Favorite Destination

Istanbul

Most Exotic Destination Traveled

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Travel Philosophy

Make foreign friends and then hit them up for insider tips and accommodations in their homelands.

Sharmila, who made her first international trip to India when she was only a year old, lives to travel. Since then she has visited, sailed, dived, climbed, lounged and indulged her way across 40-plus countries and six continents. Her best story leads are insider tips from her long list of international friends she has met along the way.

Born and raised near Chicago, Sharmila studied at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, worked in New York City and now resides in Dubai, a place that gives her access to a whole new set of exotic destinations in the Middle East and beyond. When not uncovering and writing about hidden gems for Galavante, Sharmila spends time relaxing with her globe-trotting husband and multiple-passport-toting daughters.