Black Travel Summit met with Erica Knowles, founder of Collective Drift (which celebrates international women, culture, and travel) on May 3rd to find out a little bit more about what she does, her tips on living & working abroad as a woman of color, and how to leave your job the right way to pursue your passion and travel the world!
Here are some key notes from the interview…
What advice can you give to those who may want to venture abroad to live and work?
Well initially the job I had in the U.S. allowed me to continue working from abroad. When I moved to Peru, I also taught English as a foreign language before and after work….
What were experiences like living abroad as a woman of color?
I really did a lot of research on where I wanted to live… There was series out at the time that covered the experience of being Black in South America by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and that’s what really informed me… I had to adjust to the differences not only in ethnicity, but in class as well… I realized that I had advantages as a Black & American woman. Being in Peru was the first time I felt American… I had a time where one of my students, in Thailand, was sprinkling flour on my hand and when I asked her why she’s doing that she says “because you’re not pretty” and I realized that she was trying to make me white… I would go to the local 7-11 and couldn’t buy skincare products because it had skin bleach in it…
What are some of the skill-sets you’ve gained that have prepared you for living abroad?
Networking! When moving to Peru, I had connected with someone who used to work at the Embassy in Peru and those people connected me with people who worked for the embassy in Thailand and this opened doors for me to make money to live… Speaking English as a native language was definitely another less-acknowledged skill that helped me to acquire certain clients…
Watch and listen to the full interview here…
Follow Collective Drift on Instagram @CollectiveDrift and visit them at www.collectivedrift.com for more information!
