We’re going — come along with us?
Welcome to Gone, Medium’s new collection of stories about any and all things travel-related.
Gone will embrace as many different kinds of material as there are different ways to get around. We’ll talk about new places to go (a cave-dwelling community in Southern Italy) as well as new developments in well-trodden destinations (an emerging farm-to-table culture in Maui). We’ll cover exotic places (a park of undulating sand-dunes and crystalline lakes in north-west Brazil) and accessible ones (the best vintage shops in Brooklyn). And whatever your destination, we’ll encourage you to do more once you arrive (hunt down an underground dance club; help pick coffee beans in exchange for your lunch).
One theme we’re keen to explore is, for want of a better term, the cultural mash-up: a tradition, or cuisine, or form of entertainment that develops in one place, gets transported somewhere else—via social upheaval, demographic shift, or the efforts of one canny individual—and takes on a new life far away. The information revolution of the last decade has kicked these cultural transplants into overdrive, creating experiences that are among the definitive joys of moving around the planet in 2015. (If you don’t believe me, wait for our story on “Duck Taco Night in Saigon.” Then book your ticket.)
What else will we try to be? Socially aware (a piece on Second Line parades in New Orleans limns the implicit political dimension of joining in the fun); cliché-averse (a determined-to-be-cynical reviewer of Disney theme parks ends up shedding her disdain, and brilliantly explaining why); humorous (join us—please—as we take the “naturist tour” of Brisbane’s Museum of Old and New Art); and, above all, beautiful. We’re going to push Medium’s interface to the max, using gorgeous still images, crisp interactive graphics and powerful videos to convey the excitement of the subject.
We’ll also strive to be great partners. We’re launching this collection in collaboration with Marriott International, and we could not have asked for better colleagues in terms of shared values—briefly, a dedication to innovation and excellence — and a determination to deliver on those ideals. I’m every bit as proud of the work we’re producing together (like this piece on the opening of an economy-lifting Marriott in Haiti) as of the other stories that make up the bulk of the section.
Finally: I usually cock an eyebrow at overly catchy tag lines, but I have to admit that I really believe in ours. Although this collection will be as varied and diverse as we can make it, the goal of each individual piece is the same: to make you wish you were there.
Ready? Let’s go!
