Recently announced as the Ambassador of Tourism in Lagos State by the Lagos State Governor, travel content creator and UK-based Nigerian traveler, Pelumi Nubi, embarked on a daring and adventurous trip — from London to Lagos— in a car.

An inspiration not just for the black community but also for the female community, Nubi has revealed to us what inspired her, giving us a dive into her personality. In this interview with FELICITAS OFFORJAMAH, the first black woman to solo drive from London to Lagos prays this journey will be a great motivation for Nigerian women to believe in their dreams.

At what age or period did you discover that you had a passion for traveling?
I think I’ve always had a traveler’s heart. You know, as a family, we used to go traveling. We used to go to America. That was kind of our family vacation in the summer. I will say that traveling then became quite important to me when I got to the university, when I had a bit more disposable income and was doing exchange programmes and being part of a group of people that went to India.

Just seeing how different it was from what the media portrayed it to be to what I actually experienced—the kindness of people, the different cultural diversity, and the richness of it—I think that was the unlocking moment. And then, I realised that I could explore Europe quite affordably and go and see all these other places too. So, ‘travel’ was that world that I just enjoyed, and my online diaries became that thing whereby I just shared my travel experience too. I will say that over time, it’s just kind of built momentum, but it’s always been there. I’ve just been a naturally curious person, quite just wanting to know what’s happening around me, and I was given that freedom as a child too.

Have you always been this daring and adventurous since childhood?
Yes, I have. Recently, I spoke to my mom, just wanting to know how I was when I was growing up. And she’s like, “Look, girl, you just used to walk around, and we will not know where you really are.

You will be in your diapers, just exploring, you have always been a very curious kid and that’s what I’ve kind of found my personality to be: I want to know what’s going on and what’s happening here. I’m just very curious, and that’s what went into my career, including research and things like that. But it is a joyous thing to find new discoveries and all of that. So, yeah, I’ll say I was quite a curious person.

What motivated you to go on a solo trip from London to Lagos?
Hmm, a little motivation, I think. The first is that I just saw within the overland community that there wasn’t enough representation. I’ve been on this trip for a few months, and I’ve not seen another black female solo traveler doing it. I’ve seen a lot of white people, a lot of white couples, and a lot of white individuals by themselves.

It just seems like a big travel industry that is not being showcased enough in the media even if it’s just a handful of people. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s just not put out there. So, people that look like us don’t tend to feel it’s an option or it’s an availability for them, and when you don’t see yourself in certain spaces, you don’t even have the mindset to know that, oh, actually, this thing can be something I can do as well.

And that’s why social media is such a good tool. I’m using this trip to just educate people, to empower people as well, and to say that look, if you’ve ever considered London to Lagos as something impossible and then I turn around and do it, what else in my life am I considering impossible? I tell people this again and again, travel is the tool I’m using, but really I want people to put it into their own everyday lives.

You are the first black female to undergo this kind of solo trip. What’s your advice to women who also want to take bold steps but are constrained by societal notions?
I think as of record, I’m the first solo. The problem might be other black women that have done it as a group or a community, but I don’t know of them. Honestly, society will tell you what to believe and most times society tells you that you’re not good enough. It tells you that you’re not qualified enough and it will be a double tragedy, if you put those assumptions and beliefs on yourself. I honestly believe that, yes, society can disqualify me, but I’m not going to disqualify myself.

You know, at a particular age, society expects you to settle down and have family and all of that but honestly, I think those things will come when you find joy within yourself. I think those things will naturally come when you are at peace, rather than chasing those things. I chase self-fulfillment. I chase legacy and all of those more important things to me. I always tell people that’s one of my favourite mottos, “The magic is in the doing.”

How has traveling impacted your outlook on life?
Traveling has changed me. Traveling is the gift that keeps on giving. Traveling makes you realise that, in the grand scheme of things, the problem is very small. You see people that they don’t have a lot and not even a quarter of what you have, and they are much happier. So traveling really taught me gratitude. It teaches me that the small moments are really the big moments in life.

I have experienced the kindness of strangers. I know we live in a society that can be wicked sometimes, but most times we really have a society that is kind and has people who want to be helpful. I’ve met strangers who have gone out of their way just to make this trip more pleasant for me than they didn’t have to.

They didn’t owe me anything, but they just wanted to help and that is what I wanted to amplify on this trip while taking advantage of our media age.

Usually, what sells on social media is “Oh my God, I had an accident. My car broke…” which is quite unfortunate because that’s how the media has been built. But I think I want to really tell others that there are kind people.

We live in a vast world, and it’s so small-minded to just keep living in the bubble and not try to do something big. Travel has impacted me and given me more than I could ever ask for. It’s a very expensive addiction, but it’s something that I would choose a million times over.
77 countries at 27 years? Were there challenges you experienced during those times?

I turned 29 on December 31, last year and yes, I traveled to 77 countries before I was 27 or at the age of 27. There’s definitely a challenge. There are people who assume things like who is funding this? Who is the sugar daddy? Where did you get the money from? But it’s my determination that this is important to me, and I’m actively saving towards it.

Definitely. Being a solo female traveler, there’s that safety fear, “Am I going to be safe?” and I’m sleeping and camping in my car. It’s kind of a case of, would something bad happen to me? Will I have a car accident? God forbid. But yeah, I did and God saw me through.

I remember when converting the car, and one of the options was to make it a flatbed, which meant removing the passenger seat, but that would disable the airbag and I had to make the decision not to do that so that I have some level of protection. God forbid, if that was to happen and I collide. So having this decision and making a decision made me know that driving can be dangerous, but it’s everything in life, not dangerous at one point?

I think crossing Morocco was quite emotional for me because I had so much conflicting information. It wasn’t really clear what I needed to get to Morocco, so, I had to face almost my own demons in terms of just moving despite the uncertainty.

Am I going to move despite not knowing how clear the route is? Or am I just going to stay? So, I think it’s definitely important to have that kind of clarity of what I’m going to do, this is where I’m going to be.

In terms of fear or discouragement, social media can be brutal sometimes. Some people that don’t follow my journey tend to want to compare it to other travelers.

They don’t realise that I’m doing this solo. Sometimes I think a lot of people make the assumption that I’m traveling with an array of people. People that do this kind of exposition or trip might have at least another driver that’s sharing the task with them but I’m doing this all by myself, and I won’t do it any other way.

Sahara Desert has one of the best roads I drove on. I listened to my body and understood what my body needed. I took an extra break when I was tired and exhausted. I had eye issues in Morocco, and had an accident in Cote d’ivoire. I prioritise my health above everything else. Africa needs to be better on border control.