One of my favorite Swedish magazines is Vagabond. I like to travel and I like to read about travel, be it in Swedish or in English.

Vagabond is Sveriges största resemagasin and is written in a clear, easy-to-understand language (after all, it has to appeal to a wide demographic, because all sorts of people like to travel) and for that reason alone I feel it can serve as a fun aid for Swedish learners. You know how I always tell you to read newspapers in Swedish? Well, newspapers have one fault, especially these days. They’re boring. It’s all economic crisis all the time. I mean, how much of this global recession can you stomach in one sitting anyway?

Travel, on the other hand, is always interesting to read about. You can learn something new about exotic (or not) places, look at pretty pictures and pick up some useful Swedish phrases along the way. And as an added bonus, you get to experience all this from a truly Swedish perspective.

But that’s not all. If you happen to fly from/into Skavsta a lot, Vagabond is given free of charge to Flygbussarna passengers. And we all like things that are gratis, don’t we? But if you’re nowhere near Skavsta, you can still find Vagabond at your local pressbyrån. Or read the mag on-line.

And what do I mean about this Swedish perspective? Hmmm… For example, it features Thailand with the same frequency and tenacity that American travel magazines write about Mexico and the Caribbean. Swedes love Thailand, that’s no secret. For many here that country is the epitome of exotic and a winter trip to the Land of Smiles is what all my friends dream of all year.

But that’s not what piqued my interest in the latest issue. Rather, it was an editorial by Tobias Larsson, Vagabond’s chefredaktör (chief editor). In it, he says that accommodation costs, such as hotels around the world have become somewhat less expensive recently. But not in Sweden.

Well, he doesn’t say it exactly like that, but gives an example instead. What you pay for a night at the Hilton in Prague is only minimally more expensive than a youth hostel in Stockholm, one with a bathroom in the hallway.

Sweden has been traditionally an expensive tourist destination, and now with the global recession in full swing, potential tourists are thinking twice about where to go and how to make their money last. And my anecdotal evidence confirms the fact that they are bypassing Sweden. We can only hope that this trend will reverse before the summer season.

Several Swedish hotel websites already note that they will release their summer rates soon to help you plan and book your summer adventures. But will those rates be low enough to lure those foreigners, who might instead head to other European countries where their cash stretch further? We will soon find out.