November escapes -- travel magazines

Where I live, November is long, dark and ugly -- the dreariest month on the calendar. It's a perfect timeto turn up the heat, pull down the blinds, and dive into a pile of travel magazines. And whether you to dive in on the Web or on paper, there are lots to choose from.

Inflight magazines It's easy to identify travellers with the magazine habit. They've read the entire inflight magazine before the plane has been cleared for takeoff. At airports they peer into recycle bins, watching for inflight magazines from airlines they don't have tickets for. Well, we (oops -- they!) no longer have to stoop quite so low... several airlines put their inflight magazines on the Web. Sometimes its the whole magazine, sometimes just a selection, but personally I'm glad that all the wonderful travel writing to be found in these magazines has become a little less disposable.

Hemispheres (United Airlines) http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/home-... - united Hemispheres' most famous feature, "Three perfect days" in various cities, is custom made for a ten-minute mental vacation.

Sawasdee (Thai Air) http://www.thaiair.com/flying/sawasdee/b...

Sky - (Delta Airlines) http://www.delta-sky.com/

American Way - (American Airlines) http://www.aa.com/away/

More great travel writing

National Geographic Traveler http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel... This is a very browsable paper magazine, with the kinds of photographs that you would expect. The Web site doesn't contain many full-text articles but there are pictures and some intriguing links, plus some full-text articles.

Utne Reader http://www.utne.com/aTravel.tmpl In a later column I'll tell you why I like Utne Reader. It's not a travel magazine, but its occasional travel articles are part of the reason. Some of them are collected on the Web site. I especially liked the article currently available there about Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail single-handed around the world. The article really downplays the heroics and talks about Slocum as a man who sailed around the world because he was unemployed and didn't have a lot of options. (He did his circumnavigation in the late 19th century.) One of my more memorable trips was to Brier Island, in the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia, Canada, where Slocum was born.

Trips http://www.tripsmag.com/ Trips has a lot of variety -- the latest issue has articles on Mongolia, Detroit, Haiti and Ethiopia. The Web site doesn't give you access to articles, but it does give you an idea of what you'll find in the paper magazine. My only minor argument with The copyright of the article November escapes -- travel magazines in Magazines is owned by Mary Wilson. Permission to republish November escapes -- travel magazines in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.