Hair—and what to do with it when we travel—is nearly ALWAYS an issue for black women
December 22, 2009
Ahhh... freedom from hair issues! Here I am on a recent trip to Villefranche-sur-Mer in the south of France, in all my kinky-twist glory.
Here I am (far right) with a couple of girlfriends during a visit to the Vatican Museums in 2007. My hair was relaxed during this trip, but I still was lugging around multiple curling irons. NOT a way to travel light.
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for nearly one year and am only NOW finally writing a post about hair. Yes, black women’s hair—sometimes our crowning glory, other times the thorn surrounding our crowns.
For sisters, hair is political. It’s sexual. And when you travel, it needs to be straight-up PRACTICAL—at least for me.
When I talk to black women about travel, the “hair thing” nearly always comes up—ESPECIALLY when we talk about traveling abroad. It’s as much of the discussion as, “Are there any black folks in (name-the-country)?” “Do they speak English?” And “Will my curling irons work over there?” Because unlike many of our sisters of other races, most black chicks don’t naturally have wash-and-go hair. No, after we wash it, we often need to blow-dry it. And sometimes straighten, then curl it. And PRAY we don’t get caught in a rainstorm or encounter high humidity or some other Mother Nature force that will have its way with our tresses. It’s WAY more drama than I feel like dealing with when I’m on the road.
I’ve been wearing my hair in two-strand twist extensions for the better part of five years. I’ve always had soft, super-fine hair that never had enough body, no matter how many layers my stylist cut into it or how much hairspray I used. So wanting to rock a more countercultural style to fit my “sistagirl-of-the-world” philosophy, I decided to ditch the straight look and do twists instead. I got all the volume I wanted, but more importantly, my hair ceased to dominate my day. I no longer worried about getting caught in misty rain (it actually needed the moisture!), or cared if the day’s humidity soared to 100 percent. And while in-between twist re-dos I’d sometimes have my stylist blow-dry and curl my natural hair to check out its growth, I could hardly wait to get those locks twisted again, if only for the mental freedom it afforded me. Which brings me to the point of this post.
Here I am this month at one of my favorite French bistros in Chicago, doing the highlighted blow-dried bob thing. It's cute, but WAY too much work -- and I'm tired of tuning into the morning weather report to determine whether it'll be a good "hair day" or not.
Little more than a week ago, I decided to do the blow-dry thing over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, as I’d be away from my day job for nearly two weeks and would have time—for a change—for the straightening and curling required to keep my ‘do bouncing and behaving. (Not to mention time to visit the Egyptian-owned salon down the street from my downtown Chicago home.) But since I’m planning a brief trip to London and Paris early next year, I knew upfront I’d be all twisted up again before taking to the skies. No. 1, for the practicality of not lugging dual-voltage curling irons (can’t have those things frying when you plug ‘em in outside the States!), straightening cream, and all the other crap taking up space that could be occupied by another fabulous pair of shoes. And No. 2, I love the fact that until folks hear my American accent, I could be a twist-wearing sister from anywhere throughout the diaspora. Let ‘em guess I’m from London, or Paris, or somewhere in Africa. The natural style just makes me feel more at home in the world, even when I’m traveling in a country where black folks are few and far between.
I’ve often heard one friend repeat the adage she heard somewhere, “If black women could make peace with their hair, they could rule the world.” I don’t know if that’s the exact quote, but truer words were rarely spoken.
How much does YOUR hair and its care figure in when you travel—or does it? Do you find you’re received differently abroad when you’re rocking natural hair vs. blow-dried or straightened styles? Or is this much ado about nothing? Next, I’ll chat about where to find US if you’re overseas and need to handle your hair issues.
Filed under: Uncategorized
11 Comments Leave a Comment
1.
Donna | December 25, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Could you get your hair braided before your next trip abroad? When I went to England in the dead of winter, I went with relaxed hair. Not a good idea. The day my husband proposed atop the London Eye, I had a beanie on my head because it was raining cats and dogs…LOL!
I wished I had trusted my gut and gotten my hair braided beforehand. Next time, I might try getting my hair tree-braided so that I can wear my hair down without needing to depend on the weather and/or lack of available beauty supplies.
2.
Cynthia | December 28, 2009 at 8:55 am
My hair doesn’t rule my hair no longer since it’s been natural for about 2 or 3 years now. I plan to actually dye my hair so I’m sure I’ll have to do mroe upkeep then but I’m okay with it compared to what I used to have to do..conditioning my hair now should be a walk in the park.
3.
urbantravelgirl | January 1, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Hi there, Donna –
You know, I’ve never worn braids, but I’ve found two-strand twists are pretty much maintenance-free, as well. Sorry to hear about your hair drama in London, but it sounds like you got your man after all! LOL And I’m sure the beanie you were wearing was adorable!
Yes, I’ve been out there in foreign countries and have forgotten to pack my Olive Oil spray or some other twist conditioner, so I know the feeling. But in one of my next posts, I’ll address what to do if (or WHEN) this happens to one of us UrbanTravelGirls. As long as we’re traveling to a place that has some folks of color (or rather, some folks with kinky hair), we’re probably in luck!
Take care and Happy New Year,
Maureen
4.
urbantravelgirl | January 1, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Ciao, Cynthia –
I am SO with you that natural is the way to go! And I’ll bet you’ll figure out the coloring thing so you can do quick touch-ups yourself if you happen to need one when you’re on the road.
I’m thinking about going away to a lovely riverside inn just an hour from my place in downtown Chicago, and I’ve already thought about all the electric crap (hot comb, curling iron) and maintenance items (heat-protecting spray, straightening balm, olive oil lotion) I’ll have to tote there with me. Can’t WAIT to get my twists put back in next Saturday!
Maureen
5.
Fly Girl | January 3, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Ooh boy, hair issues is one thing I’ve always refused to let control my life. I’ve had locs for 10 years but even before that, I’d take clothes and hats to wrap and cover my hair so I wouldn’t be at the weather’s mercy. Although I don’t have to worry about maintenance hile traveling with locs, its always interesting to observe reponses to my hair. Typically, white people are fascinated and black people are amazed that it doen’t look like a natty mess.
6.
urbantravelgirl | January 10, 2010 at 1:59 am
Isn’t it a blessing to be without “hair issues” when you’re on the road? Especially for journalists like us, who often are working when traveling and need to be on our game from the minute we get off a plane, worrying about whether it’ll rain and mess up our ‘dos is one hassle we do NOT need. While I don’t have locs — YET! — I do find that white friends are fascinated by my twists, wondering how I maintain them, if I have to wash them often, etc. But it’s always admiration, not “what in the world did you do to your hair?”
I’m just glad to say that I’m back in my twists as of today, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Have suitcase, will travel!
Maureen
7.
Dani | January 31, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Oh dear, God only knows how happy I am not to have to go to another hairdresser. I agree with you Maureen, natural is the way to go.
8.
eileen | February 6, 2010 at 4:37 pm
popping in to be the white girl who dares to opine about black women’s hair! (kidding, mostly). Per a black friend of mine here in Chile, I reccommend that if you need professional hair help, a Cuban hairdresser will usually know what to do, because he/she sees black hair most days of the week back home.
As for products, I’ve been known to improvise in all situations, and when it comes to hair, that’s just a recipe for disaster.
BTW Maureen, going to TBEX this year? I’m going to try to make it, would be great to catch up!
9.
urbantravelgirl | February 9, 2010 at 10:49 am
Ciao, bella Eileen — how cool hearing from you!! Very interesting that your friend in Chile recommended Cuban hairdressers… I know African-American chicas in New York City who swear by the Dominican stylists for the same reason. (Here in Chicago — when I’m doing the straight-hair thing — I often go to Egyptians, as their hair texture isn’t always too far off from mine, either.) Fascinating stuff!
And it’s totally cool for a “white girl” to weigh in here. Black women don’t have the market cornered on hair challenges — it’s just that those are the ones I know personally.
You know, I hadn’t PLANNED to go to TBEX this year because I hoped to be in Europe… but we’ll see. Plans change all the time. I’ll be sure to let you know if I DO — it would be SO fun to see you and catch up!
Ciao for now,
Maureen
10.
Terah | February 12, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Hi UrbanTravelGirl,
I was so happy to find your travel blog – especially these posts about black hair abroad. I’ve encountered the problem before when traveling but I’m still unsure how to handle it when traveling for long periods abroad. In 2008 I lived in Morocco for three months. For the first three months I had three strand braids – which lasted quite well.
But then I had to take them out because my natural hair was growing in. Then I tried to straighten it abroad and that was a disaster. So I literally rapped my hair in a scarf for the last four months. Now that I plan to go abroad again, this time for 11 months to Northern Europe, I need a plan.
11.
Terah | February 12, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Oops – clarification. I lived in Morocco for seven months. Three of those months were braids – the other four were hair wrapped in scarf.
Leave a Comment
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
TrackBack URL | RSS feed for comments on this post.