Black Woman Backpacking Solo through Europe

I'm a 23 year old black American, and I'm hoping to go on a backpacking trip through Europe then South America. Are there any places that I should avoid? How can I get started with planning? I'm clueless! help

I'm not sure about countries or places to avoid if you're black, but I've met a lot of black/mixed western Europeans (especially Germans), and there is an ethnic African population in northern Ecuador. I've been a number of black travelers and haven't heard any bad stories, but since I'm not black I'm not in a position to make assumptions or speculate. I hope some others will be able to give you better advice!

As for the planning, I'm a fan of going to a bookstore, grabbing some travel guides, and sitting in the bookstore's coffeeshop making notes about what you want to do where. After you get a sense of the highlights, and what makes you most excited, you can think hard about what kinds of things you enjoy, and plan a bit from there. You don't need to see the most touristy things just because they're there. However, keep your itinerary as loose as possible so you can spend more time in places you like, or leave places you wind up not liking.

Happy traveling!

I am also not black.

A good Aussie mate of mine, who is of Indian descent travelled South America, North America and Europe for 15 months. He stated that he did get some racism and verbal abuse directed to him in some eastern European countries. Most notably Hungary. There were no incidences of physical harm. There were incidences of making him feel unwelcome, reluctance to serve and verbal abuse from strangers in the street. When talking to locals about these incidences and the words the people used at him, it seems that as he is a ethnic Indian, strangers had assumed he was a Roma Gypsy and were abusing him, not for the colour of his skin but for being a Gypsy.

I do not believe you will need to avoid any countries, but racism does exist.

I guess a black American will know that 'racism exists' ;-)

My own view is that it exists everywhere,but it is rarely a major problem in tourist spots.You will not have problems walking around the Colosseum.....you might have problems wandering around one of the housing estates in the Roman suburbs.I agree with gerard that there is no need to avoid specific countries or cities.

On the getting started with planning..agree with #1.Get some guide books (eg the LP 'Europe' guide,or the Footprint South America..read through them see what sounds interesting.

No need to have a fixed itinerary..just jot down a few places you would like to go to,and then see if it is feasible to link them together in the time you have available....

Thanks everyone! Note: avoid eastern europe...

Don't avoid Eastern Europe. I've hosted numerous couchsurfers of varying ethnicites, and not heard any horror stories. One black gentleman particularly enjoyed his trip because he was considered exotic by the local ladies. Girls generally attract less hostility than boys, and in most places where toursists go you should not have a problem.

On the other hand, stupidity, petty tribalism, and fear of 'the other' are prevalent throughout the human race. I've dealt with hostility in the past from Chinese people who don't like 'laowai', Irishmen who blamed me for the potatot famine two centuries ago, angry inebriated crypto-femininsts wanting to slap me just because I'm a man, conservatives angry at my long hair. Black Americans shouting randomly about imaginary insults, and British people who were enraged that I talk to Germans. Nobody likes the Germans, except me.

The only way to avoid this is to stay at home, and never go online in case the mental midgets are lurking on discussion forums looking for someone to bully.

My attitude is that these people are generally a minority and shouldn't be allowed to make our choices for us. I have many good friends who are Chinese,conservative, feminist, Irish, British, or some combination of these. The actions of the idiotic few shouldn't shape our attitudes to other people of their ethnicity, gender, nationality, belief system, etc. We have to treat individuals as individuals, not by pigeon-holing them.

And it starts with not defining yourself with meaningless labels. I don't care that you're black, and most people don't. I hope it is something you would never mention except when discussing racism. I'm sitting right now in a shopping centre in Budapest with an Asian girl. How do you think the people around me would feel if I stood up and announced that you won't come here because Hungarian people don't like visitors and can't handle diversity. Most of the people around me would be offended and accuse you of racism because of your decision.

Nobody can be nice to you, or indifferent, if you don't give them the chance. This is a beautiful part of the world and most people are very friendly and hospitable. You would be doing yourself a great dis-service if you let the fear win.

On the other other hand.... Russia is gaining a very bad reputation for state-sponsored racism. I wouldn't go there if I was you. And many big cities have serious problems with this issue in Europe just as they do in the USA. Is there any reason why you would want to visit an unpleasant impoverished area of any city? Stick to the tourist areas, and you should be fine. Being a woman, being young and inexperienced, being a tourist, these are potentially more problematic than your race. But plenty of people travel every year without any big problems. There's no reason why you should be different.