Connecting the Dots through Cultural Identities and Fluidity
“It’s extremely difficult to strap yourself up from your bootstraps and achieve prosperity from within The Bronx, when 1) you have no bootstraps and 2) you’re a person of color who doesn’t feel safe in more affordable parts of the country. ”
Photo: Gerry Isabelle/Credit: Gerry Isabelle.
By Nelson Santana, Emmanuel Espinal, and Amaury Rodríguez
September 8, 2021
Desde El Bronx para el mundo. Destination weddings, sightseeing, and visiting remote places are travel activities many people envision, yet most are unable to travel. But, did you know that adding a few hacks here and there can significantly decrease travel expenses. Want to learn how? Well, check out this interview with travel expert Gerry Isabelle, whose work has been featured in The New York Times and O, The Oprah Magazine.
For Gerry, her passion to travel the world derives from her upbringing. Growing up in The Bronx, she and her family frequented the most romanticized Dominican enclave in the United States: Washington Weights. Her passion for travel led Gerry to found Dominican Abroad, a multicultural digital media platform and provider of cultural experiences.
A content creator and digital media strategist, Gerry sat down with ESENDOM for an exclusive interview, where we discuss her passion for travel; why she established Dominican Abroad; her experience growing up in The Bronx; and how interactions of race, class, and gender have shaped her identity.
Disclaimer: This interview was conducted prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. ESENDOM’s editors decided to postpone publication of this interview until further notice. Although we are unsure when the pandemic will end, we made the decision to publish the article at this time. Publication of this article is not an endorsement of travel and we urge everyone to use caution when traveling.
On your website, www.DominicanAbroad.com, you state the probable reason why you love to explore new places through travel is due to a strict upbringing when your mother would not allow you and your brother to “play” with your friends outside. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, heritage, living in New York, etc. Also, how does your Dominican identity inform your traveling endeavor or how is your Dominican identity ingrained within this endeavor?
My love for exploring the globe wasn’t due to the strict upbringing, but rather that was one of the many stimuli that further cultivated my curiosity to see more of the world. Since I can remember, I’d always been a very curious child, asking questions about the world and how things worked. I always loved getting my hands on books about other societies, religions, histories, and cultures… And being multicultural myself, I felt a unique connection to other distinct cultures. Today, I still love to understand how things work and how our history has affected us as well as connecting the dots to our cultural identities and their fluidity through time. So I think all the pieces of my background together + a possibly innate curiosity trait helped shape my desire to explore and travel.
Photo: La Cueva. La Plaza Barahona, Dominican Republic/Credit: Gerry Isabelle.
You grew up in The Bronx. Can you share with us in what neighborhood? Would you and your parents frequent Washington Heights—the “Mecca” of Dominican migration?
I grew up both near Kingsbridge and in the South Bronx. And yes! We often frequented Washington Heights for Dominican goods.
“I still love to understand how things work and how our history has affected us as well as connecting the dots to our cultural identities and their fluidity through time. ”
You note that enclaves of communities and cultural hybrids such as those of the Dominican community are not uncommon but what is uncommon is “being able to achieve prosperity and mobility from within them.” Can you please further elaborate what you mean with this statement?
This is a bit of a complex question to briefly answer especially because it's something very much still ongoing in The Bronx with people who I know today who can barely get by dealing with high rents while doing 70-hour work weeks at minimum wage. The way the systems are set up in places like The Bronx are simply not conducive to neither emotional nor financial prosperity, let alone the ability to achieve the type of mobility needed to travel.
It’s extremely difficult to strap yourself up from your bootstraps and achieve prosperity from within The Bronx, when 1) you have no bootstraps and 2) you’re a person of color who doesn’t feel safe in more affordable parts of the country which are predominantly white. I could really dedicate an entire book to this question because it’s got several complex layers. But if we take it way back from childhood, for instance, our schools are run by many teachers who are either under-resourced and overworked and/or ill-equipped to deal with the local dynamics and/or are often racist which is a horrible recipe for a class full of kids of color. The limited education system alone in much of the New York public school system, from the start puts us at a horrible disadvantage to succeed. On top of being in a rougher environment, creativity isn’t fostered in the midst of scarcity and the pursuit of test scores. After school programs for me were non-existent, which meant that I’d go home and sit doing nothing wasting hours that could have been spent playing sports to build muscles, learning an instrument to cultivate creativity, having a tutor to help me better absorb new subjects. Moreover, the generally not-so-safe environment cultivates a space of desperation, anxiety, fear and/or triggers a survival mode instinct which can suppress emotional growth because we're focusing most of our energy to just get by. This is just the tip of the iceberg in explaining how the cycle of poverty + crime + growing up in a racist society can hinder a person's ability to “achieve prosperity and mobility from within them.” Also, I’d like to note that a lot of these issues are not unique to The Bronx, New York. But that’s where my story begins!
Click here to check-out Dominican Abroad on Tik Tok
What countries have you visited? Can you rank the countries you visited and please answer the following questions:
I have slowly visited 45 countries so far! I like to spend about a month per country when possible and I LOVE to go back to the countries that have captivated my heart. I have many favorite countries, so, for now, I’ll just list my most recent favorite: Turkey.
Photo: Istanbul, Turkeyl/Credit: Gerry Isabelle.
What was your favorite thing about Turkey?
It’s unique beauty, diverse culture, and rich history.
What did you like least about Turkey?
English is not as widely spoken, so sometimes I wasn’t able to connect with locals as much as I would have liked. But that’s OK, because it’s THEIR country and I should never expect anyone to speak English in their non-English speaking country. The silver lining to that is that I began to pick up a little bit of Turkish!
Did you have a different perception of Turkey prior to your visit?
Yes. I thought it could be scary for me to travel through Turkey as a solo female traveler, I was worried that maybe it wasn’t safe… But today, I’m a little embarrassed to think back at how afraid I was to visit the lovely country!
Favorite dish?
Pumpkin + tahini + walnuts dessert.
How long was your stay?
1 month.
Where did you stay?
Istanbul, Izmir, and Cappadocia.
Would you recommend this as a travel destination to others?
YES! In fact, I’m in the works for offering a tour to Turkey next year. So stay tuned on Instagram: @Dominicanabroad ;)
What should people know before traveling there?
I have actually put together this post on the top 22 Turkey travel tips to know before going there.
What places do you recommend for people to visit/see?
Istanbul, hands down! Izmir!
Cappadocia! The coast! There is so much. But I think that’s the starter packet for beginners.
“I grew up both near Kingsbridge and in the South Bronx. And yes! We often frequented Washington Heights for Dominican goods. ”
Do you mind making a top three “Travel Hacks” list for ESENDOM readers?
- Solo female travelers should almost always try to ask other women first for directions when possible.
- Maps.me is an amazing app where you can download maps, and access OFFLINE but still live GPS, and save locations! It’s been my go-to app for years.
- Charles Schwab debit card allows me to take money out from any ATM around the world and they reimburse all my ATM fees! Yes, that includes the fees from the ATM itself, too.
Are you looking for people to collaborate on DominincanAbroad? What services do you
offer? Do you mind sharing your media kit with us?
I don’t have a media kit. But I have a services page where I offer: (1) Tours around the globe in collaboration with local small businesses including one of my biggest passion projects: Dominican Heritage Tour which has been mentioned in the New York Times and has sold out in less than a week this year (2019)! We opened up another one for 2020 which also sold out. (2) I also offer coaching/consultation on SEO, social media, blogging, and travel. (3) Travel planning for dozens of countries, especially to Cuba (in compliance with the recent changes) and the Dominican Republic. (4) Branded content in collaboration with certain brands/companies. (5) Speaking at events and classrooms.
I am currently looking for local guest writers to collaborate with!
Photo: Botswana/Credit: Gerry Isabelle.
One of my favorite posts from your website is “How to Travel the World for Free: 17 Tricks & Tips for Budget” Can you provide a quick orientation/series of tips for ESENDOM readers who wish to travel the world but simply do not because they think it is out of their reach? Also, there are some Dominicans who have not traveled the Dominican Republic. Have you visited the country, and if so, what have you seen?
I have visited the Dominican Republic various times since I was little and just spent the majority of this year there. I’ve traveled around much of the beautiful island including Haiti! A lot of my free Dominican Republic travel guides can be found on my website and I plan to put together a downloadable travel guide book in the future. Today, I’m also offering tours to the Dominican Republic ! (In addition to the DR Heritage Tours).
There have many recent cultural shifts within DR, especially from Dominican millennials and generation Z who are curious to travel and explore more of their own country’s history and natural beauty.
As for general world travel, you’re right, I don’t see a lot of us traveling the globe relative to other nationalities/cultures but then again we’re also smaller and still recovering from a history of foreign disruption in the form of recent invasions and centuries of slavery and colonization. But our presence is growing and I hope through increased representation and access to opportunities that more Dominicans will feel inspired that they too can travel the world if they want. I know it’s easy for us to subconsciously think “eso no ‘ta pa’ mi” because we don’t see others from our communities breaking into those spaces… But we can and we are out here exploring and representing. Despite our abuelo’s protests, the world is not that dangerous and travel doesn’t have to be expensive.
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