Sara Faddah and Dario Durham are no strangers to adventure: The couple ate their way through Chicago’s 77 community areas, and now they are jet-setting across the world in their new podcast, “Traveling While POC.”
Ahead of the two-part premiere Thursday, Faddah, a seasoned traveler, and Durham, a newbie, gave Hey Chicago a taste of their new project.
Where did the idea for the podcast come from?
Faddah: “It probably subconsciously started when we were first planning our big trip. A lot of the resources we were reading were from people who didn't look like us. And if you are someone that's Black or brown and you've traveled around the world, you know that the experience differs. We wanted to create a platform where we can share stories and give authentic advice and recommendations.”
How did you decide where to visit?
Faddah: “It's whatever documentary Dario has watched recently and has become his obsession.”
Durham: “I have loved Egypt as far as I can remember as a child. … While we were in Jordan (where Sara is from), we just took the short 45-minute flight over to Egypt. … It's really a wormhole of where do we want to see? Where's some history?”
Dario and Sara also traveled to Venice, Barcelona, and Lake Como. (Courtesy of “Traveling While POC”)
What could Chicago learn from other places?
Durham: “The No. 1 takeaway from our time in Europe was that the transit system was out of control. Even when we went from Rome to Milan or Florence, that was a two-or three-hour train. It was comfortable and easy to navigate.”
Faddah: “In places like Jordan and Egypt, the hospitality there is just unmatched. Same thing in Mexico — we always feel that you walk anywhere and into any place and you feel immediately welcome no matter what you look like and what the color of your skin is.”
