Go Where You Are Loved: My Journey Into Global Travel – Black Women Amplified | Empowering Women Through Media, Podcasting, And Storytelling

“Go where you are loved.”

When I first heard Kimora Lee say those words, I tucked them away like a secret prayer. I did not fully feel them until I stepped off a train in Paris and tears ran down my face. In that moment, I understood what it means to be welcomed, to be seen, to be free.

But my story started before Paris.

My mentor once pulled me aside and said, “Your ideas are too big for America.” She told me it was time for me to see the world. At the time, I laughed it off. Travel like that seemed like something other people did. When she passed from cancer, her words landed differently in me. To honor her, I booked my first trip overseas.

London was our first stop. We flew Virgin Atlantic, rolled our suitcases into a tiny hotel room, and climbed into an elevator that fit a person or a suitcase but not both. I was small but excited. I could not wait to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Notting Hill. For a moment, it felt like a movie.

Then reality shifted. I was in my Afrocentric phase, wearing braids, dashikis, cowrie shells, brass, and copper. I loved my look, but Londoners did not. Their stares were heavy. The racism felt sharp. Only when I opened my mouth and my American accent showed did people’s attitudes soften. That was my first and last time in London.

Then Paris called. Osunlade and I got a message from a producer who said, “I’m in Paris. Hop on the train and come.” We did. The train ride felt like a possibility. When I stepped into Paris at Gare du Nord, something in me broke open. Tears came before I could stop them. I felt like I had been there before. I saw so many cultures together in one place, laughing and living in public. It felt like home.

We had no hotel plan. We did not know it was Fashion Week. By grace, we landed in a three-bedroom penthouse in the middle of it all. Tommy was playing at one of the biggest parties of the season. We walked red carpets. For a girl from St. Louis, it was magic.

Paris did more than dazzle. One day, I walked the city for eight hours, popping into shops, sipping coffee, watching life move. No one followed me into stores. No one questioned why I was there. People knew my name, not my complexion. That feeling healed something in me. Travel became the medicine I did not know I needed.

That Paris trip became the start of fifteen years of hopping around the planet. I collected passport stamps, yes, but I also collected parts of myself that the United States had worn away. Travel gave me back my confidence and my sense of belonging.

For a long time, I thought living abroad was not for everyday people or for women who look like me. Then I found the community. I discovered Stephanie Perry and Roshida Dowe and the work they have done with ExodUS Summit. What started as a yearning became a movement. Thousands of Black women are now choosing to build lives overseas with intention and support.

Stephanie and Roshida have shaped a space where information, strategy, and sisterhood meet. ExodUS Summit is now in its sixth year. The Summit walks women through the real work of creating income, choosing a place that fits, navigating visas and healthcare, and planting roots in countries where they are seen and valued. Stephanie spent a decade house-sitting around the world. Today, she calls Bogotá, Colombia, home. Her story shows what is possible when you blend courage, strategy, and support from other Black women.

This moment feels different from past waves of migration. The internet has flattened borders in a way our mothers and grandmothers could not imagine. The gatekeepers are gone. Knowledge is shared. Women are teaching other women how to make a living anywhere and how to build homes and communities that sustain them.

If you have ever imagined more than a trip, if you have pictured a life with more ease, more joy, and more safety, this is your invitation. ExodUS Summit is happening from October 10 through October 13. You will hear from women who have built incomes abroad and designed lives that feel like home. This year’s lineup includes Rachel Rodgers and Arlan Hamilton alongside practitioners who are living the work they teach.

Reflections on My Journey

Travel continues to teach me how I want to live. Every arrival reminds me that I do not belong inside boxes I did not build. I am meant to expand. I am meant to show up fully.

Travel was never just about seeing new places. For me it has been a process of reclaiming joy, truth, and purpose. It taught me how to rest, how to expect better treatment, and how to build with women who will show up for me and help me rise. That is the gift I want every Black woman to take for herself.

Love and light,
Monica Wisdom

Learn more at www.blackwomenamplified.com/freedom