One of the richest rewards of travel is a greater understanding not just of the places you see, but the people who live there. “Visit to learn, and not to ‘spectate,’” writes Evita Robinson, an influencer, entrepreneur and writer who travels the world doing just that. As the founder of the Nomadness Travel Tribe, Robinson encourages a community of 30,000 members to explore black and brown communities around the globe, highlighting the people who make these places special.
In her recent travels around Southern California, Robinson connected with locals who are honoring their histories while also growing their communities. Along the way, as she documents in short YouTube videos, she also visits local businesses that offer fresh ways to experience California’s biggest cities—including great places to eat, shop, and indeed learn.
Hot Springs and Creativity in Palm Springs
One of her stops is Palm Springs, and she calls the desert “one of my favorite terrains. Its raw, consistent, and unapologetic beauty sucks me in every single time.”
She begins by exploring the ancient-but-still-thriving history of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the tribe that has lived on the desert land for time immemorial. While hiking in Indian Canyons, Robinson says, “I was shocked when we hit a bed of water. Quite literally for the first time in my life, I’m in an oasis, surrounded by California fan palm trees.” She then chats with Agua Caliente Director of Public Relations Kate Anderson about the springs that have long bubbled under this part of California. “The water that comes up today is carbon-dated at more than 12,000 years,” says Anderson. “In the late 1880s, the tribe began sharing that hot mineral water with travelers.” You can experience those springs today at downtown Palm Springs’ Spa at Séc-he, which the Agua Caliente Band opened in 2023.
Robinson then dives into Palm Springs’ more recent history, hanging out at the colorful King’s Highway diner and learning how the desert town developed its unique form of cheeky fun. “It’s a combination of old Hollywood, modernism, and lifestyle—the artsy, the pizzazz, the fabulousness—and just the camaraderie,” explains Bella da Ball, a social ambassador of Palm Springs. The town has long attracted movie stars, artists, and the LGBTQ+ community, she continues, and “all these groups, they bring everybody in, and they make you feel like we’re here for health and to have a good time.”
Robinson then browses stores that reflect the present-day diversity of Palm Springs. She visits Superbloom—a store of fashion, art, and decor that explores the power of different colors—and gourmet food-and-drink market Palm Springs Bottle Shop, where there’s a color-coded chart for products made by companies owned by women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, makers with disabilities, and more. “I’ve never seen anything like that anywhere in the world,” says Robinson. “I’m a fan.”
Leimert Park, Coffee, and Laughter
Arriving in Los Angeles in another video, Robinson declares that “Leimert Park feels like soul food.” She browses a street market, chats with a pro-bono barber, and meets up with Kevin Frazier, the co-host of Entertainment Tonight and a longtime resident of this South Los Angeles neighborhood that has also been the home of Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. Frazier talks about his soon-to-launch company, Sepi Travel, his choice to raise his family in a black community, and the importance of supporting local businesses, like retail incubator Sole Folks. Leimert Park, he says, “is a hidden gem that not enough people know.” Visit on the last Sunday of any month to experience the Leimert Park Art Walk.
Robinson continues her Los Angeles travels in Boyle Heights by catching a comedy show by Spanish Aqui Presents at the Paramount L.A. Theater and chatting with Raiza Licea, the first woman of color to be an artistic director of the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. Robinson also grabs a cuppa at Bloom & Plume Coffee, a BIPOC–owned business in Echo Park. “This is your neighborhood coffee shop,” chief of staff Anna Maria Morris tells Robinson. “We have this philosophy of ‘I am because you are’—we need one another, we need that community. So we wanted Bloom & Plume Coffee to be the kind of place where people can feel like they belong.”
Cake, Wine, and a Movement in San Diego
Robinson also visits San Diego making two different videos about her time there. In the first, she meets up with San Diego Tourism Authority CEO Julie Coker, who shares her perspective as a groundbreaking Black leader in the tourism industry. The ladies discuss the impacts of the San Diego Tourism Authority’s Accelerator Program and Robinson later connects with two of the program’s recipients, Chan Buie and Cassandra Schaeg, whose businesses highlight the intersection of inclusivity and ingenuity.
Buie’s Hey Sugar! serves irresistible treats, like red-velvet cake jars, delivered around town in a striking Arcimoto vehicle. Schaeg, who owns the SIP Wine & Beer tasting room in Escondido, showcases women and people of color who make wine and beer on her Emmy-nominated PBS series Fresh Glass. “We want to be a conduit to mainstream media,” she tells Robinson, adding that she wants “to see people who look like us in a different light.”
In the second video, Robinson heads to Barrio Logan to visit the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center so she can explore the art and history of the local Chicano and indigenous communities. She walks with Luis Cruz, chair of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, as he shows her the new museum and explains the backstory behind the colorful underpass murals, created in 1970 when a new bridge and freeway nearly destroyed the longtime Chicano community.
The park “was created because the community was sick and tired of being told what their future was for them,” he tells Robinson. “So here at this park, we tell that story through the art. We’re telling the story with our voice.” He underscores the name of the museum, which opened its doors in 2022. “It’s important to point out that this is Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center,” he says, “because we don’t want people to think we’re done.”
