Travellers’ Tales – Meet Sabeeha from " Tattoo My Passport "

Meet Sabeeha from " Tattoo My Passport "

I created the “Travellers’ Tales” section to give my readers and other travellers an opportunity to talk about their travels. Today I would like to introduce you to Sabeeha , a Chartered Accountant and travel blogger based in South Africa. Visit her blog at " Tattoo My Passport ". 

I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to Travellers’ Tales, fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.

Read about Sabeeha’s travels here,

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am travel junkie currently residing in South Africa, but wishing to reside in different countries all over the world. I am a Chartered Accountant by day, and a travel blogger by night (I’ve just recently started). I enjoy writing and travelling and hope to inspire others to travel with my blog.

2. What is your earliest travel memory?

Travelling as a kid mostly comprised of local trips with my family. Most of our trips were to Drakensberg, hiking up beautiful mountains and exploring the natural wonders and wildlife in Mpumalanga (then known as Eastern Transvaal). Even though these were my most recent travel memories, the experience that got me bitten by the travel bug was my secondment to New York for 4 months. I was selected to work in the New York office of the firm that I was at. After living in such a vibrant city for 4 months and travelling extensively through the US with friends thereafter, it was difficult not to fall in love with travelling.

3. Where was your last holiday?

My husband and I travelled to Vietnam recently. We were limited to 10 days and carefully selected to visit Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Hoi An, Hanoi and Halong Bay. We unexpectedly did a day stint in Sapa too! Vietnam is utterly compelling, filled with natural beauty, smiling locals and unique heritage sites, making our trip unforgettable!

Tattoo my Passport

Kids playing in Sapa Vietnam

4. What was the best thing you did there?

This is a difficult one as each place we visited had its own character, which made travelling through Vietnam almost addictive. If I was forced to choose, I would say visiting Hoi An. Hoi An was calmer than the cities. The ancient town in Hoi An, which lantern lit by night, makes the town romantic and charming. Coming in close second would be taking an overnight train to Sapa and trekking through the stepped rice paddies!

5. What was your best holiday ever? Why?

Recently we visited London. I’ve visited before; it was my husband’s first time. I love the big city life, but there were two occurrences on this trip that made it legendary for us. We are both die- hard Manchester United fans and managed to score tickets at Old Trafford for one of their games. The atmosphere was electrifying.

I am an avid Harry Potter fan and before our trip I was desperately trying to get my hands on tickets to the theatre show, “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child”, without any success. At the time, there was a Friday Forty draw for tickets, where every Friday 40 tickets were given away for each performance during the next week. I entered and with lady luck on my side, got front row tickets to what was one of the best theatre performances I’ve seen!

6. What is your favourite travel destination?

Istanbul. On one of our trips, we travelled to London and did a stopover in Istanbul. I fell in love with Istanbul and probably left a little bit of my heart there. The most fascinating thing for me was the Islamic history. Since Istanbul was just a stopover, we didn’t manage to explore the rest of Turkey. I am anxiously waiting to return to explore the likes of Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Izmir, Antalya and the rest!

Tattoo my Passport

Husband and I at Ortakoy Mosque Turkey

7. What must one do there?

EAT!! Tantalising my taste buds with local cuisine is one of the best parts about travelling for me. I had a feast in Istanbul! My favourite treats were ice cream (Dondurma), Baklava and the Turkish tea.

8. Who is your favourite travel companion/s?

Hands down, this has to be my husband. We both have the same passion for travelling, thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and have different travel strengths which makes us a great team.

9. Name one item you must have when travelling.

A very comfortable pair of walking takkies (sneakers) as the best way to truly experience a place is by walking through it as much as you can.

10. Your best travel advice?

Plan your own trip instead of using a travel agent. The task may be daunting the first time around, but it comes with lots of benefits. It’s much cheaper and allows you the flexibility of planning your trip just the way you want to. Be cognisant of the fact that even though you’ve planned your trip, things may not always go according to plan! Be agile and adaptable to change when travelling.

11. The one place you want to visit before you die?

Norway. To witness the spectacular Northern Lights.

12. Your favourite place in South Africa?

I am lucky enough to call South Africa home. The natural beauty that this country has to offer is breath taking. My favourite area in South Africa has to be the Garden Route.

13. Worst travel experience?

I wouldn’t term them as worst travel experiences, but I’ve had my share of travel troubles. These include:

  1. Various flight delays one of which was being stranded in Nairobi for 24 hours due to Kenya Airways pilots being on strike
  2. Finalising travel plans to Istanbul and a few weeks before our trip, the dreaded Coup happened and the country was declared a State of Emergency
  3. Having our Halong Bay cruise cancelled, leaving us stranded in Vietnam without accommodation for two nights.

Although at the time these incidents were very frustrating and stressful, they make great travel stories which can be reminisced on and laughed about later on.

Tattoo my Passport

Beach in Zanzibar

14. How can people connect with you?

Blog: Tattoo my Passport

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tattoomypassport

Instagram: www.instagram.com/tattoo_my_passport

Thank you, Sabeeha , for sharing your fascinating travels with us!

I would love to hear about your travels too. Go to Travellers’ Tales, fill in the quick questionnaire and email it to me with your blog links.

Who will I feature next? I’ve got an exciting line-up ahead. Make sure you subscribe to the free newsletter so you don’t miss out on some exciting travel tales

 

 

8 comments on “Travellers’ Tales – Meet Sabeeha from " Tattoo My Passport "”

  1. Great post. Love the advice "Plan your own trip" - I totally believe in it. We normally don't make bookings ahead of time when we travel long distance with the car around South Africa. It's been fun so far.

    1. Thanks Melissa. Yes, it's great advice from Sabeeha. It's always good to be flexible otherwise you never know what adventures you may be shutting the door to.

    2. Thank you. We love the flexibility it offers while traveling. Especially when you stumble across a place that you'd like to linger at for a little longer. A tour doesn't offer that.

    1. Vietnam was a very worthy experience. I've written a blog post on our recent trip. Check it out at tattoomypassport.con if you're interested ?

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