Columns

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 471st issue of your monthly foreign travel magazine.

This is a publication that has always depended upon its subscribers for the articles and letters that fill up most of the pages in each issue. It’s a group-participation project, so much so that our readers are comfortable to make suggestions on how to improve it. 

So when subscribers express opinions about what they find rewarding or, sometimes, displeasing, in a particular issue, not only do we listen, we are encouraged that they care enough about ITN to take the time...

When you've traveled in Europe as long as I have, you experience changes, big and small. And more and more, I've been noticing that traditional local businesses are being pushed out by the playground economy that comes with modern affluence.

It's one thing to see hotels, restaurants and shops come and go in the normal course of business. But I've also seen the slow churning of local traditions and lifestyles as unique family-run enterprises have given way to a rising tide of cookie-cutter chains and synthetic conformity.

In historic city centers, as...

Due to the recent horrendous Post Office price increase to magazines, we now must charge $2 per issue on a one-year subscription.

About the same as you pay for a glass of iced tea in a restaurant.

We think the abundance of Travel information you find in International Travel News is more valuable than half a latte at Starbucks.

A woman called up to complain, saying that she could get another Travel magazine for $12. I fought the urge to say that they know what their magazine is worth.

How can some others charge less? Well, they really sock it to the advertisers....