., Canada and Jamaica, from 2008. Her piece on the U.S. was one of the more interesting, allowing her to address the issue of safety and traveling as a woman. She makes the unfortunate point that it was in the U.S. that her most frightening and unsafe interactions with the law happened, reminding us that safety is truly a matter of the speaker's privilege when we talk about safety and travel.
On the one side, she's done an amazing thing on a number of levels. Unsurprisingly, the majority of people that have travelled to 'every country in the world' are largely wealthy people, and unsurprisingly, often white men. It's even become a competitive sport, according to Slate; when one millionaire was upset with the Travelers' Century Club and Guinness World Records, he went on to found his own travel-validation website. So what I am saying here is that major kudos need to be given to Jessica for muscling her way in to this club as a Black American woman and a first-gen immigrant.
And on the other side, this was terribly challenging due to the self-centered nature of the book, both textually and visually. A significant portion of the full pictures centered on herself with a gorgeous and scenic background, à la social media. Again, great--celebrate Black beauty. But flip side--in a travel book? It begs the question, now that I think about it, why visit all the countries? She answers this question early on, and for me, it sounds, well, admittedly self-centered. Because she can, because she'd be the first Black woman, and because she'd be setting an example. However, is that any less self-centered than the millionaire who wanted to make Guinness Book of World Records? At least she's also doing it from the position of a potential role model. You get my ambivalence, obviously.
But, role model a little less mirror-gazing, if you would. There are few insights in the first third of the book; it's mostly "I did this, I ate this, I shopped here, the people are lovely." (The people are always lovely). There is a surprising amount of complaining about the quality of accommodations for someone that plans to be traveling the world. In Honduras, she writes, "I put my foot down. I demanded luxury." There's some kvetching about the village in Benin that was the absolute epitome of the self-centered American. Eventually, it becomes less about meeting her expectations as she grows up--her time in Benin was transformative, she thinks, but it was also one of her first jobs post-college--but it remained a generally surface-level gaze at most of the countries.
Take the chapter on Ghana: The city Accra in Ghana, she writes "quickly became one of my favorite party cities." But why this is, she doesn't say. She will say sort of meaningless things like "I love Ghana because I love Ghanaians. Whether at home or in the diaspora, Ghanaian people have a warm and fun energy." To be sure, there's other information: a paragraph each about her favorite meal, a tattoo she got, celebrating New Year's Eve in 2019, dancers, a bus ride, and a brief mention of St. George's Castle and the slave trade. But truly, she wants to stay away from all that nastiness and what she reports reflects that desire.
Saudi Arabia, which she traveled to in 2018, is pretty emblematic of the entries, although perhaps slightly more detailed because it is three pages. I'll quote quite a bit under the spoiler, so that you can decide for yourself:
TL;DR
What I am saying, then, is that if you'd like an Instagram-level overview of all the countries in the world, it's lovely to look at, easier to read than Insta, and less annoying than the imperialistic white dudes out there. So, endorsement, I guess? But if you want to know something about the world's countries and their people, even at a surface level, I imagine you could do better. Even if it was a picture book, because you'd have zero pictures of the author.
Review at my site will have links to articles/organizations mentioned.
Update: I've since learned Woni Spotts was the first Black woman to travel to all the countries, and did it about a year before Jessica. There's some back and forth between the two, I suspect. But it also means that Jessica is that much more challenging to support.
Two stars on the enjoyment scale.
November 11, 2022
DNF. I was disappointed reading this. Jessica claims to be the first Black woman to travel to every country in the world. I have been fortunate to travel extensively and thought it would be interesting to compare my travel experiences in countries I had visited with hers. We had countries in common, but I gained little insight, and our experiences were very different. I found her chapters were not well-written, poorly organized and presented, rushed, and scattered. There was little insight into the culture or history of each country. The book only includes 100 of the 192 countries she visited. She explains that those omitted were not impactful enough to share. I imagine her short descriptions worked better on her Instagram or blog. A coffee table book that consisted of her photos with a brief description of each would have been more acceptable to me.
I began my travel with rough tours, mainly camping and sleeping in some uncomfortable places. Later, I found it cheaper to arrange trips online and travel entirely on my own. I enjoyed learning about the culture and history and viewing some unforgettable sights. Jessica travelled from a position of privilege. She complained when no 4-star hotels or resorts were available, described her meals and drinks in expensive restaurants, and partied with people she met in bars and nightclubs. Her photos were great. I viewed them on my iPad to get a sense of their colour. Some photos were of herself dressed in fashionable outfits. I do admire her amazing accomplishment of visiting every country. A typical traveller would not find her lists of much use.
There is something wrong here. There is plenty of information online that refutes Jessica's constant claim of being the first Black woman to travel to all the world's countries. A Black woman named Woni Spotts had visited 197 countries, many territories, and all 7 continents by September 2018. Jessica Nabongo celebrated her achievement a year later in October 2019. At that time, Woni Spotts's Wikipedia page was hacked, vandalized, and credible sources removed. The impression was given that she had no proof, but her extensive travels have been verified. I enjoyed viewing Woni Spott's travel photos online. I read she plans to write a book.
Jessica endured racism and sexism in a few countries. Because Black women were never seen travelling in some places, she was uncomfortable with people staring at her or taking her photo. She does mention that the worst case of racial profiling she encountered was in her home country of America when a policeman pointed a gun at her head.
This book was tedious to read from cover to cover, but I may browse through it in the future. I felt I was not gaining much information from her writing.
I began my travel with rough tours, mainly camping and sleeping in some uncomfortable places. Later, I found it cheaper to arrange trips online and travel entirely on my own. I enjoyed learning about the culture and history and viewing some unforgettable sights. Jessica travelled from a position of privilege. She complained when no 4-star hotels or resorts were available, described her meals and drinks in expensive restaurants, and partied with people she met in bars and nightclubs. Her photos were great. I viewed them on my iPad to get a sense of their colour. Some photos were of herself dressed in fashionable outfits. I do admire her amazing accomplishment of visiting every country. A typical traveller would not find her lists of much use.
There is something wrong here. There is plenty of information online that refutes Jessica's constant claim of being the first Black woman to travel to all the world's countries. A Black woman named Woni Spotts had visited 197 countries, many territories, and all 7 continents by September 2018. Jessica Nabongo celebrated her achievement a year later in October 2019. At that time, Woni Spotts's Wikipedia page was hacked, vandalized, and credible sources removed. The impression was given that she had no proof, but her extensive travels have been verified. I enjoyed viewing Woni Spott's travel photos online. I read she plans to write a book.
Jessica endured racism and sexism in a few countries. Because Black women were never seen travelling in some places, she was uncomfortable with people staring at her or taking her photo. She does mention that the worst case of racial profiling she encountered was in her home country of America when a policeman pointed a gun at her head.
This book was tedious to read from cover to cover, but I may browse through it in the future. I felt I was not gaining much information from her writing.
August 2, 2022
After having visited all 50 states and 6 countries, I always jump at a chance to read a nonfiction book about travel. The Catch Me if You Can with it's premise of a woman who visited every country in the world made me almost giddy to read it!
If you love to travel, especially internationally, you will love this book. Nabongo only shares stories from 100 of the 195 countries she has visited, but she also includes gorgeous, full-page photos and provides a checklist at the back for all the places she recommends visiting in each of the countries.
Nabongo is an Ugandan American. Both her parents were born in Uganda, so she has the privilege of having an Ugandan and US passport. Both passports allowed her to complete this journey in ways that would have stopped other people. She talks freely and openly about her time spent in each country, candidly discussing the racism and sexism she encountered. I appreciated how she spoke her mind without censure, and it was easy to get a sense of who is really is.
That being said, this wasn't a perfect book for me. Mostly because Nabongo suffers from Not Like Other Travelers syndrome. This is similar to the Not Like Other Girls trope. Time and time and time again Nabongo stresses how she is not like other travelers because she is gets right in there with the locals and travels off the beaten path. She talks again and again and again about how she does things differently than most travelers and unfortunately it comes off as self-righteous. I'm sure that's not how she intended it, but that's the impression the reader walks away with.
If she would have just told the stories of what she did and experienced, we would have gotten her point without having it explicitly told to us over and over again. I also found it funny that she talks about being such a different traveler when she spends a lot of time talking about the fancy resorts she stays at and all the expensive restaurants she visits. That seems like the typical, more well-to-do traveler to me. When my family travels, we stay at Airbnbs in local neighborhoods, talk to the people who live there, and find smaller places to eat that will not be listed in a local guidebook. And we are not the only travelers who do this.
Anyway, I'd still recommend reading this book if you love to travel. I walked away with a much longer travel list than I had before!
If you love to travel, especially internationally, you will love this book. Nabongo only shares stories from 100 of the 195 countries she has visited, but she also includes gorgeous, full-page photos and provides a checklist at the back for all the places she recommends visiting in each of the countries.
Nabongo is an Ugandan American. Both her parents were born in Uganda, so she has the privilege of having an Ugandan and US passport. Both passports allowed her to complete this journey in ways that would have stopped other people. She talks freely and openly about her time spent in each country, candidly discussing the racism and sexism she encountered. I appreciated how she spoke her mind without censure, and it was easy to get a sense of who is really is.
That being said, this wasn't a perfect book for me. Mostly because Nabongo suffers from Not Like Other Travelers syndrome. This is similar to the Not Like Other Girls trope. Time and time and time again Nabongo stresses how she is not like other travelers because she is gets right in there with the locals and travels off the beaten path. She talks again and again and again about how she does things differently than most travelers and unfortunately it comes off as self-righteous. I'm sure that's not how she intended it, but that's the impression the reader walks away with.
If she would have just told the stories of what she did and experienced, we would have gotten her point without having it explicitly told to us over and over again. I also found it funny that she talks about being such a different traveler when she spends a lot of time talking about the fancy resorts she stays at and all the expensive restaurants she visits. That seems like the typical, more well-to-do traveler to me. When my family travels, we stay at Airbnbs in local neighborhoods, talk to the people who live there, and find smaller places to eat that will not be listed in a local guidebook. And we are not the only travelers who do this.
Anyway, I'd still recommend reading this book if you love to travel. I walked away with a much longer travel list than I had before!
July 7, 2022
I wanted to love this book; I love travel books, esp photo ones that draw me in and give me ideas for where I might want to go. But this - this felt more like an Instagram account, with perfectly posed, perfectly attired photos of the author. She is motivated to travel to every country in the world (Why? I didn't get the strongest sense of why, but one thing she really wanted to do was be a Black woman (totally inspiring) who did it, as most of those who have done it so far are white men.) and she's honest with her journeys, but her journeys are quick trips much of the time so she can click a box - and thus, her reflections are often vast generalizations, tour guides, complaints abt travel stress (such a real part of travel). I think this could really appeal to armchair travelers who love Instagram influencers, but something abt it, just not for me.
June 9, 2022
Many of us talk about traveling the world, but an intrepid woman ditched corporate life to fill her passport to global adventure. I was keen to read about Jessica Nabango’s memoir on the best 100 destinations in her 195 country record-breaking journey.
The Catch Me If You Can introduced Jessica Nabango from her childhood living in Detroit as a first generation Ugandan American and visits to her mother and father’s homeland, her early thirst for travel and the roundabout path she took to get there through corporate America. Starting her own travel agency, Jet Black, and lifestyle brand, The Catch, adding professional travel photographer, and online influencer with her The Catch Me If You Can website, Jessica proceeded to become the first black woman to visit all 195 UN recognized countries.
Her book is loaded with her own photography (my eARC copy only captured a portion of these) and a plethora of lush destinations. Her vignettes about places, experiences, and people are tinted with emotion and reflection. I felt I was there with her visiting a mountain top Buddhist temple in Laos, attending a family wedding in Uganda, celebrating Persian New Year in Iran, and so much more.
“While I have a lot of rules of thumb for traveling, there is one that I live by as much as possible: I do not travel to new countries with a fear of the unknown… I choose instead to live by what is true, to be in the moment.” Pp. 332
In the end, she sums up her thoughts and leaves a bucket list to her readers. I felt my mind broadened and enriched simply from reading her book so I can’t imagine how much better following in her actual footsteps would be. Don’t hesitate to pick this up if you love travelogues, memoirs, or simply want to learn to appreciate the wonderful world we live in.
I rec'd an eARC through NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.
The Catch Me If You Can introduced Jessica Nabango from her childhood living in Detroit as a first generation Ugandan American and visits to her mother and father’s homeland, her early thirst for travel and the roundabout path she took to get there through corporate America. Starting her own travel agency, Jet Black, and lifestyle brand, The Catch, adding professional travel photographer, and online influencer with her The Catch Me If You Can website, Jessica proceeded to become the first black woman to visit all 195 UN recognized countries.
Her book is loaded with her own photography (my eARC copy only captured a portion of these) and a plethora of lush destinations. Her vignettes about places, experiences, and people are tinted with emotion and reflection. I felt I was there with her visiting a mountain top Buddhist temple in Laos, attending a family wedding in Uganda, celebrating Persian New Year in Iran, and so much more.
“While I have a lot of rules of thumb for traveling, there is one that I live by as much as possible: I do not travel to new countries with a fear of the unknown… I choose instead to live by what is true, to be in the moment.” Pp. 332
In the end, she sums up her thoughts and leaves a bucket list to her readers. I felt my mind broadened and enriched simply from reading her book so I can’t imagine how much better following in her actual footsteps would be. Don’t hesitate to pick this up if you love travelogues, memoirs, or simply want to learn to appreciate the wonderful world we live in.
I rec'd an eARC through NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.
February 1, 2023
The premise of this book pulled me in - the first Black woman to travel to all of the world's countries.
Except she apparently wasn’t. Woni Spotts was the first Black woman to complete the feat. OK, so I’m still interested. But - the book is so superficially written and poorly organized I stopped reading. It’s a DNF for me - but I did look through every page and read quite a few of the country visits.
- there is no useful organization of the book. The countries are listed in order of travel or randomly. There is no alphabetical listing or index, so it is laborious to find specific countries.
- the photos are well crafted, colorful, and sometimes interesting, but the collection is a “best of Instagram,” not good travel photography. Most of the page layouts focus on highly stylized photos of the author - and she wears some new glam outfit in every single one. If you like people/clothes/glamour photography, you may enjoy the coffee table aspects of the photos more than I did.
- the travel tips are not helpful. Example: Things to see in the USA - New England. Wow. That helps. OK, in the text, she mentions a few specific places and restaurants. A scant few.
This book is a bookification of an Instagram Influencer - and a dated one at that. It’s best used as a historical example of an influencer’s career. If you want to travel the world, this book won’t help or inspire.
Except she apparently wasn’t. Woni Spotts was the first Black woman to complete the feat. OK, so I’m still interested. But - the book is so superficially written and poorly organized I stopped reading. It’s a DNF for me - but I did look through every page and read quite a few of the country visits.
- there is no useful organization of the book. The countries are listed in order of travel or randomly. There is no alphabetical listing or index, so it is laborious to find specific countries.
- the photos are well crafted, colorful, and sometimes interesting, but the collection is a “best of Instagram,” not good travel photography. Most of the page layouts focus on highly stylized photos of the author - and she wears some new glam outfit in every single one. If you like people/clothes/glamour photography, you may enjoy the coffee table aspects of the photos more than I did.
- the travel tips are not helpful. Example: Things to see in the USA - New England. Wow. That helps. OK, in the text, she mentions a few specific places and restaurants. A scant few.
This book is a bookification of an Instagram Influencer - and a dated one at that. It’s best used as a historical example of an influencer’s career. If you want to travel the world, this book won’t help or inspire.
July 18, 2022
Kudos to Jessica Nabongo for an inspiring global journey. She is an intrepid Black woman who made her dream come true, yes she had advantages, but her courage and curiosity, her knowledge and savvy, all worked to bring this book to fruition. I read every word and gazed at every photo-just a beautiful, amazing book! This would serve as a wonderful coffee table book, to daydream, as a conversation starter, to gain more knowledge of cultures, not to mention, food, that is so different from our own.
November 8, 2022
I have spent the past month reading this book on my lunch breaks and it was the perfect way to escape for sixty minutes halfway through my workday. Jessica Nabongo is the first Black woman to travel to all 195 (UN approved) countries and 10 territories and this book is the highlight reel/PowerPoint presentation from 100 of those countries.
(Side note she finished her goal in October 2019 and in her author note she talks about the world shutting only a short five months later. Crazy to think how different things would have been if her timeline had been pushed back, she would not have been able to complete it!).
I see some of the comments on here say that book is too brief, that many countries only get 2-3 pages of text and most of the book is made up of her (gorgeous) photographs. I don't disagree with them but also, I do not care. I feel like Jessica wrote this book to show how travel is possible for anyone (granted she does mention her privilege multiple times at holding both a US and Uganda passport that made it easier for her to enter countries), to show how no country should be off limits to visitors, that people are people all over, that racism exists but it should not stop people of color from exploring and that the world is a beautiful place that needs to be protected for future generations (a lot of smaller islands are banning single use plastics for example). This book made me want to see more of the world (the food mentioned in here sounded delicious!) and visit countries that are not mentioned on top 10 travel destination lists. Very motivating and awe-inspiring. It definitely awakened the travel bug within myself.
(Side note she finished her goal in October 2019 and in her author note she talks about the world shutting only a short five months later. Crazy to think how different things would have been if her timeline had been pushed back, she would not have been able to complete it!).
I see some of the comments on here say that book is too brief, that many countries only get 2-3 pages of text and most of the book is made up of her (gorgeous) photographs. I don't disagree with them but also, I do not care. I feel like Jessica wrote this book to show how travel is possible for anyone (granted she does mention her privilege multiple times at holding both a US and Uganda passport that made it easier for her to enter countries), to show how no country should be off limits to visitors, that people are people all over, that racism exists but it should not stop people of color from exploring and that the world is a beautiful place that needs to be protected for future generations (a lot of smaller islands are banning single use plastics for example). This book made me want to see more of the world (the food mentioned in here sounded delicious!) and visit countries that are not mentioned on top 10 travel destination lists. Very motivating and awe-inspiring. It definitely awakened the travel bug within myself.
December 13, 2022
DNF. I was so excited about the premise of this book. I eagerly dove in. And by the third page of the introduction, I was already mad.
The attitude of this woman...I don't know if she's really like this in real life, but her memoir paints her to be shallow, bratty, entitled, and completely unaware of her privilege. She literally brags about a background from Harvard and a career in big pharma sales, and then claims she traveled until she "ran out of money"... And then took a job with the UN in Italy. I'm sorry. What?? She also complains about the stress of "having to maintain an online presence" while traveling... As though she isn't making millions as a TRAVEL BLOGGER.
Her writings about each country revealed her to be a very spoiled traveler, literally demanding luxury at every turn. She even launched a boutique luxury travel agency so others can follow in her footsteps. Joy.
When I realized she traveled to all of these countries in under 2 years, I knew I should put this book down. There's NO WAY you can learn or experience anything close to authentic about a place if you're visiting 100 countries each year. That's the wrong way to travel. It's wasteful and rushed and obnoxious... Not to mention unethical from a financial, cultural, and environmental perspective. And then she has the audacity to write pages about each country as though she actually experienced what they had to offer?? No ma'am. No way. No wonder those pages are all about the clubs she danced in and the five star meal she ate once. Shallow to the core.
This is why I don't follow travel bloggers on Instagram. They make my blood boil.
The attitude of this woman...I don't know if she's really like this in real life, but her memoir paints her to be shallow, bratty, entitled, and completely unaware of her privilege. She literally brags about a background from Harvard and a career in big pharma sales, and then claims she traveled until she "ran out of money"... And then took a job with the UN in Italy. I'm sorry. What?? She also complains about the stress of "having to maintain an online presence" while traveling... As though she isn't making millions as a TRAVEL BLOGGER.
Her writings about each country revealed her to be a very spoiled traveler, literally demanding luxury at every turn. She even launched a boutique luxury travel agency so others can follow in her footsteps. Joy.
When I realized she traveled to all of these countries in under 2 years, I knew I should put this book down. There's NO WAY you can learn or experience anything close to authentic about a place if you're visiting 100 countries each year. That's the wrong way to travel. It's wasteful and rushed and obnoxious... Not to mention unethical from a financial, cultural, and environmental perspective. And then she has the audacity to write pages about each country as though she actually experienced what they had to offer?? No ma'am. No way. No wonder those pages are all about the clubs she danced in and the five star meal she ate once. Shallow to the core.
This is why I don't follow travel bloggers on Instagram. They make my blood boil.
October 20, 2022
“The Catch Me If You Can” is a combination of memoir,travelogue, and history guide written by Jessica Nabongo, the first black woman to visit every county in the world.
The book begins with Nabongo sharing how her love of travel started at four years old and transformed as she became older. Despite having a successful career and a disposable income, she feels unfulfilled and decides to change her life by leaving her pharmaceutical job to teach English in Japan.
After leaving Japan, Jessica begins the blog “The Catch Me If You Can” as well as furthers her education by earning a master’s degree at the London School of Economics.
While living abroad, Jessica has time to reflect on the American ideal that a successful life is one that has a high powered and high paying career. In February 2017, Jessica sets a personal goal to visit every country in the world. Although this was an ambitious goal, Jessica completes her goal in October 2019 and visits a total 195 countries and 10 territories.
Jessica’s love of travel lead her to create Jet Black which is a boutique luxury travel agency that promotes tourism in Central and South America as well as the Caribbean and Africa.
Through her travels around the world she learns two things: most people are good and that we are more similar that we are different. The book also is meant to showcase the beauty and joy of every place in the world as well as challenge people’s assumptions.
Despite visiting 195 countries, she decides to highlight 100 countries in this book. The selection of 100 countries comes from places she feel in love with or places that found a special place in her heart. Having said this, each travelogue begins with the number the country fell out of 195, the date she first visited the specific country, and total number of visits to the highlighted country.
She begins her travels with her birth country of the United States and writes of being born in Detroit, Michigan and her upbringing during the 1980’s. She expresses happiness of growing up in a culturally diverse community and interacting with Jewish, Japanese, Polish, Mexican, Italian, Kenyan, and Lebanese people regularly.
I really loved this book since it provides a travel experience from a different perspective which is that of a woman who is a person of color. Considering that most of the people who have previously visited every country in the world were white men, the author’s experience is different not only undue to her being black but also due to having African origins as the child of Ugandan parents.
The overarching purpose of this book is to help change the perception of where the world travels and add diversity to the faces of those who travel. In addition, this book shows the importance of nurturing a love of travel from an early age which can lead to a permanent change in how one views other cultures.
I appreciated Nabongo’s honesty in sharing experiences from almost being robbed in France to teaching and living in Japan for a year. In additionI appreciated Appreciated Nabongo sharing travel experiences as a broke grad school student as well as the differences of what is defined as first class travel in various countries. The photos in the book are beautiful and are reflective of Nabongo’s love of photography.
After Nabongo completes her 100 travel highlights, there is an epilogue which reflects on how the world has changed since her initial journey due to the global pandemic. The book concludes with includes a breakdown of the order in which Nabongo visited all 195 countries visited with countries highlighted in the book shown in bold type and a large travel bucket list for the reader.
As I finished reading this book, I was left with an large desire to travel to many of the countries highlighted to explore cultures I was previously unaware of. One big takeaway from this book is to not let yourself be influenced by others regarding travel. Although some places may be viewed as dangerous to some, your experience may be different due to race and gender. No matter what happens in a country politically, everyday life goes on.
The book begins with Nabongo sharing how her love of travel started at four years old and transformed as she became older. Despite having a successful career and a disposable income, she feels unfulfilled and decides to change her life by leaving her pharmaceutical job to teach English in Japan.
After leaving Japan, Jessica begins the blog “The Catch Me If You Can” as well as furthers her education by earning a master’s degree at the London School of Economics.
While living abroad, Jessica has time to reflect on the American ideal that a successful life is one that has a high powered and high paying career. In February 2017, Jessica sets a personal goal to visit every country in the world. Although this was an ambitious goal, Jessica completes her goal in October 2019 and visits a total 195 countries and 10 territories.
Jessica’s love of travel lead her to create Jet Black which is a boutique luxury travel agency that promotes tourism in Central and South America as well as the Caribbean and Africa.
Through her travels around the world she learns two things: most people are good and that we are more similar that we are different. The book also is meant to showcase the beauty and joy of every place in the world as well as challenge people’s assumptions.
Despite visiting 195 countries, she decides to highlight 100 countries in this book. The selection of 100 countries comes from places she feel in love with or places that found a special place in her heart. Having said this, each travelogue begins with the number the country fell out of 195, the date she first visited the specific country, and total number of visits to the highlighted country.
She begins her travels with her birth country of the United States and writes of being born in Detroit, Michigan and her upbringing during the 1980’s. She expresses happiness of growing up in a culturally diverse community and interacting with Jewish, Japanese, Polish, Mexican, Italian, Kenyan, and Lebanese people regularly.
I really loved this book since it provides a travel experience from a different perspective which is that of a woman who is a person of color. Considering that most of the people who have previously visited every country in the world were white men, the author’s experience is different not only undue to her being black but also due to having African origins as the child of Ugandan parents.
The overarching purpose of this book is to help change the perception of where the world travels and add diversity to the faces of those who travel. In addition, this book shows the importance of nurturing a love of travel from an early age which can lead to a permanent change in how one views other cultures.
I appreciated Nabongo’s honesty in sharing experiences from almost being robbed in France to teaching and living in Japan for a year. In additionI appreciated Appreciated Nabongo sharing travel experiences as a broke grad school student as well as the differences of what is defined as first class travel in various countries. The photos in the book are beautiful and are reflective of Nabongo’s love of photography.
After Nabongo completes her 100 travel highlights, there is an epilogue which reflects on how the world has changed since her initial journey due to the global pandemic. The book concludes with includes a breakdown of the order in which Nabongo visited all 195 countries visited with countries highlighted in the book shown in bold type and a large travel bucket list for the reader.
As I finished reading this book, I was left with an large desire to travel to many of the countries highlighted to explore cultures I was previously unaware of. One big takeaway from this book is to not let yourself be influenced by others regarding travel. Although some places may be viewed as dangerous to some, your experience may be different due to race and gender. No matter what happens in a country politically, everyday life goes on.
September 29, 2022
To me, it came off as a coffee table book. It looks good on a coffee shop bookshelf. You pick it up, flip through it and put it back down once your order’s ready.
I was initially disappointed when I learned there were only 100/192 countries listed. Jessica’s explanation was she didn’t want mention the countries that weren’t “impactful enough to share”. Were they not “impactful enough” or were they not Instagram/blog worthy?
I quickly found the book to be dull, repetitive and rushed. Beautiful pictures, but I felt I was scrolling on Instagram.
If you visited a country “5+ times”, why is the chapter only 3 pages of what you experienced? In some chapters, there are more pictures than writing.
If you lived in Japan for a year and it was a culture shock, why is it that 2 of the 6 pages are about what you had to pack, what you had to leave behind and your arrival to the airport? Was that more impactful than the different language, time zone, culture and food?
I learned about Jessica on YouTube, which lead me to her Instagram account and breath-taking travel photos that I find more satisfying than her book.
Her journey to become the first Black woman to visit every country—which apparently is now disputed by Woni Spotts—seemed rushed and inauthentic.
The book certainly comes off as a “catch-me-if-you-can” game—let’s see who can visit the most countries in the least amount of time and simultaneously earn a history-making title. It gave two birds, one stone. It isn’t as inspiring as it’s advertised to be.
I was initially disappointed when I learned there were only 100/192 countries listed. Jessica’s explanation was she didn’t want mention the countries that weren’t “impactful enough to share”. Were they not “impactful enough” or were they not Instagram/blog worthy?
I quickly found the book to be dull, repetitive and rushed. Beautiful pictures, but I felt I was scrolling on Instagram.
If you visited a country “5+ times”, why is the chapter only 3 pages of what you experienced? In some chapters, there are more pictures than writing.
If you lived in Japan for a year and it was a culture shock, why is it that 2 of the 6 pages are about what you had to pack, what you had to leave behind and your arrival to the airport? Was that more impactful than the different language, time zone, culture and food?
I learned about Jessica on YouTube, which lead me to her Instagram account and breath-taking travel photos that I find more satisfying than her book.
Her journey to become the first Black woman to visit every country—which apparently is now disputed by Woni Spotts—seemed rushed and inauthentic.
The book certainly comes off as a “catch-me-if-you-can” game—let’s see who can visit the most countries in the least amount of time and simultaneously earn a history-making title. It gave two birds, one stone. It isn’t as inspiring as it’s advertised to be.
August 11, 2022
I love this book. I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica Nabongo, the first Black woman to travel to 195 countries, at her book signing at B&N in NYC. She is a huge inspiration to me. I’ve been to 26 countries and have taken my children to 5 continents so far.
Jessica is a very aware person. Aware of how she is perceived in the world, the privileges she has and the understanding of the way westerners have shaped the perception of the world. Especially white men.
The book has funny stories and stressful stories. Very detailed about the foods, people and settings. I felt like I was there with her.
I had the pleasure of reading the hard-copy of the book with the audiobook which enhanced the experience. ❤️🌍
Jessica is a very aware person. Aware of how she is perceived in the world, the privileges she has and the understanding of the way westerners have shaped the perception of the world. Especially white men.
The book has funny stories and stressful stories. Very detailed about the foods, people and settings. I felt like I was there with her.
I had the pleasure of reading the hard-copy of the book with the audiobook which enhanced the experience. ❤️🌍
October 12, 2021
The Catch Me if You Can by Jessica Nabongo has been on my radar for quite some time, as I have long been a follower of her popular blog of the same name. I was thrilled to be granted access to this sample widget and, having been teased in this way, I cannot wait to get my hands on the full book.
Jessica Nabongo is the first Black woman to travel to 195 countries, completing her epic journey in October of 2019. Her travelogue and stunning photographs are simply a joy to behold, particularly at a time when the future of travel is unknown. This is a decadent feast of stories, pictures, and inspiration, and I am left longing to indulge in the full, holistic experience when the book is released in the coming months. Whether you have been following Jessica's journey, or if her amazing story is completely new to you, you are in for something very special. Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and National Geographic for an ARC of this sample.
Jessica Nabongo is the first Black woman to travel to 195 countries, completing her epic journey in October of 2019. Her travelogue and stunning photographs are simply a joy to behold, particularly at a time when the future of travel is unknown. This is a decadent feast of stories, pictures, and inspiration, and I am left longing to indulge in the full, holistic experience when the book is released in the coming months. Whether you have been following Jessica's journey, or if her amazing story is completely new to you, you are in for something very special. Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and National Geographic for an ARC of this sample.
July 4, 2023
Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I have a goal to read books situated in the 195 countries of the world.
As of this date, I have read 113 of those countries.
Our lauded author Jessica Nabongo has VISITED all 195. I am SOOOOO impressed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about 100 of her visits, seeing those countries through the eyes of one who has visited.
If you are a world reader or traveler, I strongly recommend this book.
Congratulations, Jessica, on your outstanding aachievement.
5 stars
As of this date, I have read 113 of those countries.
Our lauded author Jessica Nabongo has VISITED all 195. I am SOOOOO impressed.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about 100 of her visits, seeing those countries through the eyes of one who has visited.
If you are a world reader or traveler, I strongly recommend this book.
Congratulations, Jessica, on your outstanding aachievement.
5 stars
September 7, 2022
Amazing! I wrote a great book! 😊
August 9, 2022
This woman proudly tells us she was a high-paid salesperson for Phizer and that she didn't quit until 2008.
Phizer was investigated by the federal government and made to pay 2.3 Billion in damages in 2009. These damages were for racketeering charges and lying to doctors about the research behind specific drugs. The SALES team was behind this. If you'd like to learn more, here is a link to the Department of Justice brief on the case. Not a conspiracy theory-this is a U.S Government website: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justic...
I'm absolutely not feeling your whole Live-Laugh-Love-But-Black! when you financed that privileged shit by selling the lives and health of your fellow Americans. How dare you stand there and smile in those pictures.
Absolutely shameful.
She wasn't some low-level staff. Her Phizer salary allowed her to have a custom closet built. She proudly tells us this. She was making good money. She would have been working at Phizer exactly the time when the worst of the damage was being done.
Shameful.
Phizer was investigated by the federal government and made to pay 2.3 Billion in damages in 2009. These damages were for racketeering charges and lying to doctors about the research behind specific drugs. The SALES team was behind this. If you'd like to learn more, here is a link to the Department of Justice brief on the case. Not a conspiracy theory-this is a U.S Government website: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justic...
I'm absolutely not feeling your whole Live-Laugh-Love-But-Black! when you financed that privileged shit by selling the lives and health of your fellow Americans. How dare you stand there and smile in those pictures.
Absolutely shameful.
She wasn't some low-level staff. Her Phizer salary allowed her to have a custom closet built. She proudly tells us this. She was making good money. She would have been working at Phizer exactly the time when the worst of the damage was being done.
Shameful.
April 18, 2023
Ugh! I really wanted to like this book and its author. The premise is inspiring and interesting, and I was excited to learn about countries I didn't know anything about. However, the author is so entitled, self-absorbed, and contradicting, I could hardly ignore my annoyance to continue the book. The concept of a self-proclaimed "influencer" holds little credibility in my opinion. The author repeatedly brags about herself (definitely no self esteem issues here), but then wants readers' sympathy and pity when it conveniently fits her narrative. She talks about not judging people or cultures, but then will do just that. She sounds like a total pain to travel with- completely high maintenance and expectant of countries and their people to go out of their way and treat her like royalty. There were times I had to abandon the book for days or weeks because I couldn't stand her anymore. I'm reluctantly giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 because I did learn a bit about countries, but cannot stress enough about my disdain and irritation with the author. Blegh!
September 18, 2022
I enjoyed this book! Traveling to every country is a dream, but, realistically, I know it is a feat I will never accomplish. I am so envious of those who have the privilege of having two passports! Jessica is so inspiring. She is a woman who recognized what makes her happy, and pursued that route. We could all be so lucky. Some of the countries, I would have described my personal experiences in the same way. Some countries, I was shocked in her summary, ie Peru. I was talking with a friend about this book, and she described it as a great coffee table book, and that is exactly how I would also describe this book. Great inspiration for booking more travel! BRB, looking at flights!
July 25, 2022
3.5 stars
This was a fascinating book about a black woman who has been to every country in the world. I've never heard of her, but she is apparently an influencer and traveled to many of those countries as part of her brand. She is a writer, photographer, travel expert, entrepreneur, and cultural ambassador. She was born in Uganda but is a dual Ugandan/American citizen and her goal is to inspire others to travel and to make travel more inclusive. I listened to the audiobook as narrated by her, and there were positive and negative aspects to that. First off, it was her voice and her story and I could hear the passion in her voice when she talked about things that were particularly meaningful for her. She is passionate not only about making travel more accessible/inclusive to all, but she is also a proponent of making choices that will help preserve our environment while traveling (and while living your everyday life). She does a solid job of narrating her book, but there were several times when she listed all of her accomplishments that it just sounded like a brag sheet. Don't get me wrong--this woman has been able to live on her own terms and has found a way to make a living at it. She figured out her priorities pretty early on and I applaud her for going after her dreams. She also says several times that she knows she is really privileged to have had the life she's had, and that part of what made it possible for her to travel to some of the countries was because she had a Ugandan passport. Being a dual citizen has made it easier. Similarly, there were many times when she would say that on the one hand, she loved such and such a country, but then she hated how she was treated. It was kind of an odd dichotomy, and I think I get what she was saying, but it was hard to work through some of it.
The main messages I received were the following:
1) This woman is amazing in what she has accomplished
2) Jessica has tried to take something positive from every country she has visited, even the most negative of countries
3) Some of the places you would think were the least safe were her best experiences, partly because she is seen as an African woman rather than an American woman (it helps that she is fluent in French)
4) She has had the most trouble with Chinese tourists who are everywhere in the world (including China) and it may be a cultural incompatibility.
5) There are many places in America where she feels less safe than those that are considered "unsafe countries" because she is a black woman.
6) Many of her negative experiences were linked to her being a black woman. Some of these included being ignored or overlooked in favor of a male companion (black or white) or being treated hostilely or with suspicion.
7) If you're going to visit a country, always reach out to locals/natives for advice/safety tips, etc.
They will know better than any website how to best navigate their country.
Overall, I'm glad I listened to this and if I ever visit another country, I will probably keep some of her tips in mind. Certainly while listening, there were several countries that jumped out to me as places I would want to visit!
I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was a fascinating book about a black woman who has been to every country in the world. I've never heard of her, but she is apparently an influencer and traveled to many of those countries as part of her brand. She is a writer, photographer, travel expert, entrepreneur, and cultural ambassador. She was born in Uganda but is a dual Ugandan/American citizen and her goal is to inspire others to travel and to make travel more inclusive. I listened to the audiobook as narrated by her, and there were positive and negative aspects to that. First off, it was her voice and her story and I could hear the passion in her voice when she talked about things that were particularly meaningful for her. She is passionate not only about making travel more accessible/inclusive to all, but she is also a proponent of making choices that will help preserve our environment while traveling (and while living your everyday life). She does a solid job of narrating her book, but there were several times when she listed all of her accomplishments that it just sounded like a brag sheet. Don't get me wrong--this woman has been able to live on her own terms and has found a way to make a living at it. She figured out her priorities pretty early on and I applaud her for going after her dreams. She also says several times that she knows she is really privileged to have had the life she's had, and that part of what made it possible for her to travel to some of the countries was because she had a Ugandan passport. Being a dual citizen has made it easier. Similarly, there were many times when she would say that on the one hand, she loved such and such a country, but then she hated how she was treated. It was kind of an odd dichotomy, and I think I get what she was saying, but it was hard to work through some of it.
The main messages I received were the following:
1) This woman is amazing in what she has accomplished
2) Jessica has tried to take something positive from every country she has visited, even the most negative of countries
3) Some of the places you would think were the least safe were her best experiences, partly because she is seen as an African woman rather than an American woman (it helps that she is fluent in French)
4) She has had the most trouble with Chinese tourists who are everywhere in the world (including China) and it may be a cultural incompatibility.
5) There are many places in America where she feels less safe than those that are considered "unsafe countries" because she is a black woman.
6) Many of her negative experiences were linked to her being a black woman. Some of these included being ignored or overlooked in favor of a male companion (black or white) or being treated hostilely or with suspicion.
7) If you're going to visit a country, always reach out to locals/natives for advice/safety tips, etc.
They will know better than any website how to best navigate their country.
Overall, I'm glad I listened to this and if I ever visit another country, I will probably keep some of her tips in mind. Certainly while listening, there were several countries that jumped out to me as places I would want to visit!
I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 15, 2023
As someone who loves travel and travel memoirs, I was so excited to read this book. However, I have very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I commend Jessica for her accomplishment to visit every country (whether or not she was in fact the first black woman to do so) because that is an incredible accomplishment. And I respect her motivation for doing so- to inspire others to travel, especially to less visited or "dangerous" countries. However, I struggled to read this cover to cover and as I kept reading my feelings about the book became more negative.
This book seemed to be marketed as a combination of a travel guide and memoir, but it's not really either. It's not informative enough to serve as a travel guide and has no overarching narrative or personal lessons to be a memoir. Her passages for each country were fairly brief and became very repetitive. As others have mentioned, it reads more like disjointed blog posts. Most countries she only spent a few days in, and one she only visited for a few hours.
While I think it's great that she is challenging the narrative that certain countries are too dangerous to travel to, it honestly feels irresponsible to promote travel to certain countries. Case in point: her passage about North Korea. I also found it cringeworthy to read her frequent preaching about plastic pollution with no mention of the environmental impact of the hundreds of flights she took.
I hope this book inspires more people to travel and question their preconceived notions about certain regions and countries, but I also hope people do their research and think critically about the greater impact of travel on the environment and the places they visit.
This book seemed to be marketed as a combination of a travel guide and memoir, but it's not really either. It's not informative enough to serve as a travel guide and has no overarching narrative or personal lessons to be a memoir. Her passages for each country were fairly brief and became very repetitive. As others have mentioned, it reads more like disjointed blog posts. Most countries she only spent a few days in, and one she only visited for a few hours.
While I think it's great that she is challenging the narrative that certain countries are too dangerous to travel to, it honestly feels irresponsible to promote travel to certain countries. Case in point: her passage about North Korea. I also found it cringeworthy to read her frequent preaching about plastic pollution with no mention of the environmental impact of the hundreds of flights she took.
I hope this book inspires more people to travel and question their preconceived notions about certain regions and countries, but I also hope people do their research and think critically about the greater impact of travel on the environment and the places they visit.
January 27, 2023
This was one of those books I waited to read because of all the hype when it first came out. This one felt rushed and it was. Nabongo even states she was trying to visit most of the 195 countries in 2 1/2 years. Some of the countries she stayed in for 3 to 4 days. I was mostly disappointed because nothing really stood out. I was looking for some adventure not just how good the food and drinks are . I was looking to see the world through her writing. Writing style was very choppy. Some countries Nabongo barely wrote 2 pages and then her story of the country would just end. Maybe she just wanted to write a journal about her journey. I did enjoy the photos. By the end I just wanted more.
December 14, 2021
I was very pleased to receive a preview copy of this book from Net Galley. I felt like I was right by Jessica's side as she descried the beautiful countries she visited. Her stories of locales which I have also visited although briefly, brought back pleasant memories - Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and others in the Far East.... the beauty of mountains, rivers, and the culture of the people who lived in these countries. I loved the photos - my only wish were that they were in color, specially the mosques she described in Afghanistan with the exquisite colored tiles. She sounds like a fascinating woman who is a travel expert, I would love to hear her speak or read more of her work.
July 19, 2023
So wanted to love this, but didn't realize she's an influencer. Instagram culture is not my thing and I found myself distracted by those narratives woven throughout (financial privilege, parties/clubbing, dipping in to countries just to check them off versus staying long enough to have meaningful interactions, perfectly posed and curated photos, etc.) The pictures are undoubtedly breathtaking and she's an accomplished woman, but I was hoping for something less fabricated.
August 3, 2022
So, so inspiring. I surprisingly wasn’t a follower of Jessica’s blog or IG prior to reading this (I am now!) and found her adventures and insights fascinating and thoughtful. Now having spent a considerable amount of time perusing through her online presence from the past few years, I wish this book were structured differently. While I loved having an in-depth look at some of the countries she visited, other chapters felt rushed or incomplete. I might have preferred chapters or sections where she compares/contrasts locations whether because she traveled solo there or because of unexpected connections she found, etc. I really appreciated Jessica’s comments about the perceptions we have about other nations, how they are influenced by politics and the West, whether developing nations need to be developed, the impacts of climate change etc. and I wish we got to see more of those reflections in this. I also wish more of her comments from her blog and IG re: traveling on your period and other aspects of traveling as a woman were highlighted.
But, my biggest criticism is just that I wanted more! I hope this is only the first of many books Jessica will write—her prose draws you in and isn’t flowery, but I still found myself transported to country after country with her. And I found so much to relate to, as well, with her experiences as an immigrant in America and finding kinship with people of color around the globe. An absolute must-read.
But, my biggest criticism is just that I wanted more! I hope this is only the first of many books Jessica will write—her prose draws you in and isn’t flowery, but I still found myself transported to country after country with her. And I found so much to relate to, as well, with her experiences as an immigrant in America and finding kinship with people of color around the globe. An absolute must-read.
Read
January 29, 2023I found her focus on the people and cultures fascinating, rather than talking about sights and tourist attractions. She had some interesting philosophical insights on human nature.
June 4, 2023
The most self-obsessed, millenial, instagram influencer, #blm travel log ever! All the cliches are there, all the catchphrases that make people hate the millenial influencer... So, so, so long!
She wants to have a "genuine" experience in each country - even if she's only there for a day. She doesn't like group tours, prefers a private guide, doesn't like "roughing it" (unless it's in Africa - then it's "embrace the simple life"), spends half the book describing parties and high end restaurants, freely admits that she had no idea about the history of the country before (and often until after) she went there, says she's not religious, but claims she visits every mosque that's in any way "famous". The list goes on and on (and on and on and on).
Only finished this because it was for a reading challenge.
She wants to have a "genuine" experience in each country - even if she's only there for a day. She doesn't like group tours, prefers a private guide, doesn't like "roughing it" (unless it's in Africa - then it's "embrace the simple life"), spends half the book describing parties and high end restaurants, freely admits that she had no idea about the history of the country before (and often until after) she went there, says she's not religious, but claims she visits every mosque that's in any way "famous". The list goes on and on (and on and on and on).
Only finished this because it was for a reading challenge.
July 22, 2022
FALSELY CLAIMS TO BE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO TRAVEL TO EVERY COUNTRY (this was Woni Spotts)
Yes. Woni Spotts is the first black woman(recorded) to visit every country(193+4), including every continent(7), and many territories by September, 2018. Oddly enough, on Oct 7, 2019, the same day Jessica Nabongo gave herself a congratulations party, Ms. Spotts Wikipedia page was vandalized, rewritten, and credible sources removed, to give the impression that Ms. Spotts has no real proof. Woni Spotts has third-party verification and is registered with a travel company in Egypt.
Very depressing negative narrative. Always the victim. Lots of reverse racism.
Yes. Woni Spotts is the first black woman(recorded) to visit every country(193+4), including every continent(7), and many territories by September, 2018. Oddly enough, on Oct 7, 2019, the same day Jessica Nabongo gave herself a congratulations party, Ms. Spotts Wikipedia page was vandalized, rewritten, and credible sources removed, to give the impression that Ms. Spotts has no real proof. Woni Spotts has third-party verification and is registered with a travel company in Egypt.
Very depressing negative narrative. Always the victim. Lots of reverse racism.
September 12, 2022
I love travel books so I knew this was one I wanted to read. This book didn’t come across as what I wanted it to, felt more as if she was bragging about it and I can only imagine how much money it cost to go to all these places. Some countries only got half a page, while others had an entire section. I think I would have preferred if even if it were a hundred pages longer to showcase all 195. Feels like the 95 that were left out wasn’t the right thing to do.
October 15, 2021
This right here is such an inspiring read, full of adventure and wonder and lots of experiences that I cannot help but wish to read it all.
You don't have to love travel to enjoy this, however a taste or yearning for exploration would make this an enjoyable read.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC
You don't have to love travel to enjoy this, however a taste or yearning for exploration would make this an enjoyable read.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC
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