If you're into environmental activism and the outdoors, and you're looking for some eye candy and top-notch writing, then do yourself a favor and check out Wend magazine. I'm not that into magazines anymore, as I get most of my news on the web, but there's something about holding an actual hard-copy in your hand that cruising the internet doesn't have. And Wend is definitely a worthy media candidate for the eco-adventurer.

I didn't get the name at first, so I checked out their website, and this is what I found:

wend  (wěnd)
v. wend·ed, wend·ing, wends
v.tr. To proceed on or along; go: wend one's way home.
v.intr. To go one's way; proceed.
[Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan.]

OK, cool, now I understand. But what's Wend all about?

Wend magazine is chock full of awe-inspiring photos and first-person adventure journalism, plus pieces on environmental issues and activism that read like a breath of fresh air. Wend is an independent media group with a mission "to educate and inspire, as we see travel and experience as revelation that enriches our lives, and makes us better world citizens." Right on.

"Our stories are about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, not extraordinary people doing ordinary things."

Printing a magazine can seem not-so-green, but Wend chooses to use paper manufactured 35 miles from where they print the magazine, paper that is at least 30% recycled and 70% from FSC certified sustainably harvested wood. And, you don't have to get the printed edition. You can subscribe to the digital edition and read it that way (although, then you can't cut out all of the groovy pictures for your dream trip planning).

One of the coolest things about Wend (it's a small thing, granted, but it really made an impression on me) is that there aren't any subscription postcards in the magazine. Absolutely none. And they make a point of mentioning it in the magazine (actually a half-page 'ad') reminding us why they don't use them, and sending us to the website to subscribe.

In the last few years, I've given up my magazine subscriptions (Climbing and Rock & Ice were the last to go), because I couldn't justify the cost for what I got (mostly ads and subscription postcards and a lot of relatively shallow writing). But I've got a feeling that I'm gonna grab a subscription to Wend magazine, because it combines three things that really move me: adventure, inspiration, and activism (plus the amazing photos and really great writing, of course).