Queenie Shaikh’s writing doesn’t just take you places, it brings you home. In her Bessie-nominated piece, she explores how the alpine beauty of Croatia stirred memories of her childhood in Pakistan, weaving a heartfelt story of identity, nostalgia, and the shared threads that connect us across continents.

Meet Queenie Shaikh, a writer and storyteller who explores identity, memory, and travel in beautifully unexpected ways. Her piece ‘Acapella Songs and Alpine Views’, nominated for Most Impactful Piece of Writing, takes us from the quiet hills of Croatia to the vibrant streets of her childhood in Pakistan, showing just how deeply travel can stir the soul.

About the Bessie Awards

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The Bessie Awards celebrate the trailblazers, changemakers, and visionaries who are reshaping the travel industry for the better. Named in honor of Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American woman to earn a pilot’s license. These awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to empowering women and fostering inclusivity in travel.

About Queenie Shaikh, the Storyteller Who Found Pakistan in the Mountains of Croatia

If you’ve ever read a piece by Queenie Shaikh, you know her writing does more than describe a place, it invites you into it. With warmth, heart, and unapologetic honesty, she shares stories that celebrate her South Asian roots, her Muslim identity, and the shared human experience of finding belonging in unexpected places. Her nominated piece, ‘Acapella songs and Alpine views,’ is a perfect example, drawing a beautiful bridge between Croatia and childhood memories of Pakistan.

Queenie Shaikh headshot

What is your proudest career accomplishment?

My biggest career achievement has been using my writing to celebrate my South Asian heritage and Muslim identity in a positive way, challenging the negative stereotypes often seen in the media. Through my work, I’ve helped shift perspectives and encourage positive curiosity. For example, my story about Croatia explored how its landscapes, culture, and traditions reminded me of childhood visits to Northern Pakistan, showing that places can create a sense of nostalgia and belonging, even across different regions of the world.

What does it mean to you to have the community nominate you for a Bessie award?
Being nominated for a Bessie Award is incredibly meaningful. It’s not just recognition of my work but a reminder that the stories I tell resonate with people. As a travel writer, I aim to highlight diverse voices and experiences, and knowing that the community values this reinforces why I do what I do.

What do you think are the most important issues facing the travel industry today?
One of the biggest challenges in the travel industry today is the lack of ethnic diversity. Travel media, tourism boards, and industry leadership often lack representation of diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences. This lack of inclusion not only limits opportunities for underrepresented communities but also creates a narrow and often one-dimensional view of travel. More diverse storytelling and greater accessibility for travellers from different backgrounds are essential to making the industry more inclusive and reflective of the world we explore.

Another pressing issue is overtourism and the lack of environmentally friendly travel practices. Many destinations struggle with overcrowding, which puts immense pressure on local infrastructure, ecosystems, and communities. Encouraging sustainable tourism – through responsible visitor management, better environmental policies, promoting lesser-known destinations, and travelling during the off-season – can help balance economic benefits with long-term preservation.

What’s next for you in your career?
I want to continue telling stories that highlight indigenous communities and people from all walks of life, ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard in travel media. There’s so much richness in the traditions, histories, and perspectives of these communities, and I hope to bring their stories to a wider audience in an authentic and meaningful way.

I also want to explore age diversity in travel storytelling. As a millennial, I’d love to honour my generation by writing about travel experiences that evoke nostalgia – whether it’s revisiting places from our childhoods or exploring destinations through the lens of the pop culture that shaped us. At the same time, I want to focus on the elderly and travel, celebrating their adventures, their relationship with exploration, and how travel evolves with age. Older travellers often bring a different depth of experience, and their stories deserve more space in the industry.

There are so many ideas I want to bring to life, and I’m excited to keep evolving as a storyteller. Travel is about connection, and I want my work to reflect that – connecting cultures, generations, and perspectives..

Queenie’s not slowing down anytime soon. From spotlighting Indigenous communities to celebrating nostalgia and age diversity in travel, she’s all about making space for the stories we don’t hear enough of. Her work reminds us that the best travel writing doesn’t just inspire wanderlust, it brings us closer to each other.