This may come as a surprise to some, but I’d argue Dubai has one of the most interesting dining scenes in the world these days. If it’s been a few…
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Recent Work
I fell hard for Korean dramas during the height of the pandemic, and I knew once borders reopened, I wanted to get there ASAP — I even wrote about that…
The editors of Net-a-Porter’s Porter magazine asked me to weigh in on my travel wish list for the year: the place I’m hoping to visit for the first time, and…
For the New York Times Style section, I reported on the rise of rental platforms specializing in South Asian fashion – sites like Preserve, Borrow the Bazaar, Almari360, and AllBorrow that…
For Bateleur, a beautiful journal put out by AndBeyond — an operator responsible for some of my favorite safari camps in Africa as well as unique travel experiences in India…
I had two stories in Robb Report this holiday season: A feature on my epic Antarctica adventure aboard Silversea Cruises' luxurious new Silver Endeavour, and a mammoth package on the...
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For this week’s installment of the New York Times T Magazine’s Wanderlust hotel report, I wrote about two buzzy new openings I’ve had my eye on for awhile: the scarlet-hued Villa…
One of the highlights of my time at Condé Nast Traveller Middle East was working with the region’s incredibly talented writers and photographers, including Saudi photographer Tasneem Alsultan, who shot a…
My first feature as a contributing editor on the masthead of Condé Nast Traveler is a particularly meaningful one: I spent a week exploring Uzbekistan, a country where my forefathers…
Awards & Books
Awards
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2021: Honorable mention for the Grand Award, Travel Journalist of the Year
- South Asian Journalists Association, 2021: Outstanding Arts and Culture Reporting for “Zanzibar in the Rain,” New York Times
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2020: Bronze in Short Work on Travel for “Raise the Roof,” Condé Nast Traveler
- South Asian Journalists Association, 2019: Outstanding Arts, Culture, and Lifestyle Reporting about South Asia for “Force of Nature,” Surface magazine
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2018: Gold award in US/Canada Travel for “A Muslim American’s Homecoming: Cowboys, Country Music, Chapatis,” New York Times
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2018: Bronze in Service-Oriented Consumer Work for “My Town,” Virtuoso Life
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2017: Gold in Culinary-Related Travel for “Eating Bunny Chow in Durban,” Saveur
- South Asian Journalists Association, 2017: Outstanding Arts and Culture Reporting for “Eating Bunny Chow in Durban,” Saveur
- North American Travel Journalists Association Awards, 2016: Two Silver awards in Destination Travel and Adventure Travel for “7 Days, 1500 Miles in Namibia,” New York Times
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2016: Gold in Foreign Travel for “7 Days, 1500 Miles in Namibia,” New York Times
- Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, 2015: Gold in Personal Comment for “Returning to Hyderabad, Once a Land of Princes and Palaces,” New York Times
- Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing, 2013: Silver in Most Unforgettable Character for “Spitting Distance in Jodhpur,” Wall Street Journal
Books
- New York Times Cultured Traveler: Contributed a feature on Bosnia & Herzegovina to this upcoming anthology
- Best American Travel Writing 2021: “City of Saints” from Travel + Leisure was selected for the 2021 edition of this anthology, edited by Padma Lakshmi and Jason Wilson
- New York Times 36 Hours World: 150 Cities from Abu Dhabi to Zurich: Contributed 36 Hours guides to Johannesburg and Mumbai for this anthology
- My Life Abroad: A Selection of Expat Stories: Contributed to this compilation of expat stories from around the globe, recounting my experience as an American in South Africa, in the chapter “From New York City to Cape Town.”
- The Places We’ve Been: Field Reports from Travelers Under 35: Contributed my essay “When Coconuts Attack” to this travel anthology.