The 30 Most Powerful Women in Travel

How do you go from pharmaceutical representative, to ex-pat English teacher, to business owner, to competitive world traveler, all in little more than a decade? Just ask Jessica Nabongo, founder of boutique travel agency Jet Black and the brains behind @thecatchmeifyoucan, who, at 34 years old, is on track to become the first black woman to visit every U.N.-recognized country. As of writing, Nabongo is in Burkina Faso, having recently left Niger (stop number 156 of 195), but the enthusiastic country hopper, entrepreneur, and—we’ll say it—bonafide badass had already visited her fair share of countries before her official quest began in 2017. It was all that travel that left the Ugandan-American itching for more. “I really want to do something crazy,” she says she told a friend on the eve of her journey. “Something that I can say, ‘I’m the only person who has done this.’” Nabongo, who hopped on 150 flights in 2018 alone, has learned a lot along the way, spreading the gospel of her travels among her more than 88,000 Instagram followers and providing a colorful template for fearless living, connection-making, and, yes, tips for where to eat, party, shop, and sleep. Most importantly, though, Nabongo, who is using both her U.S. and Ugandan passports for her travels, sees her public journey as a sort of salve for fears felt by other types of travelers. “I want to show the visibility of black travel, […] and African travelers,” says Nabongo. And, as a solo traveler, “hopefully also for women.” So, after more than 150 stops, is Nabongo tired of traveling yet? “I still love learning about new cultures and meeting local people in new places,” she says. “[But] I despise planes.” —Betsy Blumenthal