If you’re a travel lover, you’ve likely heard the name Jessica Nabongo. She’s the first Black woman to visit every country. She’s a National Geographic author (with her second book on the way). And she’s a force in the world of travel storytelling, using everything from fine-art photography to a new YouTube channel to share the world with her global audience.
Yet of all of Jessica Nabongo’s accolades, I was most excited to learn about her fearless creativity—a muscle she’s honed throughout decades of travel photography and writing. Read on for a dose of storytelling inspiration, as well as Nabongo’s sage advice for letting go of perfection to create a life that’s true to you.
Read on for storytelling insights and lessons from Nabongo, a first generation American who was raised by her Ugandan parents in Detroit—the city she still calls home.
Blogging beginnings
Jessica Nabongo, a first generation American who was raised by her Ugandan parents in Detroit, got her travel storytelling start before the Instagram era. In 2009, she hit publish on her now-renowned blog, The Catch Me If You Can, which later became the name of her first book.
“Now looking back, I didn’t realize how ahead of my time I was,” she says, noting that her focus on doing work she loves has not only kept her going; it’s helped her stay authentic. “I’ve just been at this for such a long time, and now reflecting back, I realize it’s because I’m doing things I love.”
The Catch Me If You Can blog harnesses Nabongo’s photography and storytelling background—two strengths that now translate well on social media. “I’m giving you an image, and I’m also giving you a story,” she says of her Instagram content. “I’m giving you the history of the country or the story of the person in the picture. I want to teach people things through storytelling.”
The life-changing goal to visit every country
Through words and imagery—the latter are largely recorded via the Sony A7III—Nabongo spent years immersing her audience in the world. In 2017, inspired while on a trip to Bali, she decided to kick that mission into overdrive by not just visiting a dozen countries, or even 100. She set out to become the first Black woman to visit all 195 UN-recognized countries.
“I didn’t have a plan—I’m flying by the seat of my pants,” she says. “I was just like, ‘I’m going to be the first Black woman to go to every country, and I’m going to do it by my 35th birthday.’”
At the time, Nabongo still had over 130 countries to visit, and just two years and three months until she turned 35. That didn’t stop her. On Oct. 6, 2019, she completed her expedition to all 195 UN-recognized countries, and she concluded her journey in one of the most scenic spots: the Seychelles.
Nabongo learned a lot about the world, and storytelling, in the process. One of her biggest takeaways?
“Just start.”
Nabongo isn’t one to map out a plan or stick to a strategy. Instead, she follows her intuition and treats life like an experiment—and an incredibly fun one at that. “Everything we’re doing every day is an experiment,” she says. “Once you get tied to a routine, that’s when life becomes boring.”
The idea of experimentation can be daunting to some. What if you fail? What if you look silly? Consider adopting Nabongo’s storytelling outlook.
“Nothing is precious; I don’t feel like I have to do things to perfection because I think perfection is truly the enemy of creativity,” she says. “I’m not trying to do something that’s perfect, and I’m not precious about things. These two pieces allow me the freedom to pursue multiple things at the same time.”
One of these noteworthy pursuits? Writing a book for National Geographic. After completing her every-country journey in 2019, Nabongo was approached by an editor from the beloved brand. “I was in Delaware on a solo 2020 road trip,” she says. Noting she’d already spoken to several publishers about a potential book, but nothing had felt quite right. “This was the first time I had a conversation with an editor who wanted to help me write the book I wanted to write. That’s what made me say yes.”
It may seem like Nabongo’s entire globetrotting career was leading up to this massive book project, which highlights her top 100 destinations as well as many of her own images. Yet, true to her approach to life, this wasn’t part of her plan, either. “If I knew I was going to write a book for National Geographic, I would have taken better notes,” she says. “I was really going to every country in the world because I was genuinely curious.”
Storytelling through food
The next iteration of storytelling done by Jessica Nabongo explores a medium she’d never really considered: cookbooks. After her first book, National Geographic suggested she research and create a book spotlighting recipes from around the world. At first, she declined. “I’m not even really into food,” she says.
Then she realized the potential for digging into even more global stories. “I feel like I’m a food anthropologist, and I love it because it’s another layer of storytelling,” she says. Getting to the origins of different foods and ingredients has helped her become even more fluent in a destination’s history.
“For example, I didn’t know chili peppers originated in the Americas,” Nabongo says. “That’s crazy because, if there was no global trade, we wouldn’t have Asian food as we know it today. It’s like a rabbit hole.”
Nabongo’s cookbook, Catch Me in the Kitchen, will publish late next year. Until then, she has another creative endeavor in the works: going all in on video.
The Catch Me If You Can hits YouTube
Many followers have seen Jessica Nabongo and her videos on Instagram. But recently, she decided to add YouTube to the mix. “People have been on me for years about getting on YouTube,” she says. It means that the actual process of filmmaking has largely held her back. But she figured out a solution: finding a talented creative partner.
“I’m a photographer; I do not have a filmmaking bone in my body,” she says. “So I often travel with a videographer. He went to Antarctica with me, he came and filmed something in Detroit for a brand deal for Cadillac, and we just came back from Asia. Being with him is nice because I tell him what’s important to me, but he can figure out how to film and edit it. It just makes my storytelling more dynamic.”
This kind of trusted partnership allows Nabongo to continue pushing boundaries with her storytelling—which these days is not only about encouraging people to travel. Nabongo wants creatives from all walks of life to feel inspired to share their stories, too.
“I want to remind creatives that we have to reflect the times, and we are creating time capsules of the world around us.” she says. “We can’t be too precious about it. At a time when they’re trying to erase everything, our work is literally the history books. Get out of your own way and just share the thing, post the thing, paint the thing, or sing the thing — whatever it is, let it out.”
