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What We Can Learn From Woni Spotts: The First Black Woman To Visit Every Country In The World
And it’s not about the traveling part.
This month it has been confirmed that Woni Spotts, a 55-year-old Los Angeles native, became the first black woman to travel to every single country in the world. She visited 195 recognized nations, all 7 continents, and 22 territories. Platforms like PR Newswire and Yahoo Finance are on the list of large platforms to cover her story, but no interviews with Woni Spotts were made. This news was a big surprise because her achievements have been largely unknown in mainstream news and amongst the avid wanderers in the travel community.
Why was it unknown?
Spotts traveled to every country without documenting her journey on any social media platform for everyone to see. Because of this, many people were very critical and skeptical and didn’t think she was real. Everyone wanted proof. In this “pic or it didn’t happen” and “look at me, I did a thing” generation, some people cannot fathom how something so grand could be true without hardcore evidence on the internet, specifically social media where you can find tons of travel influencers and enthusiasts. When you think about this type of logic, it’s pretty funny that one would think this way considering that social media is FULL of misinformation that is normally presented via images or videos. Also, photoshop exists. Media coverage doesn’t always mean it’s true; we have seen countless examples of this.
We live in the age where we have this new title called an “influencer,” which consists of people who have built their claim to fame and income streams with the help of a loyal audience, endorsements, sponsorships, and GoFundMe accounts, Woni did it 100% offline without the help of the virtual world. It’s the perfect example of “moving in silence.”
Her backstory is actually pretty interesting. She was an actress who has been traveling internationally since she was a child. One thing that I found really impressive is that Woni this journey while being vegan/vegetarian. To that, I say a big kudos to her, because I’ve been on the struggle bus in some countries eating this way. You can find more about her back story on her interviews with Packs Light and Hey Dip Your Toes In.
