SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS Ashley, born and raised in Queens, New York, has been traveling since she was a child. She was exposed to travel early when she ventured to the Caribbean to visit family members with her parents. She believes that seeing the world herself allows her to see the truth in real-time. Her passion for travel kept growing while she was studying at Howard University in Washington D.C., and traveling apart from school. She had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain as a college sophomore and continued her journey into Italy, Morocco, and London. By 25, she had already visited 10 different countries. Her never-ending footsteps throughout America, Europe, and the rest of the world opened up more real connections. She loved that she got to explore the diversity of new experiences, new cultures, new languages, and more. Travel became part of her life, and she wanted to share that with others. While on her many travels, she noticed that she could count on one hand the number of Black travelers that she encountered, and they were all from her school. This was also the case in other destinations that she visited. From that moment, she knew that creating a platform for Black travelers was something that she would eventually do. She wanted to help Black people traveling abroad see that they were not alone and that others shared that passion. When Black travelers connected with each other, they would be able to share tips and insights for making travel interesting, safe, and workable.
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