Inspiration to Exploration: A travel blog by Ebitie Amughan

At Pinterest, this year’s Black History Month theme is Find your routes to Black travel. Aligned with this theme, we’re bringing you a travel blog. Where are we headed? How do we plan? Who better to learn more about inspirational travel experiences from than our favorite travel enthusiast, world explorer and Pinterest Senior Recruiting Operations Program Manager: Ebitie Amughan! We’ll let you take it from here, Ebitie.

After all the preparation and packing – my least favorite activity – there’s a beautiful stillness that occurs right before a trip begins. Sometimes it’s the moment of liftoff, cruising down on a long road or simply looking out the window on a train ride. Whichever means of transportation, traveling always brings me a deep sense of gratitude and an opportunity to discover. It’s a chance to discover new countries, cuisines and cultures through experiences that expand my sense of wonder.

I’ve traveled to 25 countries, visited four out of the seven world wonders and the most memorable part has always been the people whom I’ve encountered and the memories along the way. It’s more than just going to new destinations; it’s fundamentally aligned with my personal philosophy to connect, to explore and to inspire. I have navigated my life and travel choices around those tenets, specifically Black travel.

Black travel to me means both traveling as a Black woman and also intentionally exploring and investing in the Black communities of the places I visit. They aren’t always found in travel blogs, but I have found these communities to be the most profound parts of my trip. I will always remember the “I Love Being Black” mural in the Palenques of Colombia, devouring the best chicken in Limón, Costa Rica and listening to the rhythmic drums of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil. Black people are everywhere and I have found more similarities than differences through my travels. It reminds me of this quote from Maya Angelou.

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

I also recognize the privilege to travel and work at the same time. Traveling is a personal investment and I’m appreciative of Pinterest’s PinFlex work model so that I can live a life I love and work from anywhere. When I travel, I visit the local Pinterest office and connect with colleagues in that area. This has influenced my role in Inclusive Hiring because it has enlightened me to have a better understanding which leads to more effective solutions. In that way, my personal exploration has also served as inspiration for my work. To me, it’s not about achieving a work life balance because that means constantly juggling between two things but rather I’m working to create an organic flow between the two. It’s not work and then life, it’s all life – like writing this blog post at the airport before my flight boards. Sometimes it’s about viewing the same problem from a different perspective and travel has always brought me a fresh point of view.

If travel is calling your name, I encourage you to make it happen. Find the time to discover new routes and if you need inspiration, check out the Black Travel Hub on Pinterest. You can also follow my adventures on my Pinterest. Happy Exploring!