Traverse the World's Island Destinations

Magazines that center on tourism and travel are among my favorites, and they are the type of magazine that I reach for first when I’m sitting in a doctor’s office, waiting room, or anyplace else where an assortment of magazines is readily available. One travel- related magazine that I have taken a recent interest to is Islands, a magazine that provides the reader with lots of photographs, articles, and advertisements about the islands of the world.

Features of This Magazine:

Islands Magazine includes several regular features and monthly columns about places surrounded by water. Here’s a list of some of the reading materials found in the monthly departments:

Horizons- This part of Islands is a little different and not what you might expect for a travel- related magazine. What you will find here are off- beat stories similar to what you would see in a tabloid. Some examples include things like “students build world’s largest cake”, and “the many uses of a tire iron”.

Art Beat- Books, music, and other short articles are found here, all related in some way to the island theme.

Crossroads- Subtitled “Voices and Views of Island Life”, this section concentrates on the people, culture, history, and customs that are found on the world’s many islands.

The Guide- This is not a comprehensive travel guide, like its name suggests. Rather, this monthly feature devotes two pages to one of the world’s island destinations, with a breakdown of important facts (like the average temperature, the languages spoken, the currency, etc.), nice resorts to stay at, beaches to visit, etc.

Other Monthly Features:

Along with the above, Islands has other articles and columns that are included in every issue. There’s always a greeting from the editor (James Badham), Letters to the Editor, World Map/Contributors (a map of the world showing the locations of the month’s featured island stories), What’s Next (a preview of the next issue), and Lost Shot (a favorite photo and short summary taken from the current month’s list of outtakes).

Cost to Purchase/Subscribe:

Islands Magazine carries a hefty price tag on the cover, selling for $4.95 per issue. It is published 8 times per year. During the warmer months when individual thoughts are more geared toward travel, Islands is published once per month (June through September). For the rest of the year, it is published bi- monthly.

Subscribing will save you a little money and you would be best off if you used the internet to search for the lowest price. The normal subscription rate is $24 for one year; $39 for two years; and $52 for three years. If you go on- line, you can find a better deal in many places. The best price that I could find was $15.97 for one year- less than $2.00 per issue- offered by Amazon.com, Valuemags.com, Bluedolphin.com, and many other sites.

Final Thoughts:

I love traveling to the open sea and spending vacation time on an island! There’s something about the feeling of being someplace surrounded by water. I feel like I’m protected from the rest of the world- alive and well in a place where no one can find me. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a tropical island either (although warm, sunny places are my favorites!). Many islands, even those in the northern lands, can prove to be fun places to escape from the chaos of the workaday world.

Islands Magazine is focused on islands, and each issue includes several long stories written about travel adventures around the globe. These can include visits to an important landmark, a local festival, or just a cultural trip to learn about local customs and activities. These lengthy stories are found in the middle of each issue, and they are complete with lots of great photography and factual information about each destination.

One thing to note about Islands is that it is not a magazine that centers exclusively on tropical destinations. Yes, you will find stories and articles about popular, sunny places like the Bahamas, St. Martin, Barbados, the Canary Islands, Tahiti, etc. You will also find stories and articles about places that are not known as a hangout for sun worshippers, but that are often traveled to for other reasons, like historical significance. Included here would be places like Cyprus, Crete, Corsica, Newfoundland, etc. But then, there are also articles about places that are not known for their beaches or their status as islands. This would include places like Great Britain, Ireland, and New Zealand. These destinations are surrounded by water, but we don’t usually think of them in the same sense as we do a place like, say, Aruba. We think of them as nations more so than islands. But this doesn’t matter to the editors and staff at Islands Magazine. If it’s surrounded by water, then that makes it a possibility for coverage in this publication.

About half of the pages in each issue of Islands are covered with advertisements. The front and back section of each issue, in particular, are saturated with ads. The longer stories that form the bulk of the written material in the middle of the magazine are free from advertisements. The ads, however, will probably not bother most readers because they center almost entirely on the vacation industry. You will find ads for airlines, for vacation property available to rent, for resorts, and even a classified section with private phone numbers to call for buying/renting vacation condos and other property. Since the ads are all about resorts and they often include such enticing photographs, vacation lovers will not mind them at all and many will actually enjoy them. And unlike other travel magazines that include ads for things like automobiles, cell phones, jewelry, and other upscale items of merchandise, Islands devotes its advertising space almost completely to vacation- related companies.

Of all the sections of Islands Magazine, probably my least favorite is the Horizons Department. Like I said before, this section includes weird, trivial- type tidbits about unimportant nonsense that has nothing to do with islands or vacation traveling. Do I really need to know the various uses for a garden rake? Or the nutritional value of tomatoes? What does any of this have to do with islands or traveling? I assume that the editors added this department to the magazine to add a small dose of humor to the reading material, but I think they should eliminate this section.

Each issue of Islands ranges from 100 to 150 total pages. The bi- monthly issues fall into the upper end of this range, while the monthly issues are at the lower end. The magazine is bound in a professional way (no staples) with slick paper and clear, crisp photographs of the world’s scenic islands.

If you like to travel, then pick up an issue of Islands Magazine. The enticing photography, stories of travel adventure, and advertisements for resorts and vacation property will send you into fantasy land!