2022 Recap: Where in the World Was Sarah Khan?
The year I traveled to seven continents (and hit a personal best for TV consumption)
Perception is a curious thing. When I first took a beat to reflect on 2022 in its twilight moments, all I pictured was my couch: countless hours spent sprawled comfortably across it, watching a relentless loop of series—some (White Lotus, Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Ms. Marvel, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Pachinko, Mo, WeCrashed, The Gilded Age, Ramy, Masaba Masaba, Real Housewives of Dubai) considerably more memorable than others (And Just Like That, Tokyo Vice, Loot, I Am Georgina, The Watcher, House of the Dragon, Super Pumped, Bridgerton, The Drop Out, Dubai Bling).
But despite the cozy, homebound associations 2022 has imprinted on my mind, it turns out that when I did put down my remote I actually had the most eventful year of my life.
I kicked off 2022 in Dubai, where I wrapped up an action-packed year as editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East in the spring. In between editing a magazine and hosting and attending events, I also squeezed in a few epic whirlwind trips: to Kenya’s dreamy Lamu archipelago, a wellness retreat in Qatar where I got the best sleep of my life, and a return to the ethereal desert landscape of AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
Oh, and somewhere in there I also planned a wedding. I moved back to the States in the summer, which flew by in a circuitous loop of travel and events: a nikah, or religious ceremony, in Boston, followed by a reporting trip to Uzbekistan the next day; trips to San Diego and Arctic Norway in the weeks leading up to our traditional valima reception in Chicago; and a honeymoon jaunt through Dubai, the Seychelles, and Kenya’s Masai Mara.
With the onset of fall came the last of the festivities, a celebration with our friends in the heart of Manhattan, but soon it was back in the air for me: on a pop-culture fever dream through South Korea and a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in Antarctica (via a few days in Chile). I finished off the year with a balmy week in Australia, where my husband and I rang in the New Year in Sydney.
Add up the passport stamps and there you have it: While 2022 may have been a personal record for me in terms of hours of television consumed, it turns out, it also was a record travel year for me: I visited all seven continents in 12 months.
Many of those trips were for work, which kept me busy: The first half of the year was spent writing and editing for CNT Middle East, but after I moved back to New York I returned to freelancing. I’m now a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler in the US and the UK as well as at Robb Report, and have resumed writing for the New York Times, Afar, Food & Wine, and others, in addition to various consulting projects. In the summer, I joined the faculty at Columbia Journalism School’s prestigious Columbia Publishing Course, guiding a cohort of incredibly talented and inspiring students. I also was invited to chat on a few podcasts and overhauled my website.
But enough about 2022. The new year is a milestone for me: 2023 marks a decade since I left my job at Travel + Leisure in New York, moved to South Africa, and took the freelance leap. I’d like to say it went by in a flash, and while in some ways I guess it did, it also feels like it’s been a lifetime—a dizzying array of personal and professional accomplishments and failures, highs and lows, and spins around the globe that feel like they could have spanned a century.
I’m hoping this year will look different: a less chaotic pace of travel, meaningful stories that help me satisfy my relentless curiosity, new challenges… and plenty more time curled up on the couch. In terms of that goal, the year is off to a good start: Emily in Paris was the perfect post-Australia jetlag companion. What should I watch next?
2022 in numbers:
123,000 miles
7 continents
12 countries
26 cities
2 poles
3 wedding events in 3 cities
1 awesome guy
2022 in articles: #BySarahKhan:
Condé Nast Traveler, In Search of Lost Time: tracing my ancestors’ footsteps in Uzbekistan
Condé Nast Traveler, Northern Exposure: glaciers, polar bears, and more on my Arctic cruise around Norway’s remote Svalbard archipelago
Afar, Kingdom Come: taking a look at Saudi Arabia’s evolution through the lens of Saudi photographer Tasneem Alsultan
T, The New York Times Style Magazine, The Iconic Palladio Expands in Jaipur, India; A Trio of Designer Flats on Lamu Island: a preview of two gorgeous new hideaways in Jaipur and Kenya
Robb Report, We Sailed to Antarctica Aboard the World’s Most Luxurious Expedition Ship. Here’s What It Was Like: touching down on my seventh continent with Silversea Cruises
Robb Report, The 40 Best Luxury Hotels to Visit in 2023
And a bonus, my first story of 2023:
New York Times, When One Wedding Requires Four Outfits, Try Renting: an overview of the South Asian fashion rental space
2022 in destinations: #WhereInTheWorldIsSarahKhan:
UAE: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Qatar: Doha and Al Ruwais
Kenya: Nairobi, Lamu, and the Masai Mara
Saudi Arabia: AlUla
USA: Boston, New York, San Diego, Chicago, Houston
Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara
Norway: Oslo, Longyearbyen
Seychelles: Victoria
South Korea: Seoul, Jeonju
Chile: Santiago, Puerto Williams, Punta Arenas
Antarctica
Australia: Sydney, Hobart