Are you an interracial couple traveling abroad or dreaming of making your jump into international adventures come true? What’s holding you back? Are you worried about not being accepted? Read on.
As seniors who are also an interracial couple traveling abroad we have had some interesting situations arise in various countries. When we first started traveling, we really didn’t worry about researching the attitude of areas for acceptance of mixed-race couples. Our thought process was ‘we on extended vacation” so we knew we would probably stay in an area full of foreign tourists.
NOW, that we have decided to take on international travel one country at a time, it would be negligent of us not to research & try to get a picture of ‘acceptance’ of interracial couples traveling prior to our visit to the next country.
For the most part, the reactions to us as a mixed couple traveling have both surprised & amazed us with overwhelming acceptance. Our travel ideas have changed over the years & we find it to be more adventurous when we are more interactive with the people that live & work in the areas that we travel. We realize that we will encounter language barriers but we have come to understand that these barriers only enhance our communication skills. However, being an interracial couple [black & white] we realize that researching the racial acceptance level of a particular country isn’t always easy to determine.
I can’t lie, there have also been several instances when being an interracial couple has put us into uncomfortable situations while traveling. Hmmm. How do other countries feel about mixed couples?
Our Top Choices, to date, for interracial couples traveling abroad!
I wanted to share with you some of the cities/countries where we have received positive vibes from the locals. Though a few of the countries we have visited so far have NEVER or RARELY seen a dark-skinned person – their reactions were positive.
Here is our list – as of today – of the most receptive countries we have found to an interracial couple traveling abroad in no particular order.
1 Phuket, Thailand
Thailand is the one country where we believed the people were truly color-blind. We traveled to Phuket, Thailand & heard that it was the Land of Smiles. We were not disappointed upon our arrival to find absolutely lovely & kind people. I can’t begin to tell you how much the locals gave to us in sharing their time, homes & families with us. Being an interracial couple in Phuket was no issue at all. The children would call The Big Guy “Mr. Army man” or “Mr. USA”.
One day we were watching a local soccer game when the “Mayor” [not sure of his title] came over & asked us to move from the open seat to under the canopy out of the sun to watch the game. We were given drinks & treated like royalty!
Every day we would walk about a mile to a local store to practice greeting the local owner & purchase a snack or two. One day as we were returning from our walk one of the staff from the hotel asked if we wanted to ride on his scooter with him. We looked at the small scooter & said thank you, but its not big enough chuckling. He asked us to wait & shortly he came back with a truck to pick us up. He then asked if we wanted to go with him to his next job, he was a DJ at a bar on the weekends. Once his shift ended there he asked if we were hungry & wanted to stop to get something to eat. We said yes assuming we would stop at one of the many restaurants in the touristy part of town but he went straight to the house of his parents & told them he had hungry guests. His parents greeted us with a friendly smile & bowed politely before they immediately began firing up their outside cooking grill to prepare the best banana pancakes EVER. Although we tried to tell them that it was not necessary, they would not hear it! In their eyes hungry guests need to eat, no matter what time. We made it back to the hotel around 4 AM. He told us that he would see us around 7 AM that same morning for some exploration. Three hours later we were up & dressed for another adventure in Phuket!
2 Istanbul, Turkey
These three young men watched us from afar for quite a bit before they got close enough to us for The Big Guy to say hello. They were instant smiles & one of them took his finger & rubbed Horace’s arm and then looked at it to see if the dark color would rub off. We couldn’t help but smile at their honesty. I don’t recall if they were able to speak English & we certainly did not know Turkish but it was very clear to us that they wanted a photo with The Big Guy!
When we decided to go to Turkey, the Big Guy had been in Iraq & one of his Iraqi friends gave him the phone number of a guy with instructions to contact “his friend” upon arrival in Istanbul. The Big Guy unpacked his bag, pulled out the number & told me that he had been given a number to call. He really didn’t want to call & bug a stranger but I told him to call anyway just so he could tell the guy in Iraq that he had called. As soon as the Big Guy introduced himself on the call, the ‘friend’ told him he had been expecting his call and asked where he was staying. He was at our hotel within an hour & that is how we met Faisal & Anya. This couple immediately adopted us from day one & showed us parts of Turkey we would have never seen on our own. Again, forever friends.
Another day while waiting at a bus stop, a Turkish man that spoke very good English walked up & asked us for money. The Big Guy politely stated he was sorry, but we didn’t have any money. The man called the Big Guy a liar & began to say that Americans are rich & we were lying. A lady at the bus stop stepped up to the man & immediately began to admonish him in their language. The lady stopped speaking to the man, turning to us to apologize in English for the man’s behavior. She stated that she was embarrassed by the man’s ignorant behavior & that his words did not represent the Turkish people’s feeling about foreign guests.
Istanbul was very receptive & kind to us both as seniors & as an interracial couple with no issues using any of the types of transportation. All was smooth. We would definitely go back for a longer stay!
3 Athens, Greece
During the entire time we were in Athens we did not see any dark-skinned Black people, but the locals we met were extremely welcoming.
People in general were pleasant & inviting, i.e. Michael, owner of a jewelry store who met us with a greeting of the Big Guy being called “Obama” with a smile. One day toward the end of our stay, Michael ran out the door as we were passing motioning us to come back. We walked back to the store & he had a silver bracelet in a box. We told him we were not in the market to buy any jewelry but he quickly advised us that it was not for sale but a gift for the Big Guy to remember them. Michael & his partner enjoyed the conversations they had had with The Big Guy & truly just wanted to show their appreciation of our kindness!
4 Warsaw, Poland
We were invited to a Polish wedding! Since we had not been to Poland & we loved these friends, we were excited to accept the invitation. After we accepted, the bride-to-be approached us with a serious look & told us that most of the people that lived in her small home village of Korycin [a small village in northern Poland] had never seen a real dark-skinned person in their life. She was concerned about what kind of reception we might receive from them & wanted to apologize in advance for anyone that seemed rude or insensitive.
Prior to the wedding ceremony, everyone was gathered & visiting outside of the church. I had noticed three little older ladies with their heads together whispering & looking at us from a distance. They definitely were not sure about us. After a couple minutes, the bride’s little blond-haired sister saw us from across the yard & she started running straight to The Big Guy whom she recognized from being at their home the previous day. She got close & leaped into his open arms, giving him a big hug. Once this happened, the ladies’ frowns instantly turned into smiles & we were golden. Everyone at the wedding & reception wrapped us in love!
In Warsaw we arrived with the expectation of hearing comments or worse. We really were not sure but the hotel staff in Warsaw was welcoming & greeted us with smiles. A couple employees even stayed after work to talk with us about our travel & the U.S.
One day on the rail we forgot which stop would get us to Old Town, so we asked if anyone spoke English & three young girls stepped up asking if they could help. We told them we wanted to get to Old Town but were unsure of which stop to exit. They not only told us the name of the stop, but wrote it down & stayed on the train – passing their stop – to get off to walk with us to our destination. They then walked back to the train to return to their original destination.
On another day in Warsaw, we were making an exploratory walk to find a grocery store. While we were walking this little ‘older’ lady came up from behind us & jumped in front of us walking backwards facing us. She was laughing while giving us the thumbs up & clapping her hands. She was so happy to see us, we couldn’t help but chuckle over this.
We had to take a bus from Warsaw to catch a train to Bialystok in order to get to Korycin. When we arrived at the train station, we met a young man who offered to put our luggage on the bus. We thought he might be up to no good so we thanked him & loaded our luggage on the bus ourselves. Upon getting on the train we were confused about seating. Again, the young man approached us & introduced himself as Tomas inviting us to sit with him in a private viewing car on the train. Tomas told us about the history of the relationship between the Polish and the Russians during our ride on the train. When we arrived in Bialystok our ride to Korycin was running late, so Tomas stayed with us to make sure our ride arrived.
Bottom line, Warsaw treated us very nice with a warm reception! Along with the beautiful scenery & warmth we received, we would definitely like to make another trip there one day! It was wonderful & the country is just beautiful!!
5 Merida, Mexico
At this time Merida, Mexico is the only city where we stayed nearly 6 months continuously. I can’t say anything about the rest of the country BUT if Merida is any indication of reception to a mixed race senior couple traveling we can’t wait to get back to Mexico! We were absolutely stunned by the warmth & reception of the Mexican locals. Even though our Spanish wasn’t up to par at our arrival in Merida, we were able to easily maneuver to get what & where we needed. Did I say we made some amazing & forever forever friends in Merida? We did!
6 San Salvador, El Salvador
We stayed at a lovely little hotel that was behind a locked gate in a beautiful side street. As we walked to coffee or wherever we were going each day, yes, we saw many an armed guards at entry to stores, restaurants, etc but by the second day of our walking they all were returning our waves & smiles. Coffee shops & restaurants were very receptive to us & we walked away from that country with a totally different view of how US news exaggerates…
Off the beaten path, we found a little mom & pop restaurant. The chef let us into the kitchen to help make pupusas! The Big Guy still stays in touch with him.
7 Rome, Italy
We spent a very short time in Rome, staying in a tourist area & had a great experience with the people in this area. We found a Moroccan restaurant that we thought we would try out. The Chef instantly greeted us with an English hello. He would come in & out of the kitchen while he & his wife prepared different authentic Moroccan & Egyptian meals for us to taste.
The Italian locals appeared to be argumentative but as we observed them more it was just normal for them to be more demonstrative with their body language & speech.
8 Colombia
If you are a fan of a good pirate story, historian, lover of battle strategies or interested in finding out more about the large slave trade market then Cartagena is the place. Cartagena is described by some as the Blackest city you never heard of since it is 70% black. They are not referring to the city as a dark tale, but the number of mixtures of Mestizo, Mulatto, and Black-Amerindian cultures.
As a side note, there were many discussions about how U.S. shows depict Colombians as drug runners [Narcos, etc]. We were told not all Colombians fit into that mold. Believe me when I say it frustrates them as much as The Big Guy seeing Blacks portrayed as pimps & drug dealers, etc. in general bad guys on television/movies so there were some lively conversations.
In the neighborhood of our Airbnb, we got a mixed reaction from the locals. Not because we were an interracial couple traveling, but I believe because the people saw us as part of a growing number of tourists that would change what they liked about their local neighborhood. We did meet business people that were excited to see that we were starting to flow into this working-class neighborhood. Once we were in the ‘touristy’ areas, we had no problems at all. We made two trips here & that was enough for us mainly because it is very much geared toward the younger tourists.
Bogota, Colombia was much more our speed, calm & fairly quiet with very warm reception by most everyone!
In Closing – Traveling as an Interracial Couple has been amazing!
These examples are just a few of the amazing experiences we have had thus far as an interracial couple traveling internationally but I felt it was important to give you a taste of what it can be like. Of course, I cannot guarantee you the same experiences but I do totally believe we were in the right places at the right time for these amazing experiences to become real for us. We cannot wait to see what amazing experiences the next trip holds for us.
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
Martin Buber
