August of 2019 will mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of AFAR. (This probably won’t be the last time you hear me brag about this.) We’ve accomplished a lot in that time, but one of the things of which I’m most proud—and humbled by—is the bright, talented, well-traveled audience that we have attracted.
We have learned that an AFAR reader is not an “average” traveler by any stretch of the imagination. You are leaders, and you lead with your values. You care about the world. You are always looking to improve and enrich your life. And you love to explore and celebrate the world’s distinctiveness, whether it is in your own backyard, or on the other side of the planet. You follow your passions, and you have lots of them: great food and drink, music, art and other cultural pursuits, nature, and interacting with locals.
So I’m really pleased to highlight two parts of this, our annual “Where to Go” issue, that feature you, our readers. The first is our Travelers’ Choice Awards. We received more than 100,000 votes for your top destinations around the world for all kinds of trips. On some of the picks, I’m right there with you: Best Road Trip? (Spoiler alert!) California’s Highway 1, of course. Others surprised me: I have got to go check out skiing in Banff! Thank you so much for sharing your favorites with us. We are pleased and proud to share your picks with the world.
If the Travelers’ Choice Awards show your expertise, our AFAR Travel Photography Awards show your talent and creativity. We received more than 20,000 entries for the contest, which was brought to you in partnership with LensCulture and United Airlines. We’ll spotlight the winners in each of our 2019 issues, and you can see all of the winners online. We want these to become the top awards in travel photography, and this year got us off to a great start.
Thank you for all of your support of AFAR over these past 10 years. We look forward to engaging your talents, passions, and insights more in the next 10!
>>Next: Travelers’ Choice Awards: The Top Destinations for 2019
