Shelley Seid chats to Linda Bukhosini, chief executive and artistic director of The Playhouse Company. Your favourite city abroad? Paris.

What must a first-time visitor do there? Take a walk down the Champs-Élysées, eat pâté foie gras with fresh rolls while sitting on the side of the road. Just do the simple things.

What should they not bother with? Worrying that the locals refuse to understand you. Smile at everyone and move on.

What was your best holiday/trip, ever? It's impossible to choose. Wherever I go I soak it all in. I love the Rhine River in Bonn, India with its silk and traffic and cows and Maputo for its fish market - I could spend five hours just navigating through that.

What was your worst holiday/trip ever? What happened? No trip is bad, even the trip to London in the middle of winter when my luggage arrived five days after me had its meaningful moments.

Which is the worst hotel you have stayed in? Nothing can be worse than the conditions faced growing up in a township. Everything thereafter is a privilege and you are grateful. If there is a problem, you learn to make a plan.

What is the best thing you have been given on holiday . or pinched from a hotel? I wanted to steal a recycled glass bottle that had been shaped into a vase from my room at Spier Hotel in Stellenbosch. My conscience got the better of me so I asked if I could buy it. They graciously gave it to me.

Your favourite SA destination, and why? They change constantly but at the moment it's Karkloof Spa Wellness and Wildlife retreat just outside Pietermaritzburg. It's luxury in a gorgeous setting, with no expense spared.

Your favourite restaurant, anywhere? Bel Punto in Ballito. They have soul food and they let me eat with my hands. You can't eat quail with a knife and fork. It's family-owned and the Italian gogo is my kind of gogo.

What do you avoid on holiday? If I could, I would avoid flying. I don't like confined spaces. I wish I could close my eyes at the airport and open them when I get there.

One destination you would call "never again"? I returned to Heathrow airport even after the occasion when I found myself surrounded by men with machine guns because I had dared to argue about the size of my carry-on bag, so no, I can't ever say "never again".

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My Kind of Holiday: Linda Bukhosini

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