Budget Travel *New* Look
You are amazing. Do you know this? If not, here's a huge pat on the back from me. I put out my cry for help the other day in regards to my upcoming vacation (leaving tomorrow!), and you replied with fantastic tips, links, even the owner of the Headquarters Gallery & Boutique in Montreal wrote in offering to be my tour guide. I mean, hello? And human kindness is hard to find? Whatever! Then reader Nicole commented about the current issue of Budget Travel featuring a story, My Montreal Is Better Than Yours.
Not realizing the issue was online, I ran out to perform pre-vacation errands (toothpaste, travel size shampoo, maps) and hit the local Barnes & Noble for a copy. I haven't read Budget Travel in years. I can't recall if I even ever read it. For some reason, when I thought of Budget Travel magazine, visions of articles featuring the top 10 hookah lounges in Amsterdam and the best hostels in Europe (not already featured in a teen horror flick) danced in my head. Was I wrong.
I couldn't put my finger on why, but this issue looked different to me perched on the newsstand than when I'd passed it by before - I felt compelled to grab it this time, and to read it, which I did from cover to cover. Why hadn't I given it a chance before? As I scanned the editor's page the answer was revealed: It was JUST given a major makeover. No wonder! It looks prettier. A little like Cookie magazine (layout and design) mixed with Travel + Leisure (I'm a huge T+L fan), I loved the font, the format, the imagery, everything felt very fresh, hip, and young. But not too young. I didn't get the impression that BT was only geared towards the college crowd, but us older girls can be proud of our quest for a good travel bargain, too. Above all, no peddling of hostels as a hip alternative to hotels and a very informative issue all around. There was even an article about hugging pandas in China. Hugging! Pandas! That was all it took for me to fill out the subscription card.
And Nicole, thanks for the tip because I found the best blog in this issue authored by two Montreal-based bloggers, Endless Banquet. I can't wait to get up north now and check out all these great places! And everyone else, go read Budget Travel!
(some images from budget travel and the endless banquet)