From the Bookshelf of La Crescent Public Library…

[close] A gorgeous travelogue for anyone with wanderlust!

Jessica Nabongo is the first Black female to travel to every country in the world. Her beautiful book, The Catch Me If You Can, is full of photographs from her travels and her views on visiting her favorite, most impressionable, and most asked about countries. It begins with some background on her and her family. She was raised in Detroit by Ugandan immigrants, and one interesting thing I found was how often her Ugandan passport allowed her entry to places that her U.S. passport might not. While there was some benefit to dual citizenship, she also encountered a spectrum of racism while traveling, often alone, as a Black woman. Some of her writing relays the response she received while exploring other countries in her identity as a dark-skinned Black woman.

She shares some practical advice about how to use vacation time and flight tracking to travel cost-effectively, but much of the book is a beautiful memoir/travelogue about what stood out to her while visiting these places. Favorite foods, must see venues, safety and transit access all play a role.

In short, it's a gorgeous collection and definitely made me want to start traveling again!

~Jess