Who is better to talk travel than a person who has visited every country? There is no official count on this, but it is estimated at around 200 people have completed that feat. Jessica Nabongo is among them. In fact, she is the first Black woman to visit all countries.

Born in Detroit to Ugandan parents, Nabongo took her first international trip at age 4. By the time she was a teenager, she spent enough time visiting relatives in East Africa to feel comfortable and actually enjoy travel. She eventually set her goal to visit every country and reached it in 2019 on her late father’s birthday. Nabongo started her blog in 2009 as a way to document her trips, share her story and build a community.

Her first book, The Catch Me If You Can: One Woman’s Journey to Every Country in the World, was published by National Geographic in 2022. It contains 100 stories from 100 destinations. It is part travelogue and part memoir. Add in breathtaking pictures, and the result is a fascinating 416-page travel book.

Our interview took place the day prior to her leaving for Alaska. Once there, she will only need five more states (North and South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska) to complete her current goal of visiting every state.

Nabongo discussed developing a passion for travel at an early age, building her life through travel, how travel changed her and how she changed travel, and much more.

Talking Travel is an interview series on Global Traveler. Subscribe to the GT YouTube channel to be notified of all future interviews and other travel-related videos.

— John Wroblewski, online writer