As if being a mom and a full-time student weren’t enough, Shay Sane was forced to deal with the unthinkable. Her sister tragically died the day after Christmas, leaving behind two small children, and Sane suddenly became a single mom of three.
Dealing with the stress of losing someone so dear but having to push through for her children’s sake was a heavy load to carry. Putting her best foot forward, she started looking for ways to cope in addition to therapy, and one of the best methods she found for coping with the loss of a loved one was traveling.
“I didn’t want the anniversary of her death to be tragic for us again, so the next year I planned a trip for the entire family to go to Disney World. It became a tradition,” Sane told Travel Noire.
Her annual vacation to Disney World with family is what eventually inspired her to create a travel company focusing on self-care for Black women.
“Being able to take a temporary break from your everyday life to be in a space where you can think about, ‘okay, what’s my goal for the next two months, the next four months, the next six months?’ I found that travel gave me the escape that I needed to reset and come back and be a better, stronger person.”
She launched her company Black Girls On The Go in 2014 to empower other Black women to explore travel’s healing power. Through group trips, Sane facilitates experiences to help women transform their lives.
“What stands out the most is how people feel validated at the end of the trip,” said Sane. “You are traveling with a group of women that have gone through some of the same experiences that you’ve gone through, so you feel validated and ready to work to become a better version of yourself. These women tend to be very progressive. We share our vision on generating economic wealth for our family and friends […] It’s nice when you can find a community of women that you’re all on the same playing field, so you inspire, and you motivate each other.”
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Sane said group travel slowed down in 2020 because of the pandemic, but she’s looking forward to starting trips again when it’s safe to do so.
“We have our ‘Greece Experience’ rescheduled for June right now, and we have a Bali trip that’s been rescheduled for November. We are also working on putting together a virtual event to do some travel journaling.”
Stay up-to-date with Sane’s trips by following Black Girls On The Go on Facebook.