Just last year, we all marveled Halle Bailey as she portrayed Disney’s first Black mermaid in the live-action The Little Mermaid. In the film, we saw her desire to become “part of that world,” but what many didn’t know is that the EBONY May 2023 cover star has always had a fondness for world travel and taking much-needed vacations as often as she can.
Though she wears many hats—actress, singer, sister and now mother—that doesn’t stop the 24-year-old from jet-setting to tropical destinations with friends and family to escape the hustle and bustle of stardom for a few days.
“I love traveling. Work takes me everywhere around the world, and I love just taking vacations,” Bailey shared with EBONY.
That’s why it only made perfect sense for her to team up with Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card from Chase for its Bold Chat Court contest to award a total of 5 million Bonvoy points to 10 travelers (500,000 points each) who want to book their next dream vacation.
“This will finally help get those group trips out of those group chats. This aligns with my life right now because I’m all about self-care, traveling and seeing the world with my family. So, I’m very excited about this.”
We had a chance to delve further into the young star’s globetrotting adventures, how she navigates travel as a mom to a toddler and how travel inspires her as an artist and creative person.
EBONY: Travel is very important to you, as we’ve seen from your social media. What are your favorite destinations to visit right now? And what’s on your bucket list as far as places to see in the future?
Halle Bailey: I have so many favorite destinations that I’ve traveled to. My top ones would be St. Lucia, of course, and the Maldives. It’s one of my favorite places; it’s like a dream and doesn’t feel real. I definitely want to get back there because I haven’t been in about four years.
As for what’s on my bucket list, there are so many places. I really want to go to Ghana and I want to go to Bali. I hear great things about both. I also want to go to Turks and Caicos. Man, the list can go on and on.
Now that you have your son, Halo, how has travel changed for you, and how do you navigate it with a toddler?
It’s honestly been way more fun now, traveling with Halo. Not only do I get to discover this new place, but I also get to see him see all these things for the first time. It’s the most humbling, beautiful thing in the world and it makes me just want to travel more and go everywhere.
I feel like I’ve finally gotten the process down pat as far as packing with him now, too. You just have to be super organized. I make checklists; it’s my new favorite thing. I check off when I know each thing is in the bag, so I know it’s there and not going anywhere.
Who do you typically call to travel with you? Who is your dedicated travel tribe?
I think it would be my siblings. They are so fun to travel with. I make sure I go with people who really know me. That way, if we’re getting lit and having fun, I can still be carefree and not worry about how I look or how I’m acting. It’s so much fun to go with the people who you know have your back and love you forever. So yeah, my tribe is definitely my family.
What is your vacation style? Are you more go-with-the-flow or very much into an itinerary and keeping up with a schedule?
It’s funny because I feel like it’s changed a lot. I used to be very much go-with-the-flow. But now that I’m a mom, I think it’s okay at 2 o’clock we go here, and then we’re going to do this. It’s a lot of things that I’m learning and evolving into.
Do destinations ultimately spark those creative juices for you? How does travel impact your songwriting?
Traveling helps me so much with creative inspiration, especially when I’m stuck in a rut where I feel like I’m not making anything new or I’m getting used to the same environment. I’m like, okay, I need to get away and see something new. Even recently, I went to Malibu for a staycation. I took my guitar and wrote songs. It was so nice to see something new and be right on the water to give myself added inspiration to write.
