Laura Zbinden

Photo of Laura Zbinden
Follow
Location
Chicago, IL
School
Drake University
Expertise
Southeast Asia, India, Thru-Hiking
  • From 2015 to 2022, Laura traveled all over Asia, sampling street food, exploring temples, and relaxing on beaches.
  • Her favorite place she's ever traveled was Koh Rong Samloem Island in Cambodia, where she stayed in an off-grid beach cabin and was lucky enough to see and experience the beauty of bioluminescent plankton.
  • She loves to explore rugged places through trekking and has completed the Annapurna basecamp trek and the 13-day Manaslu circuit trek in Nepal as well as the Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Mount Chenrezig circuit trek in China.

Experience

Laura has always been passionate about travel and learning about new cultures through food and experiences. She has traveled all over Asia, trying as much street food as possible, from chicken satay in Thailand to putchas in India. She loves trekking in the mountains just as much as relaxing on the beach and, one day, plans to retire in Goa.

Education

Laura has a bachelor's degree in international business and management from Drake University. She also speaks conversational Mandarin Chinese and beginner Hindi.

Islands Editorial Policies

Islands content is created by a team of veteran writers and editors passionate about travel. Outside experts with deep field knowledge sometimes inform our work with additional context and perspectives by way of exclusive commentary. Our goal is to offer readers well-rounded and diverse articles that inform, entertain, and inspire.

Our editors consistently review and update articles to ensure they're providing current, relevant, and useful information. Complete information on our editorial process is available here.

Stories By Laura Zbinden