Behind Les Journeys

I travel to eat.

But food isn't a box I check on a trip. It’s usually the reason for the trip. I’ve planned entire trips around a single restaurant reservation. I’ve gone back to a city years later because I couldn’t stop thinking about one dish. When I’m traveling, I plan the day’s activities around what restaurant I’m going to visit.

I’m Leslie, and food is how I understand a place — through tasting menus and Michelin stars, yes, but also through the local coffee shop I stumble into, the mid-afternoon bar I sit in and talk with the bartender, or the neighborhood spot I bookmarked six months ago after a Reddit deep dive.

But food isn’t the only thing I do — the Louvre, Fushimi Inari, Xochimilco, the iconic sites are iconic for a reason. But I do it on my own terms: private tours, small groups, and expert guides. I don’t like tour buses, headsets, or feeling like I’m on a conveyor belt with thirty other people. I like to move slowly and feel like I’m learning about where I’m visiting, but there’s always something to look forward to: a food tour, a museum visit with a local historian, a market or a cooking class that gives me a reason to talk to someone who actually lives there.

I’ve spent years traveling solo, which means I've gotten good at being curious and talking to people — waitstaff, bartenders, taxi drivers, the guide who’s spent their whole life in the place they’re showing me and has opinions about everything. That curiosity translates whether you're traveling solo, as a couple, with family, or in a group. What stays consistent is my approach: the right restaurant over the viral one, boutique and luxury properties, and every detail handled so you can just show up.

I’ve eaten my way through Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Italy, Spain, and beyond — always eating, always curious, already planning the next trip around somewhere I haven’t eaten yet.