Briona Lamback
Award-Winning Journalist and Travel Entrepreneur
brionalamback.com | buoyanttravel.com • @buoyant.travel
When I started my travel company, Buoyant, it was from my college dorm room and done begrudgingly as a part of the capstone project for my entrepreneurship class. I was afraid of presenting my ideas at my university’s business pitch competition, fearful of the validity of what I was building and of all the uncertainty that entrepreneurship brings.
One thing I’ve been sure about since the beginning of this journey is that I’m rooting for everybody Black (a lifelong commitment instilled in me since childhood). From the tour guides to photographers we partner with on every group trip to the restaurants and experiences we recommend when planning clients’ private travel, it’s been about supporting Black-owned businesses and creatives since Buoyant’s beginnings.
We’re on a mission to connect the diaspora with cool people, places, and businesses through group trips, custom itineraries, and running a members-only club that hosts meetups and events for Black travelers, whom we lovingly call kinfolk. As an extension of that mission, I’m excited to officially use SquadTrip, a Black-owned all-in-one group travel planning platform. Not only are we dining and shopping Black while exclusively visiting destinations rich in Black history and culture, but the platform that accepts payments for our group trips is for us, by us, too. I’m so proud of that.
My Three Favorite SquadTrip Features
1. User-Friendly Trip Pages
SquadTrip makes building beautiful trip pages easy, so our travelers can learn all the necessary trip information in one place. The pages are simple to build on the backend, and our clients get an easy-to-use experience too. I also love the custom branding option that lets us link our social handles and use brand colors on the trip page–crucial for consistency across the brand.
2. Payment Plans
Paying for travel in installments is essential for many travelers (myself included!). I’m a pay-in-4 queen, so it’s crucial to Buoyant’s success to extend the option to pay overtime to our clients. We all have lives, and travel is a privilege, so we honor our kinfolk by making our trips as accessible as possible.
3. Black Travel Marketplace
One of my favorite features about SquadTrip is the Black Travel Marketplace, where people outside Buoyant’s existing network can discover our trips. Ancestrally, we’re a communal people, so this feature makes sense for helping us connect with the best people who make our trips a beautiful diasporic linkup.
My Top Trip Picks for 2024
Of course, my top trip picks from the marketplace are Buoyant’s 2024 Ghana trips. In August, we’re headed to Ghana on a trip focused on art, history, and culture and attending the Chale Wote Street Art Festival. In December, we go again for Detty December activities with a trip focused on connecting with ancestral history, music, and Accra’s infamous nightlife culture.
