Tag Archives: traveler

How one woman is inspiring Black women to travel alone with her popular Facebook group Sisters Traveling Solo

Meet Cole Banks, the woman behind the Facebook group Sisters Traveling Solo that inspires Black women to travel alone.

By Heather Newgen

Cole Banks started the Sisters Traveling Solo (STS) Facebook community to encourage Black women to travel alone after she stumbled upon an article discouraging Black women from traveling by themself. She frequently traveled solo and wanted to help prove that sisters can safely and affordably travel solo. STS’s mission is to connect, empower, inspire, and support sisters. Beyond the steady increase in travel among African Americans, up $63 billion from $48 billion since 2011; STS has been a forerunner in leading women to discover, heal, and explore themselves through travel.

Sisters Traveling Solo Cole Banks, Founder of Sisters Traveling Solo

In just a few years, here’s what Banks has accomplished so far.

STS Facebook group has more than 70,000 members.
Since 2016, STS has planned 51 trips and taken more than 370 sisters to 17 countries; 7 more will be added to the list in 2020.
STS Cultural Trips have helped generate more than $250,000 in revenue for women-owned businesses globally.
STS started as a passion project for Cole. In 2018, she left her corporate job at The Coca-Cola Company to focus on Sisters Traveling Solo full-time. Now, her office can be anywhere she wants it to be as she continues inspiring people to get out of their comfort zone and live the life they truly want—especially when it comes to travel.

RELATED: How mobile app Skyhi is changing travel

STS is not only inspiring Black women to jet set around the world, but it’s shattering negative generalizations and creating a wonderful community of like-minded travelers.

The Voluntourist: How is Sisters Traveling Solo breaking stereotypes?

Cole Banks: We are breaking a number of stereotypes: that women should not travel alone, that black women should not travel alone, that black women don’t travel but more importantly that women can’t get together and have fun without drama. What I love about our trips is the sisterhood amongst our members. On our trips, it is pretty amazing to see these sisters form a bond and sisterhood that can take many years to find. It is the common bond of travel that connects them and creates an environment of comfort and trust on day one of our trips. In addition, outside of our Sisters Traveling Solo community, we promote sisterhood by intentionally partnering with women owned businesses where we travel.

The Voluntourist: Why is it important for Black women to travel alone?

Cole Banks: I feel it’s important for Black women to travel alone because we need that mental break from our everyday routine; putting others’ needs before ours, compromising on things we truly want, and escaping the weight that society puts on us, just as Black women. We have to take time for mental breaks that allow us to sit in our own thoughts, to reflect, destress, and just enjoy our own company. Also, you don’t have to travel out the country or even out of your own state to do this. Solo travel can be done in your own city.

The Voluntourist: How the group empowers women of color?

Cole Banks: We empower women of color through our community that allows them to see what’s possible when you stop waiting on other people. Our community is a visualization of what it looks like when you put yourself first.

The Voluntourist: How has Sisters Traveling Solo helped generate more than $250,000 in revenue for women-owned businesses globally?

Cole Banks: We have contributed more than $250,000 in revenue to women owned tour companies in Africa (only). For our cultural trips, we only work with and support women owned tour businesses to help us host the trips for our clients. We have done this is in 3 countries; Ghana (2 times), Morocco (3 times) and Tanzania (2 times). We ask these women tour owners to also find ways for us to support small women owned businesses and organizations that help local businesses during our trip. For instance, in Morocco we supported an organization that helps women in Morocco who are divorced, abused or single mothers learn skills that will help them become independent; in Ghana we support Mama Esther who has a fabric making shop that she runs in the back of her home; and in Tanzania we learn about a day in the life of a woman who is a seaweed farmer.

The Voluntourist: what are the misconceptions about traveling alone and has how traveling solo has changed you?

Cole Banks: One misconception is that traveling alone is not safe. But, I tell our members to follow your instincts just like you do when you’re at home and if it doesn’t feel right then, don’t proceed. Also, I hear that it’s not fun. My response to that is…if I can’t enjoy my own company then I’m doing something wrong. Through solo travel I have gained a better understanding of myself. It has helped me understand that the only person who limits what I can do is me. And, most importantly it has helped me understand that I belong everywhere; in every country, in every meeting, and at every table.

The Voluntourist:  What tips can you offer on affordable travel?

Cole Banks: Look for deals. Be flexible with your travel schedule. Be willing to fly out of another city that is a major hub (ie New York). Follow the popular flight deal sites on Facebook and Instagram. Set up travel alerts on airline sites. Look for alternative lodging solutions like airbnb and hostels which can potentially reduce the cost of the overall experience. Also, consider staying outside of the city centers and near public transportation.

The Voluntourist: What inspired you to quit your full-time job to do Sisters Traveling Solo full-time?

Cole Banks: Sisters Traveling Solo didn’t really inspire me to quit my job. I was able to do both. The reason I left my job was because Sisters Traveling Solo grew so fast that I could no longer maintain both. And, after running out of vacation time, doing both was no longer an option.

Interested in joining Sisters Traveling Solo? Click here  or check out the Sisters Traveling Solo website https://www.sisterstravelingsolo.com/home.

How the Mobile App SkyHi is Changing Travel

SkyHi is a new mobile app that simplifies booking a flight for a low fixed price.

By: Heather Newgen | Twitter: @hnvoluntourist

Looking to access cheap airfare without spending hours looking for the best deal? SkyHi might be your answer. For $199 a month, members can book up a five flights a month, but no more than 10 days before the departure date. However there’s a catch: There are no round trip tickets and for a reason, which you can read below.  And flights up to 1000 miles will cost you an additional $35; 1000 to 2000 miles is $75; and 2000 to 3000 miles will be an extra $120 on top of the monthly $199.00 fee. Currently there are 73 departure cities and 2,652 routes in North America and Europe. If you want to cancel and rejoin, no problem. You can do so for $99.00. You can also freeze your account while you’re not using it, but you’ll still pay $35.00 a month.

Co-founder Rama Poola further explains how SkyHi works and what the advantages are for travelers.

SkyHi Skyhy Co-Founder Rama Poola

The Voluntourist: I’ve been doing a lot of research on SkyHi and I think it’s a great idea. My biggest takeaway was that you were kind of stuck in this 9 to 5 job and that wasn’t where you really wanted to be, so you came up with the concept for SkyHi that really allows people like yourself to have this nomadic lifestyle. Why is that important to you to be able to allow others to have that?

Rama Poola: Great question. I think everyone needs to experience new places all the time. For years I had vacation time and I planned these trips I went on. To me a trip is a lifestyle capital where I can be in Chicago or Miami and experience new people and new cultures and get reinvigorated about whether I’m doing work or whether I’m pursuing creative outlets. I just think the world needs to be more fluid. That’s where I think people need to have those experiences constantly in order to grow and maybe that because I have those all the time and I grow because of it and I want people to have that.

The Voluntourist: From what I understand about SkyHi, round-trip tickets are not offered. Can you explain why not?

Poola: Yes, so they are only one-way tickets and you can claim five tickets a month. We wanted to make sure people aren’t thinking about things as much because there is excitement in the fact that you can go somewhere, spend time there, and not feel confined if you have a ticket going back in two days…If they are out there, then they can make a choice if they want to stay a couple days or maybe go elsewhere. I feel like more people have the flexibility to do that now. I want people to feel that the travel is going to change them. It is our biggest challenge right now, potentially reeducating people to feel and believe that travel can be this easy and this will improve their lives.

The Voluntourist: Break it down for me a little bit. It is $199 a month and then during that month you can get up to 5 one-way tickets to go 1,500 miles between each city.

Poola: Correct. It is 1,500 miles. From LA, you can get to Vancouver, Denver, Salt Lake City, Austin, Dallas, about half way across the country.

The Voluntourist: Do you plan on expanding that?

Poola: We are thinking about different pricing tiers for different mileage radius; at some point a 3,000-mile radius to get people across the country, but it will cost them more.

The Voluntourist: A couple things that could be potential challenges for SkyHi are that you cannot book two one-way tickets at the same time, so you have to go on your current flight and then you can book immediately after you land. Is that correct?

Poola: Correct. As soon as the flight lands, you can book another ticket. That could cause some anxiety for some, but for others, it is kind of exciting. You open up the app and you can see any flight that we can put you on in the upcoming ten days. It is possible that there may not be one out the next day, but there will likely be one two days after. People that have used it are less anxious about it because they usually find their flight home if they need to go home. If not, they just stay an extra day or two. You can also switch your location in the app before you book that first flight to see what flights are coming back.

The Voluntourist: Why did you decide to set it up this way where you can book two one-way tickets at the same time?

Poola: It breaks people’s habit of thinking about round trips. We don’t want people to make their decisions until they’ve landed.

The Voluntourist: When you are talking to people and asking them if they can work anywhere, how are they are able to have such flexibility in their schedule?

Poola: A lot of them are freelancers. I worked for a tech company for many years and for a lot of the tech companies now, it doesn’t matter if you work from home or from a café.

The Voluntourist: A lot of people don’t have that mindset, so are you hoping something like this can change that?

Poola: Yes, I do hope it will change it and I do hope it will have people ask for what they or need out of their jobs. I do hope that this empowers people to ask for more flexibility.

The Voluntourist: Who is SkyHi for? Who are you trying to target?

Poola: People that really just want to have experiences, for people that want to live free lives, and for people that have flexible jobs. We have had small business owners who are getting value out of this. You can meet a client face to face as opposed to a video call. That changes your business.

The Voluntourist: What has the feedback been from those who have used SkyHi?

Poola: The one-click booking experience is game changing for many of them. That saves people a lot of time.

The Voluntourist: I like the set pricing aspect of it because I’m always online searching for the cheapest flight possible and this saves so much time. People can use their frequent flyer miles because it is most airlines that are participating, right?

Poola: Correct, I know some airlines don’t honor miles if you book on a third party, but most will do it for you.

The Voluntourist: You said you came up with the idea on a flight, what sparked the idea?

Poola: I was in Berlin getting ready to fly back to New York. I was at the airport and there were backpackers waiting around for a ticket, they didn’t have a ticket to anywhere, waiting for something to fall under 50 euros. They ended up getting a plane to Lisbon. I got on my plane back home and it was pretty empty. I thought to myself, would they have paid $100 to New York City and would that have helped this airplane be more full, and in turn, help the airline? It was on that airplane that drew out SkiHi.

The Voluntourist: Can anyone become a SkyHi member as long as they can pay the $199?

Poola: Currently, it is invite only.

The Voluntourist: Why did you decide on invite-only for now?

Poola: We wanted to make sure we were enabling the right people to travel. We actually have one -on- one conversations with customers. We also wanted to make sure we serviced the cities that people are living in. We don’t want people to get stuck.

For more information visit www.flyskyhi.com