A Story About Magazines

In the sixth grade, I took the Amtrak to NorCal to visit some relatives. During that trip, I picked up a copy of Automobile magazine and started to read. And read. And read.

Before I knew it, I had gone through the entire magazine, reading every article (our train was delayed on the tracks for several hours). I took one of those subscription cards with me, and started my first magazine subscription soon after.

I figured that at a dollar an issue, I wasn’t paying much. After what seemed an eternity of waiting, my first Automobile magazine arrived in the mailbox. I was thrilled. I still remember that first issue, the one with the orange cover and three SUV concept cars – a Land Rover, Jeep, and Hummer.

Month after month, my happiest days would be the days I got the newest issue of Automobile in the mail. In those olden days, I read every single article with awe, taking in pictures of the newest cars, learning about the automobile industry, and dreaming of my dream car.

Soon, I added a subscription to SLAM (basketball). This was followed by brief year-long stints with Autoweek, Car and Driver, Motor Trend (yes, I really love cars), as well as Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, and Breakaway. It was too much to handle. I stayed with Automobile and SLAM.

Sophomore year was an important year magazine subscription-wise. It was the year I started my TIME magazine subscription. I started to read TIME every week, several times a day, getting my fill in the most current world, sports, and pop culture news.

I read at least 10-15 minutes of TIME every day throughout high school, as well as articles from Automobile and SLAM. It wasn’t until senior year of high school that I started another new subscription to Motorcyclist, due to my sudden unexplainable interest in motorcycles.

College has put a dent in my usual magazine reading habits. I just seems that I don’t have the time for magazines anymore. It’s tough as is balancing school, work, and clubs. I hope that once I get a break, I’ll catch up on some of my current issues, which are slowly piling up one by one.

I’m sad that I’m gradually letting go of something that was so important to my identity. At the same time, I’m not going to sweat over it. I will continue to subscribe to my current three. It’s been nearly six years since I opened that first issue of Automobile. And I’ll never forget the happiness I felt at just being able to sit back, relax, and read.

More about me at randomtidbitsofthoughts.wordpress.com.