Surprise! The cat is out of the bag and I’m happy to finally be able to reveal the project that I’ve been working on with Toyota.
“Let’s go places”.
It never ceases to amaze me how my passions for travel, writing, and adventure have paved the way for some extraordinary opportunities. Never would I have guessed that the little online travel diary I launched (for fun!) in 2005 would grow into a body of work spanning 10 years and 6 continents; never would I have guessed that my words and pictures would spark both lasting friendships with other bloggers and lucrative relationships with brands.
Because, really, I just wanted to tell stories about travel and life abroad. About how it feels to simultaneously feel at home and out of your depth in a foreign land. About what it’s like to tempt fate and try something new.
But this blog has evolved into so much more and I’m excited to share this most recent bit of news.
So let me just spit it out: I’m part of a new campaign for Toyota that will bring me to air waves and computer screens near you!
At the end of September I flew to Los Angeles to film a series of digital ads about travel to coincide with the launch of the 2016 Toyota Avalon. I wasn’t alone in this endeavour: fellow globetrotters Zim Ugochukwu (CEO of Travel Noire), Teri Johnson (of TravelistaTV), and Nelson George (noted filmmaker and critic) also lent their expertise to the project. Together we produced some great discussions about travel and the joys of hitting the open road.
I also recorded a radio ad which is currently being broadcast across the U.S. and Canada, so don’t be surprised if you hear my lilting tenor on your local station (or Pandora internet radio) sometime soon.
Over the next weeks I’ll be sharing more details, but in the meantime, here is the first video! In this one we share our tips for solo travel. Give it a watch and let me know what you think!
103 Comments
Do the d*** thing, girl. So proud of you.
Thanks so much Monique!!
Ditto what Monique said!! CONGRATS!!
Thanks a lot April!!
Yes!! Love it.
Merci!
Wow, what an awesome opportunity! Loved the first video! 🙂
Thanks so much Erika!
I got chills watching this!! Super awesome, congrats to you!!
Aww, thank you! Keep the youtube vids coming!
Yas!!! I just Love this so. Ya’ll inspire me so much. Great job.
Thanks Nicole! Hope to meet you in person at some point!
Congratulations Oneika!!! Great job!
Thank you so much Lola! That means so much coming from you!
Very Nicely done, Oneika!
Thanks!!
Well done, Oneika! Love the video.
Hey Gorgeous
Your voice in who you are as a traveller is very clearly heard. You outshine your co-stars in this first video peek. Though you all look great. Looking forward to more.
You are too sweet, Ria! Thank you!
I love it! Congrats to you and Teri on your project 🙂
Thanks Chanel! I still would love to do an NYC Black Travel Bloggers Meetup! I hope your studies and travels are going well!
Congrats on the gig!
Congrats on the gig! Looks good.
Thanks, Kerwin! Hope you meet you in person again one of these days!
Congratulations! It’s nice to see more of us making it to TV & print.
Thank you Lily! I am trying to follow in your footsteps, you have been rocking it (in Spanish, no less!) on Dominican television!
Congratulations! This sounds like an amazing opportunity and you all look beautiful in the video and might I add I love the tone of your voice! lol I can’t wait to the see rest of the series!
Haha thanks for the compliment on my voice– most of the time I cringe at the sound of it!
This is awesome, Oneika! You guys look beautiful. Looking forward to the rest of the series. Congratulations – so proud of you all!
Thanks Dana!
This rocks! Huge congrats to you and the rest of the Traveler featured in this commercial. So well done!
So this is why I was in and out of LA… 😉 Hoping to catch up with you somewhere around the world at some point, Nailah!
I love this commercial! Now even more people will get to see how awesome you are! Because of you, I hope to take my first trip abroad SOLO in 2016!
Thank you Yolanda!
Wow, I love this. Congrats to you all! Great representation of three strong women (and man!) of color!
Thanks Tausha, and I agree! I love our group!
Congratulations to you all! Travel is made much easier financially when you get sponsorships and opportunities to promote brands…it’s even better for your blog which will recieve the marketing that is so needful!
Thanks Caroline! 95% of my travel is self-financed so luckily I’m in a position to be picky about who I work with… 😉 Still, every once in a while an opportunity to work on a great project with an amazing brand like Toyota comes up– couldn’t turn it down! I love that this campaign focuses on the African-American demographic, and proud that myself and other black travel influencers were able to make themselves heard in this space.
Love it! Love it! Love it!
So many congratulations Oneika! This is a huge fabulous deal which you greatly deserve. You have great presence, a lovely voice and a wonderful personality. We might not yet have personally met but I’m extremely proud of you.
We all are!
Go Oneika! xx
It was awesome!!! Congrats! And yes, your voice is perfect ?
That was sooooo cool! I loved seeing three people I recognize and whose work I actually follow!
You look amazing, and what a cool opportunity! Congrats, lady!
Oh my god lady! I am so proud of you. As usual, you carry yourself with confidence and grace. How cool is this? Like, totally! <3
Jeannie my sister! Thanks so much for the support and kind words!
This is AMAZING, Oneika! Keep up the good work! =)
Merci, Stacia!
This is so awesome. Congratulations!!
Thank you!
Yaaaaah!! I’m soooo proud of you!!! I can’t wait to see the commercial and I hate commercials!!
Thank you!
I’m sitting in my car and I hear my name over the airways! I immediately went to Google. Of course spelling your name like mine, “Onieka The Traveler,” but it corrected me and there you were. I absolutely love your site and it’s so warming, everytime I come across a woman who shares my name. When I was younger, I always thought I was the only one out there!! Congrats on your new project with Toyota! That’s awesome. Where are you traveling to next or what’s up next?
Hey girl hey!! That’s sooooo cool that we have the same name, there aren’t that many of us!! And thank you so much for the congrats! I’m heading to South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana next and am too excited. Where are you based?
Congratulations, Oneika!
I showed my students this and their were in awe!
Since this is my last year of teaching I want to show them people who look just like them that are traveling the world, that are fearless and fabulous doing so!
This is sooooooo cool! Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!
I didn’t know that.
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now
each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Bless
you!
Hi! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay.
I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting
my own weblog and was wondering what all is required to get setup?
I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web savvy so I’m not 100% certain. Any suggestions or
advice would be greatly appreciated. Kudos
Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long
as I provide credit and sources back to your blog? My blog site is in the exact same niche as yours and my users would
really benefit from some of the information you present here.
Please let me know if this okay with you. Appreciate it!
I like the helpful info you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again here frequently.
I am quite certain I’ll learn many new stuff right here!
Good luck for the next!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get
several emails with the same comment. Is there any way
you can remove people from that service? Thank you!
Heya! I know this is sort of off-topic however I needed to ask.
Does managing a well-established website such as yours require a lot of work?
I’m brand new to running a blog however I do write in my journal on a daily
basis. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my own experience and thoughts
online. Please let me know if you have any kind of ideas or tips
for new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!
I was suggested this blog by way of my cousin. I’m
no longer positive whether this put up is written by him as no one else recognize such specified approximately my difficulty.
You are incredible! Thank you!
This post is worth everyone’s attention. Where can I find out more?
After going over a few of the blog articles on your web site, I seriously
like your way of blogging. I book marked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back soon. Take a look at my website too and
tell me what you think.
What’s up mates, its enormous article regarding cultureand
entirely defined, keep it up all the time.
Stunning quest there. What occurred after? Good luck!
Just desire to say your article is as astonishing.
The clarity to your post is simply spectacular and that i can assume you are an expert in this subject.
Fine together with your permission allow me to clutch your feed to stay updated
with imminent post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please keep up the
enjoyable work.
Touche. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the great work.
I blog quite often and I truly appreciate your content.
This great article has really peaked my interest. I will book mark your
blog and keep checking for new details about once a week.
I opted in for your RSS feed as well.
Howdy! This article could not be written much better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my previous
roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this.
I most certainly will send this information to him.
Fairly certain he’ll have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Thanks
Fabulous, what a blog it is! This blog provides valuable
data to us, keep it up.
Very descriptive blog, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
Your style is unique compared to other people I’ve read stuff from.
Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just bookmark this site.
If some one wants to be updated with newest
technologies therefore he must be pay a visit this site and be up to date every day.
Great goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely fantastic.
I really like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what
you’re stating and the way in which you say it.
You make it entertaining and you still care for to keep it
sensible. I cant wait to read much more from you. This is really
a terrific website.
If you are going for best contents like me, just go to see this website daily for the reason that it presents feature contents,
thanks
This post is priceless. When can I find out more?
Have you ever considered creating an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs?
I have a blog centered on the same ideas you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my subscribers would value your work.
If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Why users still make use of to read news papers when in this technological
globe all is available on web?
I visited several web sites but the audio quality for audio songs present at this site is
genuinely superb.
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but
after going through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!
Thanks for sharing such a nice opinion, article is nice,
thats why i have read it completely
It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and
it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I
could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or advice.
Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article.
I want to read more things about it!
Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand
your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely excellent.
I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you’re stating and the way in which you say it.
You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it smart.
I can not wait to read far more from you. This is
really a tremendous site.
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?
It’s really very complex in this full of activity life
to listen news on TV, therefore I simply
use world wide web for that purpose, and obtain the most
up-to-date news.
I’m no longer sure the place you are getting your info, but good topic.
I must spend a while finding out much more or understanding more.
Thank you for fantastic info I used to be searching for this information for my mission.
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s equally educative
and engaging, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head.
The problem is something which not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy that I found this during my hunt for something relating to this.
I’ve been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this kind
of space . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled
upon this site. Reading this info So i am satisfied to convey that
I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly
what I needed. I so much unquestionably will make sure to don?t disregard this website and provides it a glance on a relentless basis.
Awesome issues here. I am very glad to see your article.
Thank you a lot and I am having a look ahead to touch you.
Will you please drop me a e-mail?
Greate pieces. Keep posting such kind of info on your site.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hey there, You’ve performed a fantastic job.
I’ll certainly digg it and in my opinion recommend to my friends.
I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this website.
Hi! I just wish to give you a big thumbs up for
the great information you’ve got right here on this post.
I will be returning to your blog for more soon.
Greate article. Keep posting such kind of info on your page.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hello there, You have done an incredible job. I will definitely digg it
and individually suggest to my friends. I am confident they will be
benefited from this web site.
Howdy! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and
tell you I truly enjoy reading your blog posts.
Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics?
Thanks!
At this time I am going away to do my breakfast, afterward having my breakfast coming over again to read additional news.
When someone writes an article he/she maintains the idea
of a user in his/her mind that how a user can know it.
Therefore that’s why this paragraph is perfect.
Thanks!
Just wish to say your article is as surprising.
The clarity in your post is just great and i can assume you are an expert on this subject.
Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please continue the enjoyable
work.
Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog!
We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You
have done a wonderful job!
Wonderful views on that!
That’s a great point
I didn’t know that.