The award-winning travel media brand that makes a positive impact on the world through high-quality storytelling that inspires, empowers, and enriches travelers who care

AFAR is a purpose-driven public benefit company, and our ever-growing audience consists of travelers who care: conscientious and discerning global travelers who seek out experiences that reflect their values.


Explore the most popular literary magazines of all time. These long-established publications are a staple in the literary world for writers of all genres.

Most Popular Literary Magazines of All Time

AFAR Magazine

General call

Workshop is a reported column that dives into the process of how a company, designer, or maker produces their craft. Subjects should be high-quality or outstanding in their field. Text should cover the main figures who create the product (such as owners or founders), brief history of the company, and the particulars: materials used, the range of objects offered (including best sellers or best known lines), sustainable practices employed, interesting aspects of the production process, creative inspiration, how the location or cultural history plays into the maker’s work, and how the items are used—locally or around the world. Quotes from key people should be included to add texture and expertise to the piece. By the article’s end, readers should understand why they ought to know about this producer and why their work is exceptional.<div><br></div><div>Past topics include an Indian women’s collective reviving Rajasthan textiles, hospitality industry favorite Jono Pandolfi Design’s ceramics, Mongolian cashmere, and Woolrich blankets.</div><div><br></div><div>Word count: 1,000–1,500, depending on the level of service-driven information in the piece</div>

Workshop

Connect is a personal essay that explores a writer’s deepening relationship to a place in the world. The voice-driven, first-person narrative should have a clear emotional arc that relays a takeaway the reader can understand by the essay’s end; we’ve had writers trace their family’s Holocaust-era refugee history, use their attempts to catch fish as a way to reflect on memory, and explore the uneasy overlap between the mystical and the modern world. Readers should get a clear idea of how traveling to or spending time in this locale has been instrumental to the writer’s experience and how that relates to the core tension of the piece.<div><br></div><div>Typical Connect essays will have vivid transportive language, scenes, and sensorial detail. Humor writing is welcome, with the above parameters in mind.</div><div><br></div><div>Word count: 1,500</div>

Personal Essay (Connect)

Reported stories centered around, well, good trips—usually itineraries and journeys with a set route or done with a specific company, such as a tour operator, safari outfitter, or cruise line. We’ve had writers cover trips to Yunnan Province with tour operator WildChina, to Antarctica with the expedition cruise line Ponant, and along the Vallée de la Gastronomie, a food trail created as a partnership between regional governments in France. These pieces combine first-person experiential travel writing with helpful context about the destination(s) and activities involved, including insights from local figures or interviews with relevant experts who can illuminate some aspect of the trip.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 1,000–1,500, inclusive of sidebar where relevant</div>

Good Trips

Feast stories dig into a specific aspect of a place’s food or drink culture and let readers know how they can experience it for themselves. The focus can be a specific product or dish (olive oil in Tunisia, Singapore’s go-to dessert), a culturally specific culinary practice (pop-up culture in New Orleans, the secrets of Italian aperitivo), or a broader trend that provides a new perspective on a destination (like the rise of Middle Eastern immigrant cuisine in Mexico City). In addition to interviews and thorough research, these stories should include a strong sense of place—whether through first-person or through scenes and sensory descriptions that bring it to life.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 1,000–1,500, inclusive of sidebar where relevant</div>

Food & Drink (Feast)

Senses of Place is a front of book, design-forward column that explores the secrets of a location, through photos, annotations, and relevant quotes from trusted sources (e.g. concierges, travel advisors, hotel designers). Details should be specific and lesser known, while inspiring travelers to visit and experience the place for themselves.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 300–500 words, including dektro (50–60 words and 10–12 blurbs)</div>

Senses of Place

One Great Block is a front of book column, accompanied by a map, that zooms in on a notable neighborhood, highlighting the local shops and stores not to miss, such as this piece on Athens. (“Block” is loose here; scope should be contained to a concentrated area, a main street and, if applicable, a few nearby offshoots.) Voice is service-driven and reported, aligned with Afar’s brand and style, without references to a first-person perspective.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 150–300 words, including a dektro (50 words) and 7–8 blurbs (60 words each)</div>

One Great Block

This rubric is an opportunity to look into the business of travel beyond the traveler’s individual experience by spotlighting some of the people who make the industry run. These photography-led spreads include a short mini-profile that introduces the reader to what (and who) they’re looking at, incorporating the voice of the individual(s) being profiled. Some longer pieces we’ve done that embrace this “behind the scenes” spirit: Q&amp;As with a cruise captain, a travel YouTuber, and a hotel uniform designer; profiles of a head porter and a veteran hotel housekeeper; and spotlights on guides offering unique itineraries, including deaf-led tours conducted in ASL and public fossil digs supervised by a professional paleontologist.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 100–300</div>

Behind the Scenes

In almost every issue, Afar has a package—magazine parlance for a collection of stories or patchwork of content of various lengths, all organized around a central theme. In some cases, one writer executes the whole package; other times, it is made up of pieces by a range of contributors, or a mix of freelancers and staff. Writers may propose ideas, but we may also slot other pitches into packages where relevant or solicit pitches on a specific theme. Past packages have included roundups of trips that embrace “slow travel” and epic cruises around the world—and even a multi-page meditation on the joy of trees (plus where to celebrate them). We also accept destination-related pitches for our annual “Where to Go” lists.<div><br></div><div>Word count: 700–3,000</div>

Packages and Roundups

Our features prioritize immersive reporting and vivid storytelling, and we’re drawn to ideas that combine strong reporting with a clear sense of place and perspective.<div><br></div><div>Afar’s features enrich, inform, educate, and spark conversation. As well as diving into unplumbed places and parts of the travel experience, these approaches expand the definition of what makes a travel story. We are interested in ambitious works about the natural world, deep dives into subcultures, compelling takes on trends, and never-before-told tales behind some of the world’s most storied places—think the incredibly true story of renting a friend in Tokyo; whether we’re loving Venice to death; what it’s like to chase memory—and adventure—in Oman; and how climate change is transforming Greenland’s landscapes.</div><div><br></div><div>Feature stories typically run 1,500–2,500 words, though we are open to considering stories that are shorter or longer.</div>

Features

The print magazine is published four times a year, and thus we only have room to green-light a limited number of stories. All of our stories fall into certain rubrics, which are outlined on the page linked below. Note that story length and fee may change based on issue needs.

AFAR Magazine

Highlights

About

Featured Call

Workshop

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