Leandra Beabout

I wrote recommendations as a Local Expert for Touring Bird's day trips from Chicago.

Croatia’s pebbled beaches have long been a siren song to northern and central European vacationers, but the country’s tourism industry soared when the medieval city of Dubrovnik became a key filming location for HBO’s staggeringly popular Game of Thrones series.

Sometimes it seems easier to stick to the old “reduce, reuse, recycle” when we’re settled into the comfort of our own homes. Once we hit the tarmac or land in unfamiliar territory, we’re in vacation mode, throwing caution to the wind.

But that doesn’t mean we should, right?

“Welcome citizen Leandra,” read my bedside MoodPad’s screen. Above, ambient lights glowed soothing purple. The giant bed beckoned with crisp white linens and a floor-to-ceiling window (with remote-controlled blackout shades) offered a view of the airport runway.

The career landscape is changing. Inc. magazine recently reported that 63 percent of companies have remote workers, and Forbes proclaimed that digital nomadism — taking your laptop and working with you while travel the world — is officially on the rise.

Tamaya Resort soothed from the beginning. First, traditional baked bread slathered with cinnamon butter began a cozy afternoon by the fireplace as rain tumbled over the Sandia Mountains.

Typically, solo travel is the perfect invitation to reflect and practice new rituals. But midway into my summer trip in Bulgaria, the sheen of adventure started to wear thin.

I realized I was lonely — something a weekend of bubble baths, face masks and reflective journaling can’t fix. All the self-care in the world won...

I provided Local Expert tips for day trips from Chicago for Google's Touring Bird app.

As a travel writer, my work allows and necessitates frequent trips. The constant change in scenery highlights the importance of creating a consistent sense of home wherever I lay my head. But creating an atmosphere of comfort doesn’t need to be complicated. Simple, intentional preparations can make the difference between a sterile hotel room and a cozy temporary living space. Here are my favourite rituals to make anywhere feel like home.

Every spring, the sunshine, crisp air, and opening buds on trees signal something in my brain: It’s time to get move. It’s time to get outside, breath clean air, and stretch my legs in anticipation of summer hikes and days at the beach. San Antonio is about a three-hour flight from Chicago. So when winter blues or spring restlessness hit, the Alamo City — with its creative food scene, famous Riverwalk, and year-round sunshine — are a little slice of heaven.
San Antonio is what several locals ...

While some destinations are struggling to handle the side effects of overtourism, other destinations aren’t getting enough tourism. Here’s why undertourism matters, too.
The gates of Dubrovnik, Croatia’s walled medieval center define ‘bottleneck’ as I’ve never experienced before. Roped-off sidewalk lanes defined narrow swathes of territory for those entering or fleeing the city.
The boardwalk stretched to Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring feels more like a queue than a path.
...

Last week I clicked on the radio in my car and the news anchor’s words caught me off guard: Guam. Attack. Nuclear.
A knot of worry gripped my throat — but when I checked my phone, but there was no message. Breathing a sigh, I listened closer and determined that while there was a threat — serious, yes — there was no missile or warhead or weapon hurtling on its way to the Pacific territory whose jungles and beaches I’d explored just last month.
See, my parents live there, on this island that wa...

Though I’m out of school with a work schedule free from the standard academic cycle, I flip the calendar to March each year with one thought: spring break.
It’s hard to shake the anticipation of seasonal breaks — Christmas vacation, spring break, summer holiday. No matter where or when you are in life, there’s nothing like a vacation for resetting at the tail end of winter. The best part? You don’t need to leave the county for a great trip. Each of these destinations is a passport-free flight...

GOSHEN — On its website, the American Cancer Society recommends any woman between the ages of 45 and 54 get yearly mammograms. Many doctors, including those at Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, tell women to start even sooner: age 40. But for the uninsured or under-insured, preventative breast cancer screenings often seem too pricey. A Goshen Health program called HeartStrings Sisters aims to fix the problem.
Dr. Laura Morris, the medical director at Goshen Retreat Women’s Health Center, said...

This blog post for the American Council for International Studies combined a personal essay and listicle into an informational piece about Chinese New Year.