Hi there. I’m Yolanda Edwards. a longtime magazine editor based in New York. For years I’ve worked in travel editorial—in my 20s as a photo editor at Condé Nast Traveler, then as the travel & lifestyle editor at Cookie (RIP) and later as the creative director of Condé Nast Traveler. I’ve always gotten the best advice from people who travel a lot, and have great taste—not necessarily writers. I first decided to start my quarterly print magazine, Yolo Journal, because I’m passionate about photography, travel, and collecting great ideas, and a forever lover of the printed page.
But then people would keep DM’ing me on @YoloJournal for my personal advice—for my lists in places I’ve been, or for food and packing tips. Information that doesn’t feel like an overwhelming city guide (created with search algorithms in mind), and speaks to the way most like to travel (connecting to the feelings/wants people experience when they aren't on their home turf). So I decided to start Yolo Intel on Substack to address their questions and to share insights and ideas both from me and from different creative and curious people I admire who share similar views on travel.
Why Subscribe to the Yolo Intel Newsletter?
Free subscribers get my semi-regular post—Bric-a-Brac—notes from recent travel finds, Navigator profiles, recipes, packing tips, playlists…basically a mixed bag! Paid subscribers get access to extensive weekly destination lists and stories (the stuff that takes tons of time to put together!), Q&As (coming in September!), and can dive into the archive newsletters, which I update whenever I get new info. Paid subscribers can also access the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer each one of your travel questions!
What’s the difference between subscribing to Yolo Journal and the Yolo Intel Newsletter?
I started Yolo Journal in print because I wanted to put something out there that was really an inspiration starting point, knowing that everyone has endless search tools once they have the idea in their mind. I purposely don’t put in all the info for all the places we include in the magazine, because all that intel would junk up the pages, and then it wouldn’t be pretty and inspiring anymore. Yolo Intel is the place where all that info will live. If you’re a subscriber to the magazine, you get a Yolo Intel 3 month free trial.
