We may be living in an era of carry-on-only travel as the cultural norm, but Tracee Ellis Ross has never been one to follow a trend. The actress, Pattern Beauty founder, and host of the new series Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross overpacks with gusto. You could say it’s in her DNA. “I mean, come on. We all know who my mom is. What do you think? She was only doing a carry-on? Get out of here!” the daughter of Diana Ross says over Zoom during a recent interview (wearing her signature red lips, of course).
In Solo Traveling, which premieres on The Roku Channel July 25, the star offers a deeper look into her jet-setting lifestyle. Each episode opens with a sprawl of clothing: wide-brimmed hats, racks of skirts and printed jackets, rows of perfectly folded tops, while Ross shows off her meticulous packing process for each trip. (“There are way more outfits than I’ll be able to wear here,” she says in one scene, ruminating over what to leave behind. And anyone familiar with Ross’s fashion game knows she makes no bones about pushing the boundaries of style.)
Across three 30-minute-long episodes, the actress traverses the red-walled medina of Marrakesh, a rainy Cancún, and sunny Marbella, Spain. Of course, between the lavish resorts and hotels, there’s a healthy dose of glam. But the show also comes with a sense of vulnerability in her confessional-style musings on being “a single Black woman,” she says. “Not having long relationships, not having children, has allowed me to explore things of my own humanity,” Ross tells viewers in another scene, clad in a terrycloth robe, preparing for a solo night out. “It has deposited me here, at 52, in an experience filled with joy, loneliness, grief, delight—all of it.”
A still from Solo Traveling.
These kinds of reflective moments, often filmed on her iPhone, set Solo Traveling apart from prescriptive travel shows. Viewers, beware: if you’re searching for a series where the lead climbs Mount Everest and samples fermented mystery meats for kicks, it’s not here.
“When I was on Black-ish, [creator] Kenya Barris used to say, ‘Would a human do that?’” Ross adds. “In comedy, things are sometimes embellished for the sake of a laugh, in a way that you lose sight of the grounding humanness. But travel offers a heightened life experience. The joyous things might be more acute, and so might the hard things.”
The stunning locations featured in the series are eye candy, no doubt. But the draw is the peek into the interior life of a self-possessed woman who loves a good meal, a good buy, and talking endlessly with strangers. When it comes to travel necessities, Ross emphasizes that being human is at the fore—keep yourself open to new experiences, people, and places. And when in doubt, reach for the compression socks. Below, Ross shares her travel necessities.
The Basics:
“I love compression socks: thigh-high, toes out!” she says. “I buy them on Amazon. I also still wear KN95 masks; I don’t go into airports and airplane bathrooms without one. And hand sanitizer and wipes—I was a wiper-downer before COVID, and I maintained that. I use Sono Wipes to clean off bedside tables, bathrooms, my airplane seat, all of it.”
Clean Air:
“I wear a personal air purifier called an AirTamer around my neck, particularly in the airport and in shared cars where you don’t know who’s been in it before you.”
Some Comfort:
“I never forget to pack a Save My Face pillow—it’s the same pillow that I sleep with at home. I have two, one is for the house, and one is for travel. I buy their pillowcase, and then there’s a company that makes organic pillow stuffing, and you can buy bags of it. So I make my pillows to the exact density that I like.”
First Aid:
“I always bring an extensive medical kit on my travels. It has everything from Neosporin to alcohol pads and anti-nausea medication. The truth is, I’ve never had to go into that medical kit until my trip [to Spain], where I got food poisoning. I had charcoal, I had Peptol Bismol, I had all of that stuff. I even had electrolytes.”
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
