Oneika Raymond is a Travel Channel host and on-air travel expert for NBC New York and CTV Canada. A bona fide travel junkie, her adventures have taken her to over 110 countries on 6 continents. As the author of the award-winning travel blog “Oneika the Traveller”, Oneika is dedicated to inspiring people of color to see the world. A fierce supporter of women who travel, she has keynoted at the Women in Travel Summit, at Women’s Travel Fest, and has been honored with a Voices of the Year (VOTY) award at BlogHer, one of the premier conferences for women in digital media. She is also the recipient of a Gold Medal in the 2018 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition for Best Travel Blog.
How did you get started traveling?
I grew up in Toronto, but as a child of Jamaican immigrants with extended family scattered throughout Canada, the USA, and the Caribbean, I started traveling at a very young age. These travels, as you can imagine, were primarily to visit my relatives, making travel more of a necessity than anything else.
It wasn’t until my third year of university that I travelled to learn and discover. I did a year long study abroad in France and it rocked my world! It was my first time outside of North America, and in my first week of classes I met people from countries I didn’t even know existed. That year I traveled around France, as well as to England, Spain, and Morocco. When I moved back to Canada I was hungry for more travel, which eventually led me to move back to France for a second year, and ultimately put me on the path I’m on now.
How did you get started writing?
Writing was something I did for fun growing up. I wrote short stories and poems, and while they weren’t very good, writing became one of my favorite hobbies. I first began travel writing in 2005 when I started my first blog, though I didn’t think of it as travel writing at the time. I had just moved back to France for a second year and used my blog as a way to keep my friends and family updated on my life in Europe. I also loved the idea of keeping an online journal so I could have a place to record my international exploits. I never imagined it would grow into what it is today!
What do you consider your first “break” as a writer?
I never really thought of myself as a travel writer until Conde Nast Traveler commissioned me to write a few pieces for their website back in 2013. I remember being honored that such an established publication not only knew who I was, but considered my work worthy of gracing their pages!
As a traveler and fact/story gatherer, what is your biggest challenge on the road?
I still struggle a lot with photographing people on my travels. I feel conflicted because, though I want to tell their story through words and imagery, I am also sensitive to potentially othering them. I often feel that travel writing is rife with the exploitation of those that we as Western writers deem “exotic”, and I want to make sure I am respectful and maintain the dignity of the people I meet on my travels. Therefore, I always make sure to not only ask people if it’s okay to take their portrait, but to also tell them what I’m planning on doing with the image. However, sometimes language barriers make communicating this intention difficult or even impossible. Other times, it feels exploitative to take their picture at all, so I refrain from doing it.
What is your biggest challenge in the research and writing process?
My biggest challenge in the research and writing process is often finding a fresh perspective on the places I write about, especially in a world where nothing is truly “off the beaten path” anymore. I also find it challenging to write interesting content in a digital landscape where there’s a huge appetite for listicles and SEO-driven travel writing. I do it, because that’s what readers and clients want, but my real passion lies in narrative travel writing and vignette writing.
What is your biggest challenge from a business standpoint?
My biggest challenge from a business standpoint is staying on top of everything! While I’ve been blessed with an abundance of assignments in the last little while, my travel schedule and work load have been pretty overwhelming. As a freelancer, though, I’m always conscious of fluctuations in the industry, which is why I power through what has been an extremely busy couple of years. This is definitely the season of “feasts”, but the future might bring “famine”, so I will take the work while I have it!
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
I have been a full time travel writer, journalist, and on-camera host for the past three years and I am grateful that it’s been financially lucrative. As such, I haven’t had to take on any additional gigs to make ends meet. In my past life, however, I worked in education full-time, and dabbled in travel writing and blogging on the side. My freelance income thus supplemented what I made from my “day job” in teaching.
What travel authors or books might you recommend and/or have influenced you?
I have been influenced and inspired primarily by other travel writers of African descent in the industry like Lola Akinmade Akerstrom and Ernest White II. Their writing is the best of the best, they are helpful to others in the industry, and they are generally just class acts. I am honored to call both of them not just colleagues, but also friends.
What advice and/or warnings would you give to someone who is considering going into travel writing?
My advice to aspiring travel writers is cliche, but effective: write, write, and write some more! Develop your style and your voice. Get your work out there not only by blogging, but also by pitching to editors and publications with platforms larger than your own. Use social media to connect with other travel writers so you can get a better idea of the market and what editors are looking for.
What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer?
The biggest reward for me has got to be when readers contact me to tell me that I’ve inspired them to travel to a particular place that wasn’t even on their radar. Knowing that I’ve had a hand in influencing someone’s travel decisions is the best feeling ever.
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