Editor's pick

My three favourite issues to date

I’ve been asked a few times now, what my favourite issue(s) is. I designed Advanture Magazine for myself firstly - I wanted to enjoy vanlife stories in print and honour the stories going untold by publishing them in a coffee table style journal. There wasn’t anything like it available.

So, the easy answer would be to say all of them are my favourite.

But actually, I do have a few stand-out issues. Here is my breakdown of those.

Issue 07: the first full production mag

This was our first full production issue – the ones before this were either digital, or printed in our old design, about the size of a National Geographic. The stories were there, but the layout and execution of the publication was not quite so. After my daughter was born in August 2021, I took six months off to A) learn how to be a father, and B) figure out how to make the best vanlife print magazine on the planet.

A larger format and luxury uncoated paper turned the magazine into a collectable journal and brought so much life to regular articles like Taller and Park Up. Seeing my favourite projects like @funwagen T3 Syncro Doka, and @slackervan in print set the bar for what I wanted to achieve with the magazine.

This issue is special to me because of that, and it was when I also first started to publish film photography in the magazine. We had some beautiful pictures from my in-laws during the 70’s and 80’s in this one, and some much newer ones from the current decade. I also did a diesel heater install on my VW T5, and got some help from my dad when he was visiting Barcelona.

Some of my favourite spreads from issue 07 Advanture Magazine

Issue 09: special section

My favourite cover we’ve done do far was on issue 09 - a low light and slightly out of focus VW T3 driving in the night. It’s abstract and looks the part on our soft-touch matt laminated cover paper. What is also special about this issue is it has a 16-page gloss section inside. The photography shot and selected for these pages was done intentionally for the gloss paper.

I camped out in a blizzard at about 2400m in Andorra, to shoot photos of the frozen gas stations. It was a great night out to get some style photos I’d never shot before, and hunkering down in the van with some good food topped it off. Steak stew!

I also made a movie about it which is on YouTube: Running On Fumes

Issue 09 was a solid front cover, and our first with a gloss section

Issue 12: packed with film photography

This issue had over 25% film photography included within it, both 35mm and medium format! I shot a lot of it myself, which I also developed and scanned at home. It was a huge learning process and something I am so happy to have been able to experience in this modern world. The front cover was commissioned alongside Passenger Clothing, and was shot for us in Los Angeles USA. I also enjoyed bringing in more lifestyle material, such as the article about timeless footwear.

We changed printer on this issue, so the spine was a bit out of alignment. A not so hidden easter egg … but that was why for those left wondering! We’ve fixed that for issue 13.

Issue 12 was also when I started getting more of a solid idea how to run an overarching theme for an issue. This one in particular was about that classic camp look, that you’d expect to see out of a Coleman catalog from the 80’s or something. It’s how I want my life to look like when I look back later on, when I am old and grey haha.

Advanture issue 12 was packed full of film photography, much of which I developed at home in the Pyrenees

Editor’s pick

My favourite then? Issue 09. I just love that front cover and I remember the feeling when I saw the first print of it and though, hell yeah that’s the magazine I always wanted to find. Big thanks to @syncroverland for getting the shot for that.

I’ve packaged these issues up with a sticker, for those who are yet to jump into the magazine and discover what it is all about. But it would also make a great gift for anyone with a friend or family member who loves living the vanlife as much as you do. If you’d be kind enough to share it around, it would help so much.

Thanks for checking in, and I hope to see you on the road.

Alex, founding editor Advanture Magazine