What’s your next adventure going to be? Give yourself a heavy dose of inspiration with a read of one of my ten favourite outdoors and travel magazines, in no particular order. I do like the smell of print in the morning.
1. SIDETRACKED.
A new travel journal with sexy matte pages, photos you’ll want to inhale and the most beautiful cover I’ve seen in a long time. The Sidetracked kids like to be far from the madding crowd – from surfing in Alaska and cycling over the Andes to walks through Afghanistan, this is adventure on a brave and beautiful scale. Go get a copy right now.
2. ERNEST JOURNAL
A publication ‘created for folk who love to build fires, embark on road trips, camp under a canopy of stars and run full pelt into the sea’? Yes please. Super talented editor Jo Keeling’s labour of love is a quarterly print journal, monthly iPad magazine and blog, stuffed with hilarity, curios and wonderful stories. Expect covetable raincoats and scary sea monsters.
3. SURF GIRL
It’s a bit on the teen girl side of the magazine spectrum but nonetheless, Surf Girl is worth a browse for the plethora of inspiring ladies within its pages who are ripping it up big time and making careers out of their passion for the sea. The lush illustrations, sunsoaked photography and pastel wetsuits will make your inner hippy happy.
4. BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE
I’m rather biased because it’s my day job but seriously, BBC Countryfile Magazine should be your new favourite thing. Each issue is stuffed with rural events, how-to guides, amazing days out, country walks, beautiful photography and Matt Baker cuddling sheepdogs. It’s basically Blue Peter for grownups.
5. LONELY PLANET TRAVELLER
I cut my interning teeth at Lonely Planet Traveller. which comes from the same media stable as Countryfile Magazine but with serious added travel cred. The sheer scope of incredible destinations, stories and insider info in each issue will make you itch to go collect some passport stamps, and there are inspiring city breaks and UK escapes for the months when you’re staying closer to home.
6. WANDERLUST
With a younger, more gap-year vibe than Lonely Planet Traveller, Wanderlust is all about the journey, maaan. If you’re planning on seeing the world on a shoestring with a rucksack on your back, they’ll show you the way. They like getting off the beaten track on the home front, too – I recently interviewed their inspiring editor Phoebe Smith on her love of wild camping in Britain.
7. COOLER
Cooler Magazine was like Surf Girl’s rad big sister, each quarterly edition stuffed with talented (and really hot) women doing amazing things on boards, usually wearing awesome skater threads. Sadly it has just ceased to be a print magazine, but I’m keeping it on my love list anyway (and jealously guarding my old copies). It’s still online, so my lady crushes can live on digitally.
8. COUNTRY WALKING
You know that perfect walk you took that one time, through hills and dales on a crisp autumnal day, armed with stick and a nice dog and with a cosy pub at the end of it? Country Walking is where rambles like that live. A no-nonsense, friendly guide to treks and tramps all over the UK and beyond, this is what Sunday afternoons were made for. Watch out for my friend Rachel Broomhead’s fantastic contributions, she’s cool.
9. TRAIL
If Country Walking lives down in the valley, Trail is up the mountain, bagging munros, risking frostbite and being all tough. This hillwalking bible loves new kit, scrambling and achieving things.
10. THE GREAT OUTDOORS
The granddaddy of British outdoors mags, TGO is the place to go for gear reviews and old fashioned outdoor fun. Aimed at hillwalkers, backpackers, weekend warriors and anyone who feels a bit nostalgic about their Duke of Edinburgh days.
