Today we’d like to introduce you to Uche Eke.
Hi Uche, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Brookeville, Maryland, the younger son of a Nigerian dad and a mom from New Orleans. I started gymnastics at 3, after a friend dared me to backflip off a couch and I landed on my head twice. My mom decided I needed a class. I went to Good Counsel High School in Olney, then the University of Michigan, where I studied computer science engineering and later earned a master’s in information with a 4.0 while still competing. I’d been a computer geek my whole life, so building things was always the other half of me.
At Michigan I told my coach I wanted to make the Olympics, and he pointed out that my Nigerian citizenship was a way there. I got my dual citizenship and started competing for Nigeria in 2019 (gold on pommel horse and bronze on parallel bars at the African Games). In 2021 I won bronze in Cairo and became the first gymnast ever to represent Nigeria at the Olympics, in Tokyo.
Travel came with all of it, mostly solo and on a tight budget. People kept asking me how I planned my trips, so I started TravelWithUche, and then built an AI trip planner to do the planning for them. Today I work as a software engineer, run TravelWithUche, and serve as president of Igbere Youth, a community organization for young people of Igbere heritage across North America (soon expanding to other countries). Igbere is my dad’s hometown in Nigeria.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not smooth. The first big one was timing. COVID canceled the 2020 African Championships and pushed the Olympics back a year, and I spent most of 2020 training wherever I could find an open gym. When I finally competed again in Cairo it was only my second meet in over a year, and only two spots were up for grabs. Money was tight too. My parents helped with travel costs and I taught classes as a grad student to cover the rest.
I was also doing a master’s at the same time, and people ask how I kept a 4.0. I treated school like training. Same schedule every day: practice, class, work, sleep, and no skipping the boring reps. As an athlete I couldn’t cram at the last minute, so I did a little every day instead. Teaching as a grad student instructor helped too, because it forced me to know the material cold.
The hardest part was a different kind of pressure, though. When I started representing Nigeria, strangers online said I was only American because just my dad is Nigerian, called me a fake Nigerian, and went after my dyed hair. I go to Nigeria three times a year. That stung, but it made me more sure of my choice.
We’ve been impressed with TravelWithUche, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
TravelWithUche is a travel brand built around one idea: planning a trip shouldn’t be the hard part. It started with my own travel stories on YouTube, plus a blog and destination guides from places I’ve actually been. The part I’m proudest of is the AI Trip Planner at travelwithuche.com/trips. You tell it where you want to go and roughly when, and it builds a full day-by-day itinerary, flights included, from sourced travel guides instead of guesses. Then you can edit it, check stops off, and download a PDF.
What sets it apart is that it comes from someone who traveled constantly, mostly solo and on a budget, and kept getting the same questions: what did you do, how do you plan it, what does it cost. I’m also a software engineer, so I built the planner myself. Your first trip plan is free, and the guides and videos are always free.
Outside of TravelWithUche, I’m also president of Igbere Youth, which keeps young people of Igbere heritage connected to their culture and to each other.
How do you think about happiness?
Doing something a little scary and landing it. That’s been true since I was 3 and landed on my head twice trying a backflip off a couch, and it’s why I picked up dirt biking, wakeboarding and snowboarding, and why skydiving is on my list. Right behind that is community. I’m president of Igbere Youth, a group of young people of Igbere heritage across North America, and Igbere is my dad’s hometown. Getting everyone in one room, like at our convention in Houston this June, reminds me why it matters. It’s how I stay close to my heritage and to Nigeria, where I go three times a year. And honestly, making people laugh. When someone tells me they like my laugh, that’s a good day. Lately it’s also hearing from someone who used to dread planning a trip and now has a full itinerary in minutes.
Pricing:
- First AI trip plan: free
- Monthly subscription: $14.99/month (10 AI itineraries a month, unlimited edits, PDF downloads)
- Trip credit packs: 3, 5 or 10 trip plans, no subscription needed
- Travel guides, blog and YouTube vlogs: free
- Start with a free account at travelwithuche.com/trips
Contact Info:
- Website: https://travelwithuche.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uchemantellem/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Uchemantellem
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uche-eke-333926124/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@uchemantellem
- Other: https://www.igbereyouth.org/
