Introducing Volume 34: Revival

Introducing Volume 34: Revival

As we venture into the world once again, our new print issue is a global celebration of all things travel in 2021 and beyond. In the pages of Vol. 34: Revival, we’ll be wayfaring more thoughtfully than ever before via transformative journeys in Albania, going off-grid in Finland’s untamed wilderness and meeting the socialist Scottish community offering solace and sanctuary in the Stirlingshire hills.



Diving
into cool, salty water. Stopping the car to look at a
view. Moonlit dancing with beautiful strangers. A bracing walk that
makes your cheeks sting. The stench of a local fish market. Getting
caught in a downpour that smells the way only tropical rain does.
Wearing no shoes for a week. A scalding drink clasped in icy
fingers. Barbecue smoke on the evening air. Kaleidoscopic fruits
haggled from a roadside shack. A park bench in a different city.
Playing cards on a balcony late into the night. Lemon Fanta and
too-salty crisps. Fluttering linen. Getting genuinely lost.
Anticipation. Anonymity. Freedom. The unknown. Coming home
again.

The ways in which we revive ourselves are so often intertwined
with travel in some form. Above are a few of the things that make
us feel alive and many of them have been absent, as they have been
for you. When we chose the theme for this issue, we weren’t quite
sure how much, if at all, the world would be on the road again. As
the last of summer fades, we wonder what stage we’re all at in our
quest for revival, whether you’ve
ventured overseas or are eagerly awaiting your first foray.



In many respects, the following pages feel like some of our most
wholesome to date. While we’ve never been ones to stampede across
sand and snow with a devil-may-care attitude, now more than ever
you’ll find a gentleness in the stories. We’ve explored hard but
trodden softly. We’ve reconnected both with loved ones and nature,
discovering a renewed sense of childlike wonder for our
surroundings, and each other.

As the world stirs, we’ve been dipping our toes into seas far
and wide, seeking snapshots of reawakening in corners both familiar
and offbeat. We’re taking you from the mountains and valleys of
deepest rural Albania to the perch-filled streams and berry-strewn
forests of the Finnish Lakeland. We’ll spend time with a
self-sufficient hutting community near Glasgow; seek out young
bodybuilders challenging conservatism in India; meet lighthouse
keepers in the Scilly Isles. Together we’ll dance through Accra
before getting a dose of white-sand escapism in Nevis. Finally,
we’ll stride beyond the headlines in China, where a “forgotten”
city is as ethereal as it is enchanting.



Of course, this is just the beginning. As you set off exploring
once again, we take our job as your source of inspiration more
seriously than ever. We want to help you discover what matters now.
We’ve brought you more content, more editor-approved
recommendations and have launched a new column, The Muse, in which
we spotlight our favourite young artists. We’ll be making more
exciting changes in the coming months, so keep your eyes
peeled.

As we prepare to navigate travel’s comeback, we hope this issue
is a tonic. In the face of adversity, beauty is often found in the
rawness, courage, grit and determination that pave the way for new
beginnings and growth. What better time to capture the world than
in this vulnerable, brave period of renewal?