Kaleidoscopic Wandering » Travel Writing

Reading: AFAR Magazine

JoAnna — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:00:53 +0000

Trisha Miller from Travel Writers Exchange recently wrote about the power of print and how, as travel writers, we should support the magazines we want to write for. While I agree with her completely, I can guarantee that I would be reading AFAR whether I was a travel writer or not.

When all other magazines were downsizing staff, shrinking budgets and closing doors, the founders of AFAR, Greg Sullivan and Joe Diaz, began publishing what is arguably one of the most genuine, readable magazines on the market today. It was an idea that went against all logic, but so does their magazine, which is why it’s such a great discovery.

AFAR Media sums up its mission succinctly:

Travel is changing. The world has grown smaller, more accessible, yet homogenized and less exotic. Today’s travelers want to get beyond the superficial, the mass-produced, the mass-consumed, and the mass-experienced. They look for the authentic in people, places, and things.

Nothing in AFAR’s pages is reminiscent of the tropical paradise, untapped gems-esque marketing copy found in mainstream travel magazines of yore. Rather, the magazine speaks to travelers who yearn for experiential travel. It provides readers with the tools they need not necessarily to escape the most popular sites, cities and countries around the globe, but to find a way to embrace these places on a more personal level.

Within every issue, readers find a list of upcoming events and festivals across the globe; profiles of people doing interesting and worldly things; information about authentic music, food and souvenirs; and highlights of unusual places to stay. Feature stories don’t mince words but rather tell it like it is. For example, a story in the December/January 2010 issue discussed the financial problems of Seychelles and how this affects both the islanders and travelers to the country. The same issue also contains a first-person narrative from a man who learns the hard way what happens when he tries to help a good friend he met on his travels by giving him money.

There are three parts of the magazine I am particularly fond of. First, I absolutely love the section called “Mix,” which is a gallery of photographs taken around the world that are all similarly themed. Houses, school lunches, uniforms … every country has them, but they all look different.

I also enjoy the section called “Local View,” which gives a local resident the opportunity to share his or her favorite things about living in that particular city. Sometimes this person emphasizes places to go and things to do, but more often than not, it’s a snapshot of everyday life that helps define the personality of a place.

Finally, I think the section called “Spin the Globe” is fascinating. In it, AFAR spins a globe and randomly selects a place to send a writer. That writer then creates a story based on his or her experience.

In truth, every issue of AFAR is packed, page by page, with not only helpful information but truly interesting insights and ideas that can’t be curated from the folds of a glossy brochure. If you are at all interested in taking your travel experiences to the next level, I highly recommend this magazine.

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Kaleidoscopic Wandering Turns One Year Old!

JoAnna — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:00:50 +0000

My dad and me at Death Valley in May 2009. I blame him for my love of travel.

It’s hard to believe that only one year ago I called my dad on my way to work and asked him a question that has changed the course of my life. The question was this: Should I apply for the Digital Vagabonding Roads Scholarship?

Applying for the scholarship meant that, if I won, I would have to quit my full-time job to road trip for the whole summer, writing and photographing my journey as I went. The idea of applying for a scholarship that would force me to leave the confining, restricting and suffocating but comforting full-time job in a full-time crappy economy was a scary one.

My dad, who worked in Corporate America for the same company up until the day he was forced to retire, said one word in response to my question: Yes.

And so I applied.

I received a call from Pat the Digital Vagabond a few weeks later telling me I had been named an honorary Digital Vagabond Roads Scholar. I would not receive the full scholarship, which was sponsored by both Pat and Matador Network. Rather, I would receive a partial stipend and a ticket to Burning Man at the end of the summer.

It was a good middle ground for me. I had been hoping to escape the cubicle sooner than later, so I dropped my hours at work down to part time, began planning long weekends with my scholarship money and created Kaleidoscopic Wandering to record my travels. By the time I left Burning Man at the end of the summer, I had made the decision to try my hand at full-time freelance writing. So far, I’m doing okay, and Kaleidoscopic Wandering has stuck by me the whole way.

In celebration of my travel blog’s one-year anniversary, I wanted to look back on where I’ve gone over the course of the year, and share with you my travel plans for the coming year.

Travels June 2009-May 2010:

My Digital Vagabonding Roads Scholarship took me to:

A little town called Rosamond in California, home to an awesome wild cat research center
Sequoia National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Great Basin National Park

Hydrating at the top of Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park.

Then I ventured out to Burning Man on my own, where I met some very cool people from Matador Network.

Shortly thereafter I got my first press trip to Honduras, where I swam with dolphins, went zip lining, learned about agritourism and learned the very important lesson of carrying two cameras when I travel. In early December, I went on my second press trip, this time to Huatulco, Mexico, where I ate amazing food and swung on a rope swing above a waterfall.

Over the holiday season, we traveled to the Seattle area. We took Seattle’s underground tour and visited Lake Quinault.

Within a week of returning home, I packed my bags for the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers’ Association conference at sea. While aboard the ship, I received my first spa treatment and learned a thing or two about cruising. Our boat stopped at Turks and Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas (though my sister and I spent the day hiking on St. John) and the Bahamas.

In late March, we took the train from Los Angeles to New Orleans, where I fell in love with the city’s cemeteries.

Within days of being home, I was packed up again for a girls weekend in Joshua Tree National Park (again with other awesome folk from Matador). Last weekend, my husband and I rounded out the amazing year with one more final (itty bitty) road trip, this time through Mojave National Preserve.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year, and I have my dad to thank for giving me a confident YES when I asked him that question 12 months ago. I knew then that I should pursue my dreams, but hearing it from someone who took me on my very first plane ride helped me take that final leap, which led me to create Kaleidoscopic Wandering so that I could share my travels with you.

Travels June 2010-May 2011

Munching on crickets in Huatulco, Mexico.

The coming year is a little hazy, but there are a few trips in the works. At the end of June, I’m going to New York City for the first time for Travel Blog Exchange, where I’ll finally get to rub elbows with many of the friends I’ve made over the past year online.

We’re definitely taking a road trip through Arizona and another one to Canyonlands National Park. We’ll spend a few days in San Diego, and then I’m going to Vietnam for two weeks on my own (thank you Wanderlust and Lipstick). There’s a pretty snazzy trip I hope to take in September but don’t want to jinx my chances, so suffice to say it involves lots of wine. Over the holiday season, we’ll probably hook up with my sister, her husband and my parents for a rental home getaway (we’re thinking Sedona).

And in 2011, my husband and I both turn 30. We decided long ago that we could both choose a trip to celebrate the milestone. It’s hard to say now where we’ll end up … we’ve tossed around Ireland, Iceland, New Zealand, Morocco, Costa Rica. Really, though, the year is young. I’ll just let the open road take me wherever it winds.

I’d like to hear from you … Where have you been the past year and where are you going in the coming one? And what would you like to see from Kaleidoscopic Wandering during the next year?

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Best of Kaleidoscopic Wandering 2009

JoAnna — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:00:42 +0000

I started Kaleidoscopic Wandering in June of this year as a way to record my journey as a Digital Vagabonding Roads Scholar. Who knew that so much could happen in seven short months?

Since June, Kaleidoscopic Wandering has blossomed to nearly 70 posts with more than 350 comments. Nearly 90 people follow this blog via RSS, 148 of you are fans of its Facebook page and almost 1,500 followers are kept updated on this blog’s contents via Twitter.

To round out the year, I wanted to share the most popular posts on Kaleidoscopic Wandering (just in case you missed them the first time around):

There are some posts that have flown under the radar that I particularly enjoyed as well. For further reading pleasure, here are some of my other favorite posts from 2009:

Thank you to everyone who has supported Kaleidoscopic Wandering. Stay tuned … I’m sure 2010 will be another incredible, colorful year!

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