Image Source: Getty Images / Bryan Bedder / American Express
From introducing “Rap Sh*t” immediately after wrapping “Insecure” to starring in the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, Issa Rae has had quite the busy year. But the actor-producer made sure to carve out vacation time in between to toast to her successes and her recent nuptials.
Rae reveals to POPSUGAR that she took this past January off for a “part honeymoon, part solo travel” trip, describing the getaway as her favorite of all time. To celebrate American Express Travel unveiling its 2023 trending destinations list, the Hoorae Media founder curated a night inspired by Paris — one of the recognized cities and a destination that was part of her honeymoon — at which Rae sat down with us for a chat.
“It was just so fulfilling.”
“It was the first break I’ve had in a long time,” she shares, adding that Mauritius, Arizona, Mexico, and Paris were a part of her travels. “It was just so fulfilling . . . it was kind of one of those, ‘close your eyes and point on a map’ type of trips. I just hadn’t had a chance to do it in a long time, so I was just like, ‘Where do I want to go that I haven’t been able to go, that’s across the world?'” France in particular is a special place for the actor, partly because her lactose intolerance magically disappears when she’s there. “It’s the only place where I can eat cheese and not have issues,” she says. “It’s such a blessing. Rae also exchanged vows with her husband, businessman Louis Dame, in an intimate ceremony in the south of France in July 2021.
For her next dream destination, Rae is eyeing “any island,” namely Fiji or the Maldives. “The goal for me with my travel is wherever I can relax with a drink in hand, by the water,” she says. “I think the most soothing place on earth is just by the water.” But whether it’s a relaxing vacation or work trip, she always has to have headphones, her journal (she tries to free-write everyday), and a good travel sneaker, preferably from Allbirds. “I love hiking and I love, love, love, love walking,” she adds.
Though the actor’s upcoming travels, which include island-hopping in Barbados for Thanksgiving and a family trip to Senegal over the holidays, require some action and adventure, Rae admits that on a girls’ trip, she’s “the friend that would literally be content if we stayed at the hotel and drank all day.” “I am not the planner friend. We have two of those in my friend group that will take the reins and be like, ‘We’re going here, here, and here.’ And I’ll be the friend like, ‘Y’all could go, or fine, I’ll come,'” she shares, though she’s “definitely got into some girls’ trip fights” that are straight out of “Insecure.”