TRAVEL TUESDAYS: INTERVIEW WITH SHIKHA OF WHY WASTE ANNUAL LEAVE

This week we would like to introduce Shikha of Why Waste Annual Leave. Shikha is a doctor in London, a city she’s lived in for 13 years and is still besotted with. She loves her work, which she does pretty much full time, but in her spare time, travel is her passion. She thrives on seeing new places both in the UK and abroad, on discovering London’s best offerings & combining her adventures with a love of great food. With work commitments, most of her major travels happen during her annual leave so she tries to squeeze the most out of all her free time!

1. What inspires you to travel?

My passion for travel began at a young age. My early childhood was spent in the Middle East and was peppered with lots of visits to India, where my extended family lived and so I grew up wanting to see different countries and cultures. Nowadays, the travel blogging community are inspiring me with their stories and photos, which was one of the reasons I wanted to start sharing my own!

2. How would you define the word ‘traveler’?

Someone who seeks to see new places, new cultures and live out new experiences – I think this is why, for me, there is no distance limit on how near or far you need to go to constitute a travel experience.

3. Where has been your favorite destination?

Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. I went here for my honeymoon and we were out in the unspoilt, vast African bush with very few other tourists around. As I’d never done a safari, it was exhilarating spotting different animals for the first time, not quite believing we were so near to giraffes, buffalos, hippos, elephants in the wild, to mention but a few! It felt almost spiritual being in the midst of nature like that, so far removed to anything we know of our life in London.

4. Where has been your least favorite?

Fortunately, I’ve never really visited a place, which I didn’t I enjoy but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Bangkok. I loved Thailand, particularly Chiang Mai, but I just didn’t gel with Bangkok. I went years ago as a student and it may have been because of poor planning on my part. I just found it too seedy, too busy and we got conned a couple of times so that tarnished our experience somewhat. If I visit in the future, I’m sure that with some research and planning, my opinion could be revised.

5. Have you ever had high hopes for a destination, tour, etc., only to be disappointed in the end? Or any travel mishaps?

Let’s just say that when you go to Vegas for the first and so far, the only time, you don’t really expect to end up unwell in your bed, scouring the MGM Grand looking for painkillers and going to bed each night at 10pm straight after dinner, unwell with swine flu. But sadly, this was what happened! I still soldiered on through it as best as I could but playing Scrabble by the pool and just about pushing myself to see a couple of shows. Rock and roll!

6. What’s the funniest or weirdest cultural idiosyncrasy you’ve either witnessed or experienced?

Whilst spending some time in Southern India during medical school, I spent a week working with a rural community outreach team, who bring basic health checks to remote villages where people can’t easily access doctors and hospitals. I saw extreme poverty in these small shanty towns. In one small hut, I saw 6 members of a family all living in one room with no indoor toilet and all sleeping on a floor – and yet they were listening to Michael Jackson on their radio and drinking Coca Cola!

7. What keepsake do you have to get at all your destinations?

I used to be really good at keeping all my old ticket stubs and slotting them into the corresponding page of my guide book but I’ve become more careless with that the older I get!

8. How about the one thing you cannot travel without?

I cringe at how girly-girl this sounds but until very recently, I’ve struggled to go anywhere without my hair strengtheners – half the time, I don’t know why I bother as the humidity in many countries rapidly undoes any good-straightening I’ve done – plus frankly, I’d rather be out and about exploring than being vain so I see this changing!

9. Why did you begin blogging?

I love writing. I have done since I was at school but it took about a decade to take the plunge to do it in a public forum and a lot of encouragement, particularly from my Dad, who has been telling me from the start that I must continue. I firmly believe it is impossible to write well about anything unless it truly inspires you and given that one of my greatest passions is travelling with my “Pumpkin”, both on our doorstep and beyond, I realised this is what I should have been writing about all along.

10. How do you manage to balance a life of travel and your career as a doctor?

We’re fortunate to have several weeks of annual leave per year so this is when I try and get most of my travelling done. I guess the main thing with juggling work and career is that it is quite difficult to do any long haul trips, which does mean that I usually can’t go away for more than a fortnight at a time. I try and use weekends to discover new things in London (there’s always something) and see more places in England.

11.  Do you have any tips for others looking to make the most of their travels when only having a small amount of annual leave? 

If you only have limited leave and especially if there are specific places you have dreamt of going, then the main thing is (1) do your planning well in advance, as you don’t have time to be too impulsive! (2) if you have your heart set on a place, then make sure you check the best times of year with climate etc & plan your leave dates accordingly (3) try to get the best value trips by booking your annual leave at off-peak times of year e.g. avoiding major holidays (4) add on your annual leave to public holidays as much as possible to maximize on your time off.

12. What’s next?

Our next trip this year is to Argentina, Brazil and Chile – as neither of us have ever been to South America, we are giddy with excitement about this, particularly about seeing Patagonia. I’m trying to cram in some key Spanish phrases into the brain before we set off!

I would also love a beach break somewhere and am looking at Bali or The Seychelles and the beaches in Cuba and Mexico also look very tempting but I guess this will depend on how many pennies are left post South America!

Traveler Toss-ups

Backpack or suitcase? Suitcase – I’ve always had a suitcase….except for my honeymoon when my husband (Pumpkin) told me (after the booking was made) that one of the tiny planes we were taking in Africa could only accommodate backpacks!

Window or aisle? Window – I love the window views and easier for sleeping (Pumpkin doesn’t like me sleeping on his shoulder!)

Solo or group? Usually couple travel, closely followed by travel with family and friends. Group travel – still to be tried but I’m game.

Tapas or sushi? Hmmm…..very close call…probably sushi but I’ll happily take either if you’re offering!

 Beach or mountains? Beach but mountains come a very close second – as long as I’m viewing them rather than climbing them.

Be sure to follow along Shikha to learn how to take advantage of your annual leave:

Visit Shikha’s site: Why Waste Annual Leave
Follow Shikha on Twitter: @WWAnnualLeave
“Like” Shikha on Facebook: Why Waste Annual Leave