B Y D O N G E O R G E

Don George moved to Paris after graduating from Princeton two decades ago -- and never looked back. He has lived in Athens and Tokyo, has wandered through some 50 countries and has written more than 500 articles for such publications as Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure and Travel Holiday. He was Travel Editor of the San Francisco Examiner from 1987-1995. C O N T E N T S Welcome to Wanderlust Don George, Editor On the Amazon: Snapshots of a Green Planet By Isabel Allende - Isabel Allende booklist - Books on the Amazon - Getting there Two Sides of the Rhine By Jan Morris - Jan Morris booklist - Getting there My Best Holiday Experience By Pico Iyer - Pico Iyer booklist The Dangers of Provence By Peter Mayle - Peter Mayle booklist - Books on Provence - Getting there Fade into Blue By Amanda Jones D E P A R T M E N T S Passages "Pass the Butterworms" Tim Cahill - An interview with Tim Cahill Postmark: Paris David Downie Table Talk - Romancing the Road - Readers Tips - - - - - - - - Your virtual travel agency - - - - - - - -

you probably have your own definition of wanderlust. My trusty Webster's defines it as "strong or unconquerable longing for or impulse toward wandering," and that pretty well sums it up for me. It also sums up the fundamental inspiration for Wanderlust, this new online travel publication brought to you by the creators of Salon: Wanderlust is dedicated to putting the romance -- the "unconquerable longing" -- back into travel and the passion back into travel writing. Remember the first time you traveled to a foreign place? If you are like me, you were overwhelmed and exhilarated. Every moment seemed unbearably precious, every outing an extraordinary lesson in a new culture and a new people -- full of thrilling sights and smells, tastes and textures, thoughts and values, encounters and connections: a whole new world! Wanderlust seeks to recapture and celebrate that feeling. Our goal is to present enlightening and inspiring travel essays and evocations from both established authors and writers you may never have heard of, timely dispatches from correspondents around the globe, and tales and tips from readers like you. We are pleased and honored to launch this adventure in travel publishing with an extraordinary gathering of contributors: novelist Isabel Allende describing a recent trip to the Amazon; raconteur extraordinaire Peter Mayle defining the dangers of life in sunny southern France; the eloquently observant Jan Morris discovering abiding cultural differences on the two sides of the Rhine; and the peripatetic Pico Iyer falling in love on his first venture into Asia. In addition, in the first of our weekly Postmark dispatches -- the kind of up-to-the-minute news and insights about global capitals and outposts that only a resident can provide -- former European Travel & Life correspondent David Downie gives the Parisian perspective on the deliciously controversial new Michelin restaurant ratings. And in Passages, our weekly department focusing on noteworthy new travel literature, we present a chapter from Tim Cahill's mind-expanding collection, "Pass the Butterworms." Lastly, to launch one of our Table Talk reader-generated forums, Romancing the Road, we are proud to publish an extraordinary tale by Amanda Jones, "Fade into Blue," about the kind of unexpected erotic connection that sometimes graces and entangles our travels. We hope you will add your own contributions to Romancing the Road, which is a place for readers to celebrate such spontaneous romantic adventures. Remember the man you met in that six-table sawdust restaurant, the woman you spent an afternoon with among the ruins of the Yucatan, the tour guide who changed your life? We'd love to hear about them! And we hope you will contribute to Readers' Tips, too, our place to swap on-the-road discoveries: from an unpopulated Pacific paradise to a Boston bed-and-breakfast, a Moroccan museum to a Vietnamese tour guide. What gems did you uncover on your latest trip? Now, we know this is a lot of Wanderlust, and while we want to launch with a splash, we don't want to drown you. So we are offering this debut as a special double issue and will spotlight its contents online for two weeks. We hope that you will treat Wanderlust much as subscribers treat the Sunday paper's travel section or a favorite travel magazine: as a resource to enjoy for more than a day. Don't forget to bookmark Wanderlust and come back at your leisure over the next two weeks -- and every week thereafter -- to savor our tales and treasures slowly. And don't forget to enter our sweepstakes to win a week for two at Club Med Bora-Bora -- where you can concoct your own Romancing the Road tale! Two decades ago, when I was an innocent postgraduate wandering wide-eyed through Europe, I found in Istanbul a legendary place called the Pudding Shop. Backpackers from around the globe gathered there to eat sweets, sip tea and swap tales from the far corners of their minds. I like to think of Wanderlust as a virtual Pudding Shop, a place where travel-lovers from all around the planet will gather to talk and laugh, to swap prized secrets and hear great stories, to seek the latest news of the road and simply to marvel together at the infinite riches of the world -- to share their passion. It will be a grand place and a grand party -- but it will be even more fun when you join in. So pull up a chair, pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and join our adventure. Let's begin with a toast to the spirit that moves us all: To Wanderlust! Now, we're off! I hope you enjoy the journey. Don George is the Editor of Wanderlust. You can email him at dgeorge@salonmagazine.com.

W A N D E R L U S T

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