New! Young Pioneers

Ok, so if you follow Vagablogging you already know that Rolf Potts and several other well liked travel writers have been interviewed in the premiere issue of Young Pioneers.

In fact when Editor Dan Eldridge first told me that the debut issue was going to include chats with Tony Wheeler, Jeff Greenwald, Robert Young Pelton, Susan Griffith, Holly Morris, and Don George—my first thought was to wonder if Young Pioneers had the potential to be the next breed of a travel themed Granta. But I suppose that would only ring true if those writers were the actual contributors.

Still, I’m excited to see my copy when I get back to SF. Rolf has already seen it and put first thoughts on the debut issue here.
Until you see a copy or YP gets a website going, Dan Eldridge was happy to give us the lowdown. Here’s a Q&A between us that should give you an overview of Young Pioneers as well as what kind of submissions he is accepting for his upcoming issue.

What is Young Pioneers?

Perfect opening question! It’s tough to think of Young Pioneers as being much of anything at all right now – the bulk of the first issue is still sitting in my home office – but as we grow, the idea is for Young Pioneers to be a very unique documentation of independent travel culture. Of course, defining what independent travel culture is, exactly, will be part of the journey. Personally, I’m fascinated by the various working traveler subcultures: backpackers who pick fruit through Europe, or teach English in Asia, or spend a couple months farming on a Kibbutz in Israel. In fact, my original idea for the magazine was to subtitle it: A Journal for the Working Traveler. I had plans to publish as I traveled around the world, working odd jobs, but that idea proved to be a bit too ambitious. It’s possible that once things really get cranking with the magazine, though, I’ll trade in the desktop for a laptop, and do just that. We’ll see. For the time being, though, I continue to be thrilled by stories of people who’ve discovered creative, clever ways to make travel a part of their everyday lives, and those are largely the folks who fill the pages of our premiere issue: Independent Travel Icons.

Why another travel magazine?

Great question. You know, when I interviewed the Mad Monks, one of them mentioned to me that they really didn’t want to enter back into a really crowded, overloaded media environment unless they really had something important to say – and I feel the same. Nothing quite like Young Pioneers has ever been done before, and if I do it right, I’ll open a lot of people’s eyes to the fact that long term, low-cost travel really is possible – and very potentially life-changing, and easier than they probably figure! Very few travel magazines in the past have gone for that sort of existential angle, I think. And just as an aside, there aren’t very many travel magazines in existence right now anyway, at least Stateside. But the truth is, Young Pioneers isn’t really a travel magazine at all. I can’t imagine that we’d ever write about a place; instead, I’m interested in the people who are doing amazing things in those places, and I’m interested in showing my readers how those people re-arranged their lives to get to that point.

So, can we expect glossy magazine-like pictures to be included or will it be more of a journal or large newsletter?

At this point, I’d say we’re more of a journal. The full title, in fact, is Young Pioneers: A Journal of Independent Travel Culture. Also, the magazine is digest-sized and was printed on the cheap, so it definitely has something of a small-press literary journal feel to it. But to be honest, the only reason I went for that particular size was because I’ve always liked small magazines better than large magazines. So it was just a personal preference, really. I also like the idea that you can stick a copy in your back pocket and take it with you. As the magazine grows, I hope to be able to do a more expensive four-color process on all-gloss paper, so that it’ll look a bit like, say, Soap Opera Digest or the TV Guide.

Dan, forgive me for saying so, but the short title doesn’t grab me or leave me feeling connected with your topic. I think the addition of the subtitle you gave could really help an audience understand what you’re trying to get across. You know, so there’s no boy scout market to weed out. That said, what IS your target audience or demographic. Is this a magazinefor students or only young adults?

Great point! I’ll admit to stealing the name of the magazine from the punk-rock band, who of course stole it from the East German communists. Frankly, I’ve always admired that whole Red Bloc aesthetic! But to answer your question about my target demographic, I usually tell people that I’m going after the same audience who would read, say, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. That’s not a joke – Young Pioneers, at its core, is about proving to people that it is possible to make your travel dreams come true. My hope is that the type of person who picks up Young Pioneers will be the type of person who has always wanted to travel, but doesn’t think s/he can spare the time or the money – and then learns through the interviews and articles in the magazine that many people just like him/her once had the same problem(s), but learned to solve them in creative ways. And really, I’m just using travel as a metaphor for “dreams,” because, after all, many people say that traveling around the world is one of their biggest dreams, as if it couldn’t really be done. If someone picks up Young Pioneers and becomes just as inspired to finally go to law school, or start their own business, or finally move to a new town, or whatever, I’d be just as happy. So… I guess I’d really like to see Young Pioneers beccome a sort of self-help manual, of sorts. I hugely inspired by people like Anthony Robbins, for instance, and books like ‘Creating a A Life Worth Living’ by Carol Lloyd and ‘What Should I Do With My Life’ by Po Bronson.

How big is your staff?

Except for my roommate’s dog Hank, who tends to stop by when I’m eating dinner at my desk, I’m the only guy in the office. I have about ten contributors scattered here and there, however, and I imagine that number will grow once the first issue starts making its way out into the world. I don’t see myself hiring any staffers anytime too soon, though, with the exception of an advertising sales person.

How often you expect it to come out?

The plan is quarterly. The Mad Monks used to call their distribution scheme tri-quarterly, as in T-R-Y. I think that’ll probably describe Young Pioneers, at least for a while. I may go to 6 times a year at some point, but that’s kinda doubtful. And I’ll never go more frequently than that.

Was it hard to get the big names in your first issue?

Not at all. Then again, I’m a freelance writer by trade, so I’m good at landing interviews. The only two people I couldn’t get to talk to me were Dishwasher Pete and Aaron Cometbus. Dishwasher Pete has been very anti-media forever, though, so I understand that. He was once invited to be on Letterman, but sent an imposter instead. I don’t even know where Pete is, and I think he likes it that way. Last I heard, he had quit washing dishes to get a degree in urban planning at a school in Portland, I think. And then I read on the Web that he’d gotten engaged and was living in Amsterdam. Who knows? As for Aaron, he just doesn’t do press. He did an interview with Punk Planet when his Cometbus book came out last year, but that was it.

How have you handled distribution and will it be reaching an international newstand anytime soon?

I’m still working out my distribution kinks. Ideally, I’ll get a handful of small-press distros to take the magazine across the States and into Canada, but right now I’m just waiting to see who’s interested and who’s not. I’ll be giving away a decent number of free copies in Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. very soon, and aside from that, I’ll be selling copies through the website, as soon as that goes up. As for in ternational distribution… I’m sure I can eventually get copies into the U.K., but I don’t imagine it’ll ever go further than that.

What regions or topics are you looking to cover in the coming issues? Do you have an editorial calendar that could help wannabe contributors?

I have an ever-changing editorial calendar in my head, but I’m sort of loathe to give it out because there are no guarantees I won’t change my mind tomorrow. For my second issue, though, (Expats & Working Travelers: Young Pioneers Abroad and On the Job), I’m looking for *very* brief, (100-200 words) first-person stories from people who’ve lived or worked abroad in any capacity. (Aside from studying abroad.) A photo will also be necessary. Future issues may or may not include: documenting the commercial fishing scene in Alaska, the European fruit tramping scene, the German Wandergessellen, hitchhikers and freight-hoppers… but this is all subject to change. I’m really into the immersion journalism thing, so if I actually heard from an accomplished writer who was in the process of doing the thing that I was in the process of documenting, that would be a perfect fit. I’ll have a website up before too long so readers and potential writers can check in on what I’m planning.

Is this a hobby for you or your main business?

Right now, it’s a very expensive hobby, but I think a lot of great projects get started that way. The bottom line is definitely not my main concern right now, although it is important. Eventually, though, I’d like to see Young Pioneers become something of a fully-formed multi-media company, producing documentary films, coffee table books, other magazines, guidebooks, a television show… heck, maybe even a line of a clothing, a microbrew, and a
chain of boutique stores! Who knows?

You can contact Dan Eldridge at ypworldwide@yahoo.com