Interviews

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

Today, we’re so excited to be sharing not only, but two faces of the Dame Traveler community that have absolutely inspired us to the core! Hermon and Heroda are two deaf twins traveling the world with courage and style. Hermon and Heroda’s captivating story and tenacious drive to celebrate diversity in the travel industry is incredible. We’re honored and thrilled to learn about what inspires them, the places that have captured their hearts and their insight on navigating the world together as sisters.

It goes without saying that sharing the stories of women who travel is the heartbeat of what we do here at Dame Traveler. Being able to spotlight Hermon and Heroda today is an honor. We hope you fall in love with these two sisters the way we did!

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

Hi ladies! Thanks so much for sitting down and chatting with us about your story. So, Hermon and Heroda… tell us a little bit about yourselves!

We were born and raised in Eritrea, East Africa, where we both became mysteriously deaf at the young age of 7. We moved to USA, for medical testing and our mother spent a year teaching us how to communicate in English when our loss of hearing struck.

Then, we moved to U.K for a better education. Heroda took the retail fashion path, Hermon followed an opportunity to become an actress which lead to many successful roles and Heroda featured in her third commercial. Now, we’re bloggers and content creators.  

When and how did you fall in love with travel?

We love combining our great passions in life; travel and fashion. Our blog gives us the opportunity to widen our perspective.

The more you see, the less you hate. Prejudice is a big part of the human condition and the more cultures you experience the more you realize they are not that different from us. When we feel limited, that’s when we decide to push our boundaries.

Being deaf may be difficult, being scared is the real barrier. Be brave, be courageous and new experiences will alter your life forever. 

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

What’s it like to travel so closely with each other? Would you say you like to travel differently in any way?

Traveling with a friend, brother or sister is important. It makes for shared memories, better appreciation of each other and a stronger relationship in general. We also have greater appreciation of the different cultures we visit and helps breakdown perceived barriers

We have a different perspective than a traveler who is not deaf. We have lots of barriers, all of which, give us great satisfaction when we overcome them. Also, having an impairment of one sense leads the others to excel.

Deaf culture (sign language) is very visual and we appreciate the visual vibrancy of the city’s we visit, maybe more than an able-bodied person. We can communicate with foreign people when we use hand gestures (common gestures, drink, eat body language etc) it’s not a problem for us.

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

Where is your favorite place in the whole wide world? That place that just makes your heart flutter the moment you hear it’s name.

This is difficult, we love ALL the places we visit, but Santorini and Chefchaouen were the most magical places we’ve have been too.

Check out our website to read about our adventures there!

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

You ladies are big advocates for diversity and celebrating self love. What makes you so passionate about these topics?

We started Being Her to make sure our voices had a platform. We wanted to share with our audience what we have been through. We want to encourage and inspire our followers to believe in themselves and achieve their goals in the future.

There is much worry about disabilities generally and not enough focus on talent and skills. This mindset is outdated, especially in the world we live in today where being different is much more accepted and tolerated.

We believe our fashion blog could help challenge attitudes and make people more open to disabilities. We shouldn’t be invisible to the fashion and travel world just because we are deaf. It’s all about equality.

Being authentic makes us feel beautiful. Imperfections add to beauty, they draw you close, so you can fully appreciate it. If you really want something in your life, you have to take a risk and never let anyone tell you, you are weak because you’re a woman! Love being yourself, and the world will love you!

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

What would you like to see more of in the travel industry?

We couldn’t find enough images of female travelers that represented the true diversity of the actual people exploring the world. We realized that, when it came to representing women of all colors, cultures, shapes and sizes, the travel industry was lagging sorely behind.

Travel is definitely more than a hobby because we see it as a lifestyle. Our challenge was to travel last year and share our experiences with our diverse followers, who don’t travel much. Through our travel, we experience different cultures and people. We always try to learn from these differences. Our blog gives us the opportunity to widen our perspective. Prejudice is a big part of the human condition and the more cultures you experience, the more you realize they are not that different from us.

Women deserve to have a chance to see the world, just like us. Sometimes it’s easy to feel intimidated because there’s lack of diversity and representation in the travel industry. Who doesn’t have a dream to travel? We want to be role models. We aim to inspire diversity girls and women to see the world too. It’s okay to be yourself and look the way you do while you travel around the world!

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of BeingHer

If you could summarize both of your personalities as a country, which one would you be and why?

Lisbon is our personality because it’s colorful, joyful and playful. It just made us fall in love with the city even more. 

What has been your biggest travel “high” and what has been your biggest travel “low”?

This is a tricky question because there are so many of them but one of the high moments would be Chefchaouen. The place is full of surprises, as you know Africa is our home and this reminds us how Africa can still surprise us. It’s like stepping into a fairytale, blue everywhere like a dream and there is absolutely nothing else like it in the world. A very rare gem and Chefchaouen reminds us of Santorini so much but different color.

The lowest would be people thinking it’s too dangerous to travel because of being deaf and they can’t travel and live a high quality of life. They’re totally wrong, and we hope to encourage the deaf community to travel more and to be brave.

We happen to be Deaf, we say happen, because we don’t see it as a disability as, others do. We see it as an advantage! With our hearing diminished our other senses become heightened, therefore our touch, taste and vision can appreciate different aspects maybe a hearing person wouldn’t…

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

What is your “must pack” travel item… the one thing you simply cannot travel without?

Power Bank (charger), iPhone and our camera. Magnesium powder helping you to feel less stressed and more relaxed and Maca to keep your energy levels up.

Do you have any travel beauty tips, Hermon and Heroda?

Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Hydrating is a key and drink plenty of water or coconut water. Use rosewater when flying, it’s refreshing and keeps your skin hydrated. Even when you’re wearing makeup, bare mineral is our best friend as its light and natural.

What is your unique travel style? What would we typically see you ladies wearing while out and about?

Travel style is dependent on our mood. We love to wear tribal, colourful and free-spirited yet beautiful prints. The clothes you wear reflect your personality, making us feel bold and lively.

Faces Of Dame Traveler: Meet Hermon And Heroda Of Being Her

If you could give some advice or tips for women going on their first trip abroad, what would you tell them?

Don’t be scared to travel, especially if you’re a woman. Be brave, travel, experience and live. Wandering a city with no plans is the best way to discover hidden gems.

Don’t forget to embrace what you see, feel and experience. Always save your favorite places on the iPhone map for future travels, otherwise you don’t have to waste your time.

Where else can we find you online?

You can find our work on our website at www.beinghermonheroda.com and you can follow us on Instagram @being__her.


Thank you so much Hermon and Heroda. Your story and your drive to see the world, celebrate diversity and empower women is so important… and inspires us so much! 

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