Finding Hope in the Barber Shop: Visiting Barbers Around the World
Every time I travel to a new country, I get my haircut. Inspired by Miguel Guiterrez aka Nomad Barber, I started prioritizing this barbershop pit stop while I was living in Europe after I graduated college.
I started cutting hair and became more and more interested in the trade during university. The dream of becoming a licensed barber had been planted, it was just a matter of timing.
Immediately after college, I worked for a non-profit organization that took me to 30 countries in 2 years. During my travels, I figured I could do market research that could help me envision what I would want my future barber shop to look like one day.
In search of inspiration I said yes to as many services possible. My first straight razor shave, beard line up, hard part, eye brow trim and facial massage all happened in shops outside the US.
Little did I know that there would be bigger lessons waiting for me.
Dubai, UAE | December 2014
One of the most memorable shop experiences was with this Syrian barber in Dubai.
Every time I stepped into a barbershop, I needed a haircut. But, I eventually realized that it is not just a haircut. It’s a reset. It’s a break. It’s an opportunity to be served. It’s calm before the storm, or maybe even a break from the storm.
The barbershop is a refuge. It’s a place of escape, a place with am open door policy, a place that takes care of us.
Huangdao, China
Tucked away in an outdoor market, we discovered this shop. The shampoo treatment seems to be much more common outside of the US. Not mad about it.
A place where the barber’s cape transforms a white collar or blue collar into a human collar. A place where the barber’s clippers and shears shouldn’t discriminate against hair textures, color, density, porosity or growth patterns. A place of equality, where we wait our turn no matter our socioeconomic status. A place where we can walk in, sit down, talk about anything going on in our lives (or just sit in silence).
The barbershop is a place that restores a little bit of hope.
Budapest, Hungary
Hidden in the Jewish Quarter, this Algerian barber was my guy for the 10 months living in the city.
While I was living in Budapest, the barbershop became a rhythm of my life that helped me feel a connection to the city. I was only living in Budapest for 9 months and naturally felt a bit displaced. My closest friends were my co-workers, the owner of the bar that I shared an apartment wall with and my barber.
I am so thankful that we have these places of refuge throughout the entire globe. It gives me hope knowing that no matter where we are in the world, no matter what is going on in our lives, no matter what storm we are about to navigate or storm we are navigating, we can go to a barbershop. We can walk in, sit down, be served and have that little, but extremely significant feeling that we are gonna be alright.
