One of the most fulfilling parts of travel is telling people about what you found. And that’s what we’d like you to do. In our next issue, we’ll introduce a section called Reader Report. We’ll always have 20 Tips in the front of the magazine, but that’s more about how to travel; Reader Report will be for your finds.
Maybe it's a great hotel, or a terrific restaurant, or a quirky shop. Maybe it’s just a good story, a funny anecdote the likes of which only seem to happen when you travel. Maybe it’s a photograph. Maybe it’s a poem, although I kind of hope not.
A few things to remember:
Please submit your piece no later than Nov. 21.
Write it like you were telling it at a party. That is, keep it brief and lively (500 words max). We regret that we won’t be able to include everything we receive, and we reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. And once you send it in to us, it becomes our property.
Include a phone number for any establishment you mention. If we can’t verify the place exists, we won’t be able to print your story. Besides, imagine how frustrating it would be if we raved about something and never told you how to reach it.
If you, your relative, or a friend of yours owns said establishment, you should seriously consider running an ad instead. And if you or a relative of yours works here at BT, don’t even think about it.
Send photos, but try not to go crazy. Edit them down so we only get the good ones. If you’re sending digital pictures, shoot them at 300 dpi at 3” by 5”, and send them as a jpeg, tiff, or eps file. If you’re sending prints or slides, don’t send originals; we will not be returning them.
We don’t mind if you or your companions are in the shots, as long as you tell us who (and what) is in the photo so we can write a nice caption. And we need to be able to get in touch with you, if need be, so include your daytime phone number.
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to pay you. For this first issue, however, the reader who sends in the best combination of story and photograph, as determined by us, will win a trip for two to Paris. The trip, courtesy of Octopus Travel, is valid until March 14, 2004, and includes round-trip airfare for two from a U.S. departing city (on a select scheduled air carrier), six nights at a hotel chosen by Octopus Travel, continental breakfast daily, hotel taxes, and service charges.
You don’t need to have gobs of money to travel well—you just need to have the right knowledge. Together, we’ll be the smartest travelers out there.
WHERE TO SEND IT
E-mail: Readerreport@afbtmag.com
Mail: Reader Report,
Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel,
530 Seventh Ave.,
2nd floor,
New York, NY 10018. Remember the deadline for submissions is Nov. 21.