Travel Log: Can We Talk?

Following is the editor's letter from the November 2009 issue, available on newsstands since October 6. To read the full issue, view the digital version here.

Our dialogue with readers has gotten a bit livelier lately. There's a lot of interest in our Affordable Caribbean show on the Travel Channel, winningly hosted by senior editor Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon. And online editor Reagan Johnson has been throwing quite a party on our own website and on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. My sense is that we're all getting to know each other in new, more immediate ways, and the good nature of the conversation reinforces my conviction that we're like-minded souls. We just plain love exploring the Caribbean; we relish sharing impressions and travel advice; and we're always stoked about planning our next trip.

The results of a recent survey of readers corroborate the impression that this is an active, engaged community: 80 percent of respondents are planning a trip to the Caribbean in the next year. So far, so good. But as I dug down deeper into the destination data, I came across one statistic that made me feel like maybe we're not on exactly the same page: Zero percent of respondents said they're planning to visit the island of Grenada in the next year. Zip.

I don't get it. Grenada is way up there on my personal wish list, but it's dead last on the polling group's – below Haiti and Cuba. Deputy editor Matt Phenix and I are scratching our heads about that one. Matt just returned from a week on the Spice Isle and can't wait to go back. "Grenada's my kind of underdog," he says. "Maybe we'll give it a boost."

I'd be very surprised – and frankly a bit disappointed – if that's not the case after people read his feature article, "Island in the Sun" (debuting on this site next week). Aided and abetted by ace photographer Macduff Everton, Matt reveals a rare West Indian jewel, a repository of Old Caribbean beauty and warmth that ought to strike a nerve with all who appreciate the region's essential character. I haven't been there yet, but I know in my bones that Grenada is my kind of place, and I hope that after reading this story, more of our readers will feel the same way.

Travel Log: Can We Talk?