Women in Travel: The Hurdles, Passion and Victories - Onyinye Oduniyi

My name is Onyinye Adeyinka Oduniyi. I am a wife, mum, Lawyer and a Certified Travel Consultant.

I see myself as an open minded person who is always ready for a new challenge and this has driven me into publishing a travel magazine here in Nigeria called “Explore Travel magazine”. At explore, we travel round Nigeria and Africa by extension  to bring you news, tips , pictures and travel events that would inspire you and we also  give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of what the world has to offer by sharing people’s travel experiences through every page of our magazine.

My work in the travel industry has given me the opportunity to be a recipient of the the Tourism 100 club Award as one of the top 💯 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria.

I studied Law at the prestigious University of Ibadan and have the privilege of being called to the largest Bar in Africa. I also studied to be a Certified Travel Consultant and run a Travel Agency as the Managing Director.

My passion for telling the African story led me to creating a travel kids club for kids called “Explore Travel kids club”. I believe the best way to tell these stories should begin from our kids. This experience has made lots of kids identify with were they are from.

Two things my travel journey has taught me about myself are, realising how resilient I truly am and secondly, learning to always embrace the moment.

I would comfortably describe myself as Diligent, Ambitious and Creative and with my experience at the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan- Atlantic University, I realized that I’m also a natural leader.

Some of the personal  things we’ve learnt at the kids club is to show empathy and respect and I would say these are a few of my personal values.Valuing respect means you’re able to accept other people despite their difference in background or beliefs.

As a female entrepreneur and a leader, sometimes life throws different things at us and we’re faced with the fear of failure, but my general outlook on life speaks strength and growth. As difficult as it may sound , I make a conscious effort to having a positive attitude towards life.

I’ve had a few people ask me what country I’d like to visit right now... it’ll be Indonesia, Bali to be precise. The culture is rich and the views are simply amazing but for someone who sells travel experiences, it’s just a matter of discovering somewhere new and interesting and then I’m spoilt for choice.

I love listening to music and top on my list for my three travel essentials are: my headphones, my power bank and my travel jacket.

When it comes to my life skills, asides looking for ways to solve problems, I love to cook. This made me go on a cooking competition on Terrestrial Television...It was an Interesting experience if you ask..

If you’re a big fan of the kitchen like me, you would have some low effort dishes in your repertoire you feel confident whipping up.

In all of this, I am ambitious and driven.I thrive on challenges and constantly set goals for myself. And so, my words of encouragement is that you have something to strive towards. Don’t settle or be comfortable with less.

Always look for an opportunity to do better and achieve greatness.

I am a woman in travel...