About Atlas Journal

Atlas Journal is an independent magazine of slow-travel writing. We publish long essays about specific places, journeys, and the practice of traveling deliberately. We do not run banner ads, accept sponsored content, or take press trips.

Who runs the publication

Atlas Journal is edited and largely written by Marco Renaldi, a writer based partly in Lisbon and partly on whichever train station has the best coffee that morning. Marco previously worked in editorial at two travel guides — both since acquired and rendered into something else — and started Atlas Journal in 2026 as a deliberate alternative to that genre.

Occasional contributing essays come from a small circle of writers we've worked with before. Every piece is read by at least two editors. Photography is currently sourced from Unsplash under license; we'll commission our own as the budget allows.

Funding model

Atlas Journal is reader-funded. There is no advertising, no affiliate revenue, no sponsored content. Subscriptions are voluntary — you can read every piece for free.

This decision has consequences. We publish more slowly than ad-funded competitors. We cover fewer destinations. We take longer between issues. We believe these are features, not bugs.

If you find what we publish useful, the contact page below explains how to support us. If you don't, you're still welcome.

Editorial principles

• We pay for our own travel. No comped hotels, no comped trains, no comped meals. If a piece mentions a place we visited as part of a paid press trip, the piece will not run.
• We write from extended stays. Pieces about destinations come from at least a week, often longer. Pieces about journeys come from the journey actually being taken.
• We avoid superlatives. Phrases like "the best", "the most essential", "the absolute must-see" do not appear in our pages.
• We credit photographers. When we use Unsplash photography, the photographer is named on the photo's caption.

Languages

Atlas Journal is published in English. We do not yet translate. Translations into French and Italian are planned for late 2026.

Privacy

The site does not track readers. No analytics scripts, no fingerprinting, no third-party cookies. Just static pages served from a single host.