Jessica Nabongo - The Catch Me If You Can: One Womans Journey to Every Country in the World

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nabongo, Jessica, author.

Title: The catch me if you can : one womans journey to every country in the world / Jessica Nabongo.

Description: Washington, DC : National Geographic, 2022. | Summary: Celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo-the first documented Black woman to visit all 195 countries in the world-shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021062584 (print) | LCCN 2021062585 (ebook) | ISBN 9781426222269 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781426222467 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Nabongo, Jessica--Travel. | International travel. | African American women travelers--Biography. Classification: LCC G154.5.N34 A3 2022 (print) | LCC G154.5.N34 (ebook) | DDC 910.4/1092 [B]--dc23/eng20220207 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021062584

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.locgov/2021062585

ISBN 9781426222467 (ebook)

The information in this book has been carefully checked and to the best of our knowledge is accurate. However, details are subject to change, and the publisher cannot be responsible for such changes, or for errors or omissions. Assessments of sites, hotels, and restaurants are based on the authors subjective opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the publishers opinion.

For Rose and Ephraim

Webale nnyo

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

OSCAR WILDE

I GOT MY FIRST PASSPORT WHEN I WAS four or five years old. What I didnt know at the time was how generous life could be and that I was being handed the world to explore. I could not have imagined that little blue book would lead me to a carpet seller in Afghanistan or that I would fall in love with a mosque in Iran. How could I have guessed that I would form lifelong bonds on a road trip in Namibia? Or that kissing a giraffe

in Kenya would be as memorable as walking next to one in Niger? That little girl could not have known she would climb Japans Mount Fuji or swim with whales in Tonga.

I grew up in a home with hundreds of books, two sets of encyclopedias, an atlas, and a globe that, though now inaccurate, still sits on my countertop. I am a geography nerd. Always have been, always will be. My parents never put boundaries on me and my sisters. We were raised to feel like anything truly was possible. So its no wonder I developed so many wild dreams; visiting every country in the world was just one of them.

Let me back up a little. I have lived many livessome short, some prolonged, all vastly differentand Ive enjoyed each one. In my childhood, I was engaged in sports, music, ballet, and tap recitals, and I had sleepovers with people who became lifelong friends. In high school, I was voted Class Trendy and was quite the social butterfly.

In college, at St. Johns University in New York City, I graduated magna cum laude, helped establish the Africana studies minor, held internships at both Time, Inc., and Pfizer, and was accepted into a competitive summer program at Harvard Business School. My first full-time job was at Pfizer, where I was given pay and benefits that flirted with six figures. Company car, check. Base salary that was on par with my friends slaving away on Wall Street, check. Cell phone and home internet paid for, check. Expense account, check. Stock options, check. 401(k), check. As a 21-year-old, what more could I ask for?

I had laid the foundation to take the corporate world by storm. My path ahead was clear: a successful career, someday married to a six-foot-three, perfectly chiseled partner, two brilliant children, and a sprawling home with two luxury cars parked outside.

Everything was going according to plan. I had relocated back to Detroit, and with the freedom of adulthood and disposable income, I let loose. Weekends often consisted of trips to Miami or New York. I spent too many weeknights having martinis downtown. I was excelling at work, and for my 22nd birthday, I bought myself a two-bed, two-bath condo with views of the Detroit River and Canada. I had a custom closet built for my shoes and designer jeans. Life was good. Very good.

Then, one day something in me snapped. In the parking lot of a doctors office I checked my email on bonus day only to see a three-digit figure that still makes me cringe. I was doing all that I could to reach my sales goals. I was going above and beyond and had become a favorite sales rep among the doctors in my territory. But my bonus was a reflection of the pharmaceutical marketplace, not my effort. I realized in that parking lot that life is not a meritocracy.

I went home and Googled teaching jobs in Japan. Japan came to mind because I had a friend living there and I had always been fascinated by the Japanese language because it has similarities to Luganda, my parents native tongue. I applied for a job and was hired to teach English in a small community. I began preparing for a move to a country and continent that I had never visited. This was in 2008, before I had Twitter and before Instagram was even launched. There was no Black travel movement. At this point in my life, I had traveled to nine countries and one territory across three continents. And I had never traveled solo, save an awful eight hours in Paris. I packed my bags and put the contents of my condo into a storage unit, and then I had an unforgettable going-away weekend. As a final preparation, I shaved my head, knowing I would not find anyone to do my Black hair in a small city outside of Kyoto.