Nabila Ismail’s love of travel was sparked in college after her first solo trip to Spain.
Courtesy of Nabila Ismail
Words by Aleenah Ansari
Nabila Ismail quit her job as a pharmacist to spend a year traveling the world, but her story doesn’t start there. The seed for this was planted long before she built her following as Dose of Travel on Instagram and TikTok, after taking her first solo trip to Spain, where she worked as an au pair in the summer after her first year of college. Though she returned to campus with her sights set on pharmacy school, she was still counting down the days to her next trip—a way to keep her going between semesters.
Now, she’s created a business intersecting her love of travel with her work in pharmacy, and she wants to make travel more accessible by hosting group trips where others can have local experiences and build community. Ismail and I sat down to talk more about how she’s bridging these two seemingly disparate fields, and why representation in travel matters so much to her as a Pakistani American.
Nabila Ismail wants to make travel more accessible and hosts group trips where others can have local experiences and build community.
Courtesy of Nabila Ismail
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Aleenah Ansari: Did you always see a bridge between pharmacy and travel in your work?
Nabila Ismail: At first, I felt like I was living two different lives that pulled me in two different directions—it was like an internal tug of war. I didn’t fit the mold of a typical pharmacy student because I was blogging but never proudly talking about it, but I also wasn’t sure if a career in pharmacy was right for me.
I’ve always been passionate about global health and did a rotation in Zimbabwe that focused on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, and water sanitation, but I didn’t know how to channel this into a career at the time. Pharmacy and travel started to come together for me during COVID-19. When the pandemic began, no one in the world could travel, regardless of what country they were in. Seeing how the travel industry pivoted in response to COVID-19 helped me put two and two together. I wrote a Forbes article about my top health care predictions from the perspective of a health care professional, and that story made me feel like I was successfully bridging travel and pharmacy and creating my own niche.
AA: Why do you think it’s important to see more women of color in travel?
NI: I wasn’t very close to my South Asian traditions and culture growing up, and there are parts of myself that I ignored for a long time, which I’m now embracing through the travel community that I’m building online and on my trips. I get so many comments from other South Asians about how I’m living the dream, which means a lot to me.
There’s a gap to fill for South Asians in travel and there’s so much we can share. We don’t always see each other in magazines or major travel publications, and we deserve to explore our culture, listen to Bollywood music, and talk about being first-generation kids. I’ve been able to create a community for pharmacy students and professionals who are inspired by my non-linear career journey from being a pharmacist turned travel influencer, writer, and travel organizer.
AA: In some of your content, you’ve talked about how you’re changing people’s perceptions of places that people may not have considered. What has that been like?
NI: Some people only see Iraq through the lens of Western media, but I’ve tried to change that, even in small ways. As I’ve traveled Iraq on my own, I’ve been able to reclaim my identity as a Muslim in a way that felt authentic to me. When visiting holy cities in Iraq Najaf and Karbala, I traveled with two non-Muslim travelers who were asking me questions about Islam, something I hadn’t experienced growing up. It made me want to learn more about my own religions.
Since sharing my travels to Iraq and the Middle East, I’ve received comments from people who want to visit historical sites, but I’ve also heard from locals that my content gives people hope that others want to visit and learn more about their culture.
AA: Part of Dose of Travel has been offering group trips, and you recently shared that planning these trips made you feel aligned with your purpose. Why are these trips important to you?
NI: Group trips are a place for connectivity and community with itineraries that are off the beaten path, so attendees can experience new places without being alone. Many attendees shared that they hadn’t had a chance to travel beyond taking a weekend trip, or that they hadn’t been encouraged to travel because they were expected to focus on their career or family. Some of the people on my most recent group trip to Cape Town had recently quit their job and were on their own journey of self-discovery, and I was glad that I was able to connect them with other travelers and share a new experience with them.
AA: What advice or encouragement would you give to other women of color or folks who want to travel more?
NI: I’d say if you’re solo traveling for the first time and you’re nervous, start small. This can be taking yourself out to dinner alone or taking a weekend trip by yourself. If you’re still anxious, join a group trip that focuses on community and has like-minded folks. There are so many out there and this is a great way to start traveling.
AA: What’s next for you and Dose of Travel as a whole?
NI: My life will always be multifaceted, so I will pursue health care and travel, separately and together. I would love to have my own travel show, write a travel memoir as a Desi woman, work with tourism boards so I can continue to be a source of representation for others. Seeing someone who looks like you in travel can be the difference between visiting a place or not. I hope I can continue to inspire others to travel more.
Follow along with Ismail’s Dose of Travel adventures on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Published on January 26, 2023
Words by Aleenah Ansari
Aleenah Ansari (she/her) is equal parts storyteller, creative problem solver, and journalist at heart who's rooted in the stories of people behind products, companies, and initiatives. She’s written about travel, entrepreneurship, mental health and wellness, and representation in media for Insider, CNBC, The Seattle Times, Kulfi, and more. You can usually find her searching for murals in Seattle and beyond, reading a book by a BIPOC author, and planning her next trip to New York. Learn more at www.aleenahansari.com.