Many people have witnessed the amazing journey of Pelumi Nubi, who traveled from London to Lagos in her famous purple Peugeot Lumi. However, she has not fully revealed all the difficulties she faced along the way – until now.
Pelumi Nubi captured the attention of the world's media and made headlines when she completed her 74-day solo journey from London to Lagos, Nigeria, a journey that spanned 17 countries and more than 10,000 kilometres in her purple Peugeot 107. However, behind the journey, social media growth and worldwide recognition, the reality of life on the road for a solo black traveller was not always easy or glamorous.
Now, a year on, Pelumi is ready to share details of her journey, and tells The Mirror about the moments that didn't make it onto her social media: the quiet struggles, hidden risks and strengths that have shaped her experience of living in a van.
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While Pelumi has had a significant experience living in a van—a freedom she says is “impossible to describe” and has inspired many to take up solo travel—she has also encountered aspects of van life that are rarely talked about, especially as a black woman traveling alone.
As she traveled, Pelumi quickly realized that van life wasn’t the slow-paced dream people often imagine; in fact, every day required something—and in most cases, everything—of her. “There was just a certain level of fatigue because I was driving, navigating, cooking, and posting on social media. It was too much for one person. I definitely had to lean on my support system at times like that,” she reflects.
It was her daily struggle, but at night she had to fight; Pelumi often slept in her car. “I stayed at campsites, sometimes on random streets, because it was free compared to staying in a hotel,” she said.
To make sure she could sleep peacefully in her car, she prepared the Lumi before the trip. “I had blackout curtains so no one would know there were valuables in there, the back window was tinted, and I had blackout curtains, and I had a snow cover in the front,” she explained.
But one night, Pelumi got scared. She heard a yanking sound and immediately thought someone was trying to get in. “They were wild dogs, but I thought someone was trying to get into the car. It was just wild dogs around,” she recalls.
Still, Pelumi remained courageous and didn’t let fear get the better of her experience. “I definitely felt anxious at times, but most of the time it was just the excitement of sleeping under the stars and the freedom to stay wherever you wanted without having to book.”
Sleeping in her car became a comfortable space for her. In contrast, when she stayed in hotels, she encountered situations where comments from hosts made her feel objectified and unsafe. “The worker said the room was $50, but the room with a massage was $30, so yeah, I did feel sexualized and the jokes weren’t very nice.”
However, her journey wasn’t entirely difficult, in fact, the trip fueled her passion for travel even more. From the moment she began documenting it on social media, Pelumi was determined to show that such a journey could be done solo, and within just a few days, her online community began to grow exponentially. She wanted to show people a different side of travel. “Van life has been glorified for looking a certain way. I want to prove that you can do it alone, and it can look any way you want.”
After her Instagram skyrocketed from 12,000 followers to 290,000, the feeling was overwhelming — something had changed. The journey no longer felt like hers alone. “The messages I was getting from people, from mothers to people much older than me, became bigger than me in that context. I needed to get to the finish line,” Pelumi said.
From there, the conversation became more about solo travel and the travel itself—it became about opportunities and her way of thinking that can be applied to all aspects of life.
“What else in their life do they think is impossible? Now they realize they can just go and do it,” she noted. “There's motivation, inspiration, and that's what
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
