Traveling as Style. Avenue (1965–1994) and the Mediation of Travel in Dutch Periodicals in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

This article explores the crucial role of Dutch magazines in shaping travel both as a cultural activity and as a consumer experience in the second half of the twentieth century. In the wake of World War II, the Netherlands entered a period of de-pillarization (ontzuiling), economic growth and individualization. Within this context, travel was increasingly framed as a marker of freedom, taste and cultivation, a transformation powerfully mediated by the printed press. At the center of this analysis stands Avenue (1965–1994), a pioneering Dutch magazine that elevated travel reportage and photography to an art form. The article situates Avenue in relation to other Dutch periodicals of the time, such as the women’s magazines Libelle (1934 onwards) and Margriet (1938 onwards). Unlike many contemporaries, Avenue integrated international orientation not just in designated travel sections, but across the entire magazine – from fashion and literature to gastronomy and design. It constructed a cosmopolitan worldview that drew on residual colonial imaginaries and anti-tourist rhetoric, reinforcing the idea that travel was a refined, exclusive and morally superior mode of engagement with the world. At the same time, it playfully reflected on its own double standard. The editorial, material, visual, temporal, social and aesthetic affordances of Avenue shaped how readers could relate to, aspire to, and imagine travel: as style.