I did not even know that it existed. Due to certain personal prejudice against The Outlook (I am The Week man), I never really bothered to check out the other publications from the house. I never liked the pretentious nature of The Outlook. But when I planned a short vacation and scanned the Net, I came across the web version of the magazine. It was here that I came to know that there existed an Indian monthly magazine in print after all, that catered entirely to travel. Too bad, The Outlook published it. Many days later, when I was scanning through a travel fair in Bangalore, in search of travel bodies dedicated to the Northeast, I came across the Outlook Traveller stall. There I found this issue with a cover story on the Northeast. Prejudice be damned, I thought, this issue is carrying what I am looking for. I bought a copy. Today, I am happy to subscribe it along with The Week.
For a traveller or a couch potato alike, this magazine has it all. A feature rich collection of travel stories written by avid travellers who are not on the rolls of Outlook, but who do it for the sake of their wandering spirit. Real, adventurous kind who go the whole nine yards to just do it. Consider the latest issue, it had a story matched by terrific pictures of a lady’s trek over the iced Zanskar river in the height of winter when the river is one big crust of hard-plate ice on the top with pitfalls anywhere, where the ice is not as strong as it seems. Reading that story and checking out those fabulous pictures is a treat. Make you feel you are doing the trip yourself.
OK, Zanskar may be a bit too much for an average budget-traveller. You still have a graphic account on hitherto unknown or barely known places like Gokarna, Mawsynrm, Anathapura or Bidar, matched by equally striking pics. As Mitsi put it in her review, this is one magazine to check out obscure places to visit. I never really thought Sanchi would be trip worth doing until I read a solemn review on the place weighed with the concern over depleting values in India over heritage. Must do such trips before Sanchi, Hampi or even the Taj are vandalized in the name of crass commercialism. Outlook may pretend, but this magazine rightfully airs the concerns over preserving heritage over commercialism.
There is Marco Polo, a help column really; who would answer all your queries relating to travel. There are the lighter stuff, covering railways, roads, short trips, experiences, Mario Miranda’s voluptuous ladies in the cartoon (travel related) section and a lot of other stuff. There are the classified ad pages where resorts and vacation operators advertise. This magazine holds food in a special light. People actually tell you stories about visiting places just to eat the great food local to them. You can check out why a Kashmiri wazawan is actually a challenge to even the most carnivore of the human race. You can delight yourself with the actual food that the Chinese eat in their own land (as opposed to the slew of Chinees Noodels kiosks all over Bangalore). Then there is the international section, exotic, though often, esoteric. It charges the spirit in us with great tales of travel like the 600-mile walk to the town of Galicia (the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage) to visit the Santiago de Compostela church in Spain from the French borders. It teases us, the poor budget back-packers, with the exotica of the resort islands of Maldives that charge $10, 000 per pax!
This is a magazine worth the money it comes for (Rs. 50 per monthly issue). At Rs 600 (cheaper were it subscribed, with some gifts you could really use), you can enjoy the world on your lap. This magazine does not tell you where, when, how, why you should travel. It just recounts travel experiences which invariably answer all those where, when, why and how questions. This magazine does it in style and substance, giving you the inspiration to pack your bags and hit the trail. It educates you instead of helping you to plan and decide. I did it, so you can. That is what it says, in short. It is difficult to rate this magazine in terms of substance, since it has no Indian equivalent dedicated exclusively to travel, as far as I know. But for the past 4 months, this I one mail-parcel, I eagerly await.