About

My name is Scott Leazenby, and I live in San Diego, California. I’m a lifelong traveler with a passion for exploring the world, one destination at a time.

How It All Started

My love for travel began early, growing up in southeast Michigan. Every spring from age 8 until college, my family would make the 24-hour drive to Florida to visit my grandparents. Those road trips were the highlight of my year, as there was something magical about hitting the open road.

In college, I didn’t travel much. I was grinding through four years of hard work in downtown Detroit, staring out my apartment window during those gray, cold winters and dreaming of palm trees (Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean, anywhere warm). I also became fascinated with airlines and the airline industry during this time, which would become a lifelong passion.

The Breakthrough Moment

A conversation with a friend at the beginning of my senior year changed everything. He told me about how he’d simply hopped in his old 1960s GTO and drove south for the summer (no plans, no destination, just driving). The idea was revolutionary to me. I thought, “hell yeah, I’m going to do that someday.”

That someday came sooner than I thought. Within a month of graduating in 1996, I had a well-paying job in Dayton, Ohio. That Memorial Day weekend, I rented a hot pink Chevrolet Cavalier (apparently beggars can’t be choosers at rental car counters) and drove south on I-75 with no real plan. I made it to Sweetwater, Tennessee before stopping for the night, utterly exhausted but feeling like I’d just discovered fire. It was liberating, amazing, and unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

Life-Changing Journeys

My first major international trip came in March 1997 when I visited a friend in Barcelona. That trip was absolutely life-changing. It was first real experience outside the United States (beyond Canada), and it opened my eyes to what was out there.

A few months after that Spain trip, my company asked if I wanted to relocate to San Diego for a new satellite office. At 23 years old with nothing tying me down, I jumped at the opportunity. From there, the traveling really took off – London in late 1997, and then regular domestic and international trips over the following years.

But it was my first trip to Asia in 2002 that truly blew my mind. The energy, the culture, everything was so different from anything I’d experienced. I knew immediately that I loved Asia more than anywhere else in the world.

Documenting the Journey

After years of extensive travel (about 95% by air, with a few road trips mixed in), I wanted to document my experiences. In 2011, I started an airline review blog, sharing reviews and general travel-related trip reports. By 2019, I’d focused that site exclusively on airline reviews, but I had all this other travel content that deserved a home.

That’s how Scott Around the World was born in 2025. It’s a place to share my general travel experiences, talk about destinations, and discuss the good, the bad, and yes, the embarrassing moments (like the time I tripped down the stairs in the Sydney customs hall right after landing).

What to Expect Here

I’m not trying to be a travel guru or hit every country in the world. I’m 52 years old and have visited 35 countries and most US states. That might not sound like “expert level world traveler” material compared to the Instagram influencers who seem to visit 47 countries before breakfast, but I’m okay with that.

I’m just sharings what I know from my own personal experience (tips, tricks, and honest stories).

So welcome to Scott Around the World. A place for anyone who wants to follow along on my adventures and maybe pick up a thing or two along the way. Just watch your step on those tricky airport stairs…