Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25233
If you're reading blue, you probably view travel as intrinsic to your life and took global access for granted prior to 9/11. You're no newcomer to the fact the world is a patchwork of stability and turbulence. After all, even if you didn't read about it elsewhere, blue was covering Afghanistan as early as 1998 (Robert Young Pelton's three-part series, On the Road to Afghanistan, Nov/Dec 1998, Feb/Mar 1999, April 1999), as well as other wartorn regions (Algeria, blue April 1998, Kosovo, blue Aug 1999, Chechnya blue April/May 2000). If you're new to the magazine, you might wonder: Is blue a travel magazine and if so why does it cover these areas? If you haven't figured it out yet, blue stands for blue planet, and while our focus is indeed exploration, we're far from your traditional travel magazine. (However, this past October, we were honored to accept the publishing industry's First Place 2001 FOLIO: Award for Editorial Excellence /travel category, and also congratulate co-final- ist and second place winner Travel + Leisure). blue is about looking at the world in a new way; its about our home, the planet-habitat of the human race, aka Mother Earth. It's a celestial body only 24,901 miles in circumference, called home by over 6 billion human beings, and it's over 4.6 billion years old. Most of its residents like to think they know it well. It's scary to imag- ine that only six hundred years ago, so many thought the world was flat. Well , we've still got a lot to learn. Even if you've visited 100 countries you can't credibly claim to know the planet well. Getting to know the Earth through traveling, like getting to know the ocean through surfing, is an endless journey. I have been surfing for 8 years. I am still a novice. 1" always will be. Being a global traveler, on the airlines or on the Internet, demands both humility and the ability to think critically. To discern fact from fiction, friend from foe- perfect wave from dangerous undertow. Like surfing, you can't learn travel from books or videos. In this way, travelers are ahead of the game in this time of conflict: They know there are good and bad people in every land (they have likely met both, in many) and that true enemies are criminal behavior, racism, poverty, and at times politics itself. Now that war, terrorist threats and travel advisories loom large you may be trying to decide whether your next trip is still on the horizon. blue has invited travelers, travel editors and friends to share their thoughts on the sub- ject in a special focus: To Go or Not to Go. And if you've already chosen to stay close to home these days (and none of our essayists convince you otherwise), blue can keep you traveling through sound waves and gray matter. In this issue meet the South Asian perspective of Pakistan's hottest rock band Junoon (Peace, Passion + Rock and Roll, page 42), escape through our music reviews, Bringing the World to your Boombox, page 72, and find where to find our more about Central Asia, the Middle East, Islam and biowarfare in our blue list of Books to Read Now, page 74. Pondering the question: To go or not to go, I reflected on a scientific truth. Despite what our eyes think they see, there is no truly still matter in our universe. For the human race, the answer is simple. We've got to keep mov- ing-physically, spiritually and every way we can. Amy Schrier Amy@bluemagazine.com '" w Ul Ul Ul U :I: a. '" ~ t;:: => g :I: >