Explorer Pelumi Nubi On The Magic Of Solo Travel & Her 5 Top Tips To Get You Started
“The trip taught me so much about myself,” says Pelumi Nubi of her historic solo drive from London, England, to Lagos, Nigeria. “I knew I was strong before, but this trip elevated that feeling of resilience and determination.”
“Travel has long been a source of comfort for me, especially after migrating to the UK from Lagos at a young age,” adds Nubi. “I was bullied in primary school, so the library became my safe haven. I would spend hours in there pouring over travel books.” It’s where, Nubi tells Service95, she “first felt that spark of imagination that has led to a lifetime of travel and a deep connection to exploration and discovery of the world”. The 29-year-old has now travelled to 87 countries across six continents.
Curiosity and a deep sense of connection to her birth country became the main driving forces behind Nubi’s decision to undertake her solo London to Lagos drive – as did conversations with fellow traveller Kunle Adeyanju, who completed the same voyage via motorbike in 2022. And so, in early 2023, after finishing a PhD in cancer research and human genetics, Nubi’s preparation to become the first woman to complete the challenge began.
She started posting her experiences of converting her purple Peugeot 107, named ‘Lumi’, for the trip “with the help of YouTube videos and Taskrabbit assistants”, attracting followers for her efforts before her journey even began. “Really, it was a personal journey that evolved via social media into this shared beacon of freedom and adventure,” she says.
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The first few stops through France and Spain, she recalls, “went smoothly and challenged me to look at these countries I’ve explored before deeply through a new lens.” Next up, Morocco and then Mauritania – a place “filled with kindness and culture,” according to Nuvi. “One of the biggest takeaways from the trip is the fact that we are all so similar,” she says. “Across the world, throughout different countries, kindness and joy were a common theme. To keep myself safe, I refrained from posting in real time, but near the end of the trip it got to a point at borders where people would recognise the car based on the support myself and Lumi had gained online.”
Even when faced with a major hurdle – a car crash in Liberia that jeopardised the entire the journey – Nubi was “constantly surprised by the connections built in such a short space of time”, recalling “the woman I now call my personal angel, who communicated with me [via] Google Translate and opened her home to me to recover post-crash.”
She completed her 74-day drive on 7 April, 2024. She remembers arriving at her end point of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, “to a warm welcome. Leaving [Lumi] at the John Randle Centre [For Yoruba Culture & History] after one last solo goodbye was a fitting end to a magnificent journey.”
Reflecting on her experience now, she says that the expedition “allowed me to see just how much my own ability to be open gave people around me the opportunity to also say ‘yes’ to new experiences and adventure”.
Pelumi Nubi’s 5 Tips For Solo Travellers
- Start Small – Think of solo travel as a skill or muscle that you need to build. Often people say things like, “What will I do with myself?” so I think it’s important to get comfortable with going to the cinema, shopping and going on excursions by yourself before you start to venture out solo. This could be a weekend trip to a neighbouring city. Starting with smaller, shorter trips allows you to test out your planning and find out what type of traveller you are – a great place to start for anyone that finds themselves feeling travel-curious.
- Stay Connected – You’re dislodged from your comfort zone and most likely navigating new language barriers. So, getting connected – be that via Wi-Fi or a local SIM card – is crucial. It’s the first thing I do as soon as I touch down in a new country, not just as a safety precaution but also because being able to reconnect and send a message to the people you love helps to break through any nerves about navigating somewhere new. And get practical safety connectors, [such as] AirTags, for all your belongings – there’s nothing worse than losing your passport or keys while travelling. Sharing your location and having digital ways to keep track of your valuables really does provide peace of mind.
- Get Organised – Many people are aware of the basics: have six months’ validity on your passport, get your flights organised, book your accommodation. But if you’re solo travelling, especially internationally, I advise [also] giving yourself plenty of time on the days of travel, because there’s nothing worse than being late or anxious. Being early to each point of travel, be it train, plane or even crossing borders in a car, will allow you the space to fix any errors if they arise. Bags overweight? Time can fix that. Don’t have enough local currency? Time can fix that.
- Put Fear On The Backburner – As humans, we tend to think in worst-case scenarios, a fact that can be exacerbated by a lot of the narratives around solo travel – especially for women. Fear can be such a limiting feeling when travelling, so I try to approach each trip with a conscious understanding of where that emotion may be coming from and counteract it with thoughts about all the reasons why I should push through that fear.
- Use Travel Affirmations – I used to sell travel affirmation cards and even though I no longer do, I still believe in using them because when you’re solo travelling, getting in the right frame of mind is half the journey. If you aren’t able to buy some travel affirmation cards, try making some. Start with positives, such as: ‘What if I meet an amazing new best friend?’ or ‘What if I have an amazing time?’ rather than all the worst-case scenario language that normally follows when you tell people you are going on a solo trip as a woman. Centring your mind and having a practical way to reinforce a positive mindset is invaluable.
Follow Nubi’s latest travels via Instagram @pelumi.nubi
Ata-Owaji Victor is a lifestyle and beauty writer whose work has appeared in Refinery29, Elle UK and British Vogue
