TravelChannel.com Has Acquired Us!

When I first launched Vagabondish back in October of 2006, it was little more than a personal blog to wax rather unpoetic about my own travels, my love of travel, to share my travel photos, etc. Basically, I was stuck in corporate cubicle hell for years and this blog gave me an outlet to whine about how I couldn’t travel enough.

The site has evolved considerably in the past eighteen months to become a collaborative blog featuring an array of talented travel writers. Well, evidently some of the higher-ups at The Travel Channel have taken notice. As of noon this Wednesday, as part of a deal that’s been several months in the making, Vagabondish.com will become an official subsidiary of TravelChannel.com. Here is the official press release set to go out on the wires:

TravelChannel.com Acquires Online Travel Magazine Vagabondish.com

- Acquisition of Trusted Travel Resource Provides TravelChannel.com Visitors Enhanced Access to Insights and Advice from Top Travel Writers -

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 2 / PRNewswire / — TravelChannel.com, the flagship website of the Travel Channel, today announced that it has acquired Vagabondish.com, a leading online travel magazine, for an undisclosed sum. As part of the acquisition, visitors to TravelChannel.com will be able to access exclusive content written by Vagabondish.com’s editors and network of contributors. In addition to the content available on TravelChannel.com, loyal Vagabondish.com visitors can continue to access the online magazine’s full content at http://www.vagabondish.com.

Founding editor of Vagabondish.com, Michael Richard, and the site’s entire staff of experienced travelers and authors will become regular contributors to TravelChannel.com as a result of the acquisition. Michael Richard has written and edited for outlets including National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Traveler, Outside, the Washington Post, Tiger Beat, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine, among other publications.

“Just as our viewers have come to rely on us for the most entertaining and informative travel content on television, our vision for TravelChannel.com is to leverage a rich library of multimedia assets to create the most engaging broadband travel resource on the Web” said A. F. Ulsdé, executive director of new media for the Travel Channel. “The acquisition of Vagabondish.com signifies Travel Channel’s continued commitment to delivering purely subjective and trustworthy travel information to consumers whenever, wherever, however, and by whomever they want it.”

Vagabondish.com was founded by Michael Richard in 2006, with the aim of exploring travel in all its facets: how it changes us, how it changes the way we see the world, and how travel itself is changing the world. The online magazine features articles on a variety of travel topics, Q&As, book reviews, blogs and much more, relying on contributions from experienced travel writers and authors across the world.

“We’re thrilled to be joining the Travel Channel family,” says Vagabondish.com founder and editor Michael Richard. “The Travel Channel is committed to developing media on television, online and beyond, celebrating travel and the journey, and we’ve been doing that online at Vagabondish.com for the last eighteen months. What’s more, they like our editorial vision, and we are pleased that they are dedicated to our approach and direction for Vagabondish.com moving forward. It’s the biggest no-brainer in the history of earth.”

About Travel Channel Media

Travel Channel Media is an integrated travel media business, and is wholly owned by Cox Communications, Inc., a leading multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company. Travel Channel Media includes: the Travel Channel television network, available in more than 88 million U.S. cable homes; travelchannel.com, the network’s broadband travel hub; Travel Channel’s video-on-demand (VOD) and mobile platforms; and Vagabondish.com (vagabondish.com), a leading online travel blog.

SOURCE Travel Channel

The super secret, double-probation press release announcement above is set to officially broadcast Wednesday of this week at noon Eastern time.

So what does this mean for the future of Vagabondish? It’s certainly a new beginning for our fledgling site and I can’t overstate just how excited I am about this deal. From an operational standpoint, not much will change. I will stay on as the site’s editor-in-chief, continuing to run the show and make all the “magic” happen behind the scenes. Our regular cast of travel writers will continue to do what they do best – write smart, relevant articles on important topics that matter to budget travelers and backpackers alike.

From a financial standpoint, it means that our staff will finally earn a decent wage (no more ramen!) and I can begin the RTW trip that I started planning more than five years ago to begin fervently spreading the word of pro-Americanism around the world!

It’s been a wild ride and this year promises to be the best yet for Vagabondish.com. I want to formally thank The Travel Channel for their vision and for their unwavering faith in this site. And of course: thank you to our loyal readers and to everyone who has contributed to and commented on the site over the past year.

You’ve finally made my travel dreams come true! As a token thank you, I’m willing to send anyone who shoots me an e-mail (please include your name and postal address) a free snow globe from a local tzotchke shop in the country of their choice – any country at all, except North Korea (limit one globe per e-mail address).

Cheers and Happy Travels!
- Mike Richard, Editor
www.vagabondish.com