Leah Schwartz - Islands

Location

Florida, U.S.A.

School

University of Maryland

Expertise

Tropical Vacations, Asia & The South Pacific, Mexico & The Caribbean

In 2003, Leah scaled the heights of the 130-foot Xunantunich pyramid, El Castillo, in Belize's Cayo District, for first-hand insight into writing about these archeological ruins for tourists exploring the region.
She has written about Orlando's tourism history and the influence of its evolution on the timeshare market for Vacation Industry Review, which was distributed at a recent ARDA timeshare conference.
In a National Geographic‒worthy encounter, she once used a mano to make corn tortillas alongside a Mexican Riviera Mayan family and detailed the experience in a Destination Riviera Maya visitor guide.

Experience

Based in South Florida, Leah has worked in the travel industry as a professional editor and writer for more than two decades. She served as full-time editorial director of the creative services department at Interval International, a global vacation exchange company and a subsidiary of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation. Leah wrote destination features and travel information for departments of the timeshare company's b2c member magazine, Interval World, as well as its b2b magazine, Vacation Industry Review (VIR), read by developers and hospitality leaders in the shared ownership industry. In addition, she worked extensively on special projects such as resort directories and multi-market collaterals showcasing travel offers and member benefits. She also worked as editor for Ulrich Communications, helping produce hotel-distributed books for the official tourist boards of Caribbean countries, including Belize, Dominica, Mexico (Riviera Maya), and Jamaica. She joined Static Media in 2025, having over the years successfully coupled a globetrotting hobby and wanderlust into a Mark Twain‒attributed specialty, "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you'll never have to work a day in your life." She is currently a freelance reporter for Islands' news team.

Education

Leah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

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.