Brian Kevin is the managing editor of Down East magazine and has written for Outside, Travel + Leisure, Men’s Journal, Audubon, and a number of other magazines. His work has been recognized or anthologized in Best Food Writing, Best American Essays, and Best American Sports Writing, and he’s the author of The Footloose American: Following the Hunter S. Thompson Trail Across South America. He lives in Damariscotta, Maine.
ABOUT THE FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES
For most of the past 50 years, Frommer’s has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.
Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.
We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our authors to be intensely judgmental, critical—both pro and con—in their comments, and wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of countless prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called “practically worthless” (it unsuccessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs we’ve condemned.
And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Though we have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers, and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.
I have high hopes for the future of Frommer’s. May these guidebooks, in all the years ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel, a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.
Arthur Frommer