"I ditched my PhD to drive from London to Lagos - I'm saving money by sleeping and washing in my car"

A woman quit her PhD for the “road trip of a lifetime” - driving from London to Lagos with 20 stops along the way. <br /><br />Pelumi Nubi, 29, said people have called her “crazy” - but it gave her all the more motivation to go through with it.<br /><br />She’s currently on stop five in Morocco after travelling through France and Spain, and plans to be on the road for another two months before she reaches Nigeria.<br /><br />In order to save money, she’s been sleeping in her £3k Peugeot 107, using hot water bottles for clean drinking water and heat. <br /><br />Pelumi, from Croydon, London, who was studying for a PhD in biomedical science before she quit, said: “A lot of people called me crazy - I know I’m trying to do the impossible, but it’s the right thing for me.<br /><br />“Life is short - so why not step out of your comfort zone? It might encourage you to try lots of other impossible things, too. <br /><br />“I’m a traveller at heart, and I was craving this big adventure.”<br /><br />Originally from Lagos, Pelumi’s family moved to Croydon when she was 10. <br /><br />She went back every Christmas, and says she always seemed curious about the other countries she’d fly over on the six-hour flight there. <br /><br />While studying for her PhD at Coventry University, Pelumi started seeing stories of people travelling to Lagos through unconventional modes of transport, like bikes. <br /><br />She wondered whether it would be possible to go the distance by car - particularly one which wasn’t designed to drive on all-terrain, like a 4x4. <br /><br />So in December 2023, she began planning her journey - and set off on January 24 in her five-year-old car. <br /><br />She said: “I was seeing a lot of men doing these extreme trips - but no women, and no-one who looked like me. <br /><br />“I wondered if I could change that. The journey is clearly possible and doable - especially if someone could go by bike!<br /><br />“I wanted to slow-pace it, which is why I’ve dedicated two months to it. I want to take everything in, meet the locals, try all-new experiences.”<br /><br />Pelumi began her journey driving from London to Paris, via a ferry at Dover. <br /><br />She spent three days sightseeing, meeting French creatives and camping out of her car. <br /><br />She went from Paris to Millau, a commune which once had the largest bridge in the world - and she parasailed over it. <br /><br />From Millau, she drove all the way down to Barcelona, to visit the Sagrada Familia, before moving on to Malaga, to spend two days up the mountains. <br /><br />Her journey then took her to North Africa, and she visited the markets in Marrakech - before arriving at her current stop in Chefchaouen, where she’ll spend three days before moving on to her next 15 stops. <br /><br />She said: “One of the highlights for me was seeing one of the largest bridges in the world - I got a last minute booking to parasail over it and they squeezed me in. <br /><br />“It was amazing being up in the clouds, seeing all the beautiful sights. I camped in my car that night, which was rough, as I couldn't find any hot running water, but I survived it!<br /><br />“I drove all the way up into the mountains in Malaga - the locals looked at me like I was losing my marbles, in my little car. <br /><br />“But I don’t think you need the big cars or gadgets - my car’s been good to me, I’ve had it for five years.”<br /><br />Pelumi started to feel apprehensive after getting to Morocco and noticing the language barrier - as well as the busyness of the markets overwhelming her.<br /><br />“The language barrier started becoming a thing,” she said. “I got to Morocco and burst into tears, I had so much anxiety and apprehension. It was really hard to find all the info I needed. <br /><br />“But the good thing about driving is, I could stay as long as I wanted and get my bearings a bit.”<br /><br />Pelumi plans to get to Lagos on March 24 - and the rest of her stops include Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, Ghana and Nigeria.