National Geographic Adventure is dead (for now we have been told). Read Good-Bye for Now.

I find this really hard to believe, as I can pick out four of my immediate neighbors that actually receive a copy of this magazine (and I don’t live in the nice part of town). All my friends, and colleagues read it, and yet for some reason it must not have been doing well. They approached me about one year ago to pay $900 per month to advertise in the back, in the tour operator section. Funny, the last issue of the magazine is still jam packed with big fancy advertisers, so I am not quite sure what happened here.

I have it admit, there was a side of National Geographic Adventure that I despised. It felt too commercial; it’s like every issue was paying homage to all their advertisers. I mean, c’mon guys, I know you want to sell magazines, but how many times do you have to publish “Top ten adventure towns” or “Top 10 adventures of the year,” or “Top 10 outfitters,” with lists of the companies that serve them. Maybe I am too much of a purist, or an idealist, but it got old quick. I thought National Geographic (the original magazine) was dedicated to “education, research and conservation” and not to making a bunch of money off selling ads to North Face.

Although this magazine closure is bad news for the adventure travel industry, there are still some good things to highlight. First, I was at a bookstore the other day, and saw that Lonely Planet launched a magazine. It looked interesting, and wasn’t your standard bag of trips.

Also, we have Wend magazine, which in my opinion is almost the perfection of an adventure travel magazine. It seems to be written by real adventure gurus, with long lengthy articles of substance. And, they don’t have stupid ads in the back promoting millions of destinations around the world, paid for by tourism boards. Wend rocks, and I hope it succeeds. It’s online edition is nice too.

Rest in peace Nat Geo Adventure. I am sure National Geographic Traveler will take up some of your slack.