Read & Run Tours

04/22/2026

✨10 ways nature quietly changes your life ✨

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

Nature gives us so much. From increasing moods to enhance cognitive function, it brings us so much calm, wonder, and joy.

And you don’t have to scale mountains to reap the benefits—even a few minutes of day in a quiet park or having a house plant can make a difference.

Here are just a few of the benefits of nature, according to author .

Interested in learning more with Megy about nature and other science-backed ways to bring more calm to your life?

If you’re in Chicago, join Read & Run Tours and Megy on ✨Tuesday, May 5✨ at in River North for an experiential evening testing out three of the scientifically-backed ways you can bring more calm to your life—and build community along the way.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets. 🎟️

04/17/2026

Meet the workshop facilitator: Bonnie Tawse ✨

Bonnie Tawse (she/her) is a writer, urban space activator, nature educator, and community engagement specialist. She’s the author of The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook and Berries for Bloomingdale: The Serviceberry Cookbook.

Bonnie will be facilitating the nature walk workshop at on Tuesday, May 5 as part of the event More Calm, Less Stress: An Experiential Evening with Author Megy Karydes.

At this interactive event, you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets.

04/17/2026

Meet the workshop facilitator: Bonnie Tawse 🌳✨

Bonnie Tawse (she/her) is a writer, urban space activator, nature educator, and community engagement specialist. She’s the author of The Belt Cookie Table Cookbook and Berries for Bloomingdale: The Serviceberry Cookbook.

Bonnie will be facilitating the nature walk workshop at on Tuesday, May 5 as part of the event More Calm, Less Stress: An Experiential Evening with Author Megy Karydes.

At this interactive event, you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets.

04/16/2026

Meet the workshop facilitator: Anthony Scott of Chicago Gents Who Stroll 🚶🏽✨

Anthony Scott (he/him) is a marketing professional and the founder of Chicago Gents Who Stroll, a men’s social group that has hosted 40+ events in partnership with venues, social platforms, and local organizers.

Anthony will be facilitating the nature walk workshop at on Tuesday, May 5 as part of the event More Calm, Less Stress: An Experiential Evening with Author Megy Karydes.

At this interactive event, you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets.

04/15/2026

A 5K, but make it Routes Built by Stories™️

📣 Calling all Chicagoland movers! Join Dare2tri and Read & Run Tours on ✨Sunday, May 17✨ for a one-of-a-kind 5K experience that brings movement and storytelling together along Chicago’s lakefront.

As you run or walk, you’ll stop along the route to hear powerful, funny, and honest stories from Dare2tri athletes and volunteers, shared in the very places they happened.

From race-day highs to unexpected challenges, these are the moments that shape what it means to be an athlete.

What to Expect
👟 A guided 3.5-mile run or 1.2-mile walk/run option
🎤 Live storytelling stops throughout the course
☀️ A welcoming, community-focused pace (~12:00/mile)
👩🏽‍🦽‍➡️ A fully accessible route (flat, mostly paved, with some crushed gravel)
👟 An intro to guiding a runner who is blind or visually impaired

However you move—running, walking, or rolling—you’re invited.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to save your spot.

04/14/2026

Meet the workshop facilitator: Vanessa Flowers of Flower Girls Meet 💐✨

Vanessa Flowers (she/her) is a creative entrepreneur and community builder passionate about creating spaces where women can slow down, connect, and prioritize their well-being. She is the founder of Flower Girls Meet, a Chicago-based community that brings women together for intimate gatherings and conversations around mental health, creativity, work, and personal growth.

Vanessa will be facilitating the floral therapy workshop at on Tuesday, May 5 as part of the event More Calm, Less Stress: An Experiential Evening with Author Megy Karydes.

At this interactive event, you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets.

04/13/2026

Meet the workshop facilitator: Regin Igloria of North Branch Projects 📖✨

Regin Igloria (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator originally from Manila and now based in the Chicagoland area. His drawings, artists’ books, sculptures, and performances portray the human condition as it relates to the natural environment and inhabited spaces. In 2010, he founded North Branch Projects, an organization that builds connections through the book arts, which allows him to work with various communities to create crossover between disparate populations.

Regin will be facilitating the bookbinding workshop at on Tuesday, May 5 as part of the event More Calm, Less Stress: An Experiential Evening with Author Megy Karydes.

At this interactive event, you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops.

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to learn more and get tickets.

04/09/2026

Ever heard of Chicago Gents Who Stroll?

In the age of our loneliness epidemic, provides accessible, low stress socializing opportunities for men in Chicago.

The host meetups like biweekly walks, social rock climbing days, and cross-group collaborations—acitvities with low barriers to entry, and general enough men can bond over a shared interest in walking and being outside.

Part of the reason why walking is so great for our mental health, according to Megy Karydes in her book 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress, is that our brains process things differently while we’re walking.

Beside that, there are about a million other benefits of walking, including producing endorphins that improve our mood (turns out, running isn’t the only activity that gets you there!) and activating our sense of smell, which helps us stay present and connected to our surroundings.

Ready to boost your mental health and reduce stress?

👉 Learn more about founder Anthony Scott and Chicago Gents Who Stroll at event with Megy Karydes, author of 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress, at in River North, Chicago on ✨Tuesday, May 5.✨

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio or visit readandruntours.com for tickets!

04/06/2026

📣 Hey, Chicago!

This upcoming Mental Health Awareness Month, spend an evening discovering simple, science-backed ways to feel calmer in everyday life with author Megy Karydes, author of 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress.

Inspired by her time in nature, Megy realized there are far more ways to quiet a racing mind than yoga and meditation—and many can be easily woven into our daily routines.

At this interactive event at on ✨Tuesday, May 5✨ you’ll meet Megy and experience several of the science-backed practices featured in her book through hands-on mini workshops, including:

💐 Floral therapy with Vanessa Flowers of Flowers Girls Meet
📚 Bookbinding with Regin Igloria of North Branch Projects
🌳 Walking + nature therapy with Anthony Scott of Chicago Gents Who Stroll and nature educator Bonnie Tawse

Ease into the warmer months with restorative activities and stress-relieving ideas you may have never considered.

Your ticket includes:

🔨Three workshops
💐 Mini-bouquet
🥪 Light dinner
🛍️ Goodie bag
📚 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress by Megy Karydes from

Tap the ‘Events’ link in bio to save your spot.

04/03/2026

04/01/2026

Welcome to April, readers & runners! 💐

Read & Run Tours programs and independent organizers with are always cooking up meaningful events with book-themed guided routes where stories take place—here’s where you can catch them this month!

📅 April 1, April 11, April 25
📍Chicago
Off-season community events—see graphic for details!
Sign up via

📅 Monday, April 13
📍D.C.
Read & Run on the Road: Running Tour of 22 Walks in Washington, DC That You Must Not Miss with Co-Author Andrea Seiger
Host:

📅 Saturday, April 25
📍Seattle
Read & Run on the Road: Book Club Run of We Love to Run with author .reents
Host:

Tap the ‘Events’ link in our bio for info and tickets!

03/27/2026

CALLING ALL DC CHERRY BLOSSOM LOVERS! 🌸

We love our cherry blossom trees, but have you ever wondered how they ended up in Washington, DC?

Come out this 🌸Sunday, March 29🌸 for Read & Run on the Road organizer Chelsey Stone’s three-mile literary tour of Diana Parsell’s book about Eliza Scidmore, the 1800s globetrotting journalist whose foresight and persistence resulted in an annual scene so beautiful that 1.5 million people travel to see it every year.

SIGN UP 👉 via or tap the ‘Events’ link in bio.