Children’s author inspired by her love of travelling the world

T S Eliot was famously a bank clerk. And Franz Kafka was an insurance broker – which might not be so encouraging.

But having a job in corporate finance is not the obvious job, even for a children’s author.

Maybe Destynee Onwochei perhaps uses the magical world she has created in her new book to escape the grind of the nine-to-five.

But more likely, she wants to pass on her love of globe-trotting – and she has done a lot.

The 33-year-old says Tobias The Dream Adventurer is the first in a magical series based on experiences from her travels to over 30 different countries.

She hopes it will teach children the importance of travel and encourage them to dream.

Destynee had been to only 11 nations when she set out to increase that total to 30 countries before the age of 30 – giving herself the challenge of setting foot in 19 countries in only two years. On 4th December 2016, she arrived in Australia, ticking off country number 30 at the age of 29 – 96 days before her 30th birthday.

The British-Nigerian – originally from Peckham but now living in Catford – has long been infatuated by travel, with a whizzing mind fuelled by a longing for epic adventure.

The project manager, who has worked for eight years between New York’s Wall Street and London, has documented her journeys on social media – climbing the Great Wall of China, dressing up as a Geisha in Japan, feeding reindeer in Lapland, visiting the Taj Mahal in India and climbing the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

Set in Tanzania, the book draws on Destynee’s own experience climbing the dormant volcano, and the hardship and enormous achievement that comes hand-in-hand with a once-in-a-lifetime adventure – or in her case, several times in a lifetime.

For her, the adventures are not just about crossing countries off a list, but about experiencing the culture, fighting stereotypes and pushing past barriers to achieve her goals.

She hopes to inspire not only children, but women and people of colour to do the same. She said: “I fight stereotypes every day, in and out of the corporate world – I am very ambitious, so if I believe I can do something, there is no doubt in my mind that I will get it done. “I am a woman of my word, so if I say it out loud, I will do everything I can to make it happen.”

She wants children “to be open, to be helpful, kind and compassionate, to always be positive and loving, willing to learn, and always continue to dream”.

The book is about Tobias, who ventures up Kilimanjaro with his friend Nalah, to help her revive her father’s lifelong vision of being a mountain guide. Their drive to complete the quest – and Tobias’ handy magic – keeps alive their dream of conquering the peak.