Afar Magazine: a travel magazine for the rest of us

Ever wonder why travel magazines seem to think that those seeking infinity pools and expensive restaurants in Tuscany are the only travelers who buy magazines (national Geographic Traveler being a sometime exception)? Luxury hotels with infinite pools and spas aren’t exactly of interest to the average vagabond (arguably a rather large market) looking to spend less and get off the beaten path.

I don’t have an answer to the question of why the travel magazine industry is the way it is, but I have a possible alternative: the recently launched Afar magazine which promises to focus on independent and sustainable travel.

I first read about Afar a while back in the SFGate, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I actually managed to get my hands on the first issue. I’m happy to say that Afar does indeed buck the infinity pool trend, and live up to its promise of articles geared toward the independent traveler — I particularly liked Tim Cahill’s essay about the kindness of strangers he has met on the road.

The big downside for me is that Afar’s magazine content is, thus far, only available in print. At $20 for a year’s subscription it’s not particularly expensive, but for those on the road, which, presumably a fair portion of the magazine’s audience is, the lack of website is disappointing. Fortunately Afar is planning to launch a website in 2010, though so far no word on whether it will reprint content from the magazine or be a separate experience.

On the plus side Afar has a great blog you can follow to get a taste of what the magazine is like. The blog has a much broader range of content, but s similar spirit.

Also interesting are AFAR Media’s (the parent company of the magazine) plans to launch a book series. The website says that the “Experiential Traveler book series … will be organized around various themes of experiential travel, including cultural travel, educational travel, volunteerism, eco-tourism, and geo-tourism.”

It’s no secret that the magazine industry is on the verge of imploding, but by the looks of things Afar didn’t get that memo and perhaps, by focusing on more independent, realistic ways to travel it will be able to avoid the pitfalls of the rest of the industry.

If you’d like to check it out I found my copy at an independent newsstand (yes those still exist), but if it’s not available near you, you can always order a free trial copy online.