Travel has become more accessible to a growing number of people due to lower cost of flights, cheaper vacation rentals, and an easier ability to access information. This doesn’t mean travel is anywhere close to accessible for everyone, as in 2017 only three percent of the world participated in air travel. To travel is to experience a form of privilege.
During high school, my mom and I visited our family in Sierra Leone. Because we both had US passports, we were able to travel there without needing a visa in advance. Once we got into the country, we were able to get a visa by paying a fee. Our ability to easily move from one space to another should be noted against the inability of Sierra Leoneans to do the same. With the US passport, Americans are able to travel to 184 countries without a visa. In comparison, Sierra Leoneans are able to travel to 62 countries without a visa. This includes the United States which requires a pre-arrival visa before Sierra Leoneans can enter the country.
More than anything, travel functions as one way of showing the nuances within privilege. While I have only been outside the United States once, I have traveled throughout the US to visit family in New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida. This mobility is one that can be inaccessible to a significant of people in poverty or people who barely have enough money to pay their rent. The fact that my mom and I were able to travel to Sierra Leone easily while our family couldn’t do the same shows the disparity of mobility between people in different parts of the world. A US passport gives me access to most countries in the Global North, yet a Sierra Leonean passport does not. Citizens in India, an emerging economy, are only able to travel to 58 countries without a visa. Citizens in Nigeria, the biggest economy in Africa, are only able to travel to 45 countries without a visa. The countries requiring a pre-arrival visa include all of Western Europe and the United States. This privilege doesn’t change the fact that I experience racism in the United States. However, my experience doesn’t negate the fact that I have a degree of mobility that is not shared by some of my family. Oppression and privilege can and do exist in the same sphere.
Links:
https://ochentastudio.com/how-not-to-travel-english/2019/11/1/01-travel-privilege
