Who can resist the simple pleasure of tearing through a spankin’ new magazine, especially if it’s travel-themed? In honor of this satisfyingly analog ritual, here’s the first dispatch in a series I’m calling ‘Zine Scene, in which the latest travel magazine to grace my mailbox gets the once-over and I  highlight my favorite articles, finds and tips. Let’s kick it off with the May/June edition of Budget Travel.

There’s a decent piece about the exploding popularity of vacation rentals (“Ready to Try a Vacation Rental?”, page 17). OK, BT may be a little behind the curve on this, but one stat they mention sticks out to me–the average savings per square foot when you choose a vacation rental over a hotel room is FIFTY PERCENT. I recommend starting your search with AirBnB, FlipKey or HomeAway.

I love the one-pager about the Hongdae neighborhood in Seoul, Korea (page 22). Apparently it’s a cool up-and-coming ‘hood centered around a really famous college of fine arts. A couple noteworthy spots BT mentions are chocolate shop Theobroma and artisan ice cream parlor Fell+Cole. Definitely an area to check out if you happen to have a long layover in Seoul (which I recently did)!

Though I’m not a parent, having recently played host to a little one and her parents, I know how crucial the right gear is for traveling moms and dads, so I can appreciate the “It’s the Little Things” product roundup (page 30). It includes a bunch of stuff aimed at making travel with kids a bit more bearable. The one item that stands out to me is the KidCo PeaPod Plus, a really sweet looking pop-up tent mattress that folds up into a carry-on and would definitely make even the most boring Super 8 motel room seem super fun.

“Middle America’s Last Frontier” (page 33) got me with the title alone. It’s about exploring the sandhills of central Nebraska and the Niobrara River. Cool. Who knew?

The “Theme Park Survival Guide” (page 41) reminds me that I still really want to go to Dollywood! Pure Americana.

I only skimmed through the three main feature stories–they weren’t really calling to me this time. But if you’re sweet on tracing your Irish roots back to Ireland (page 44), taking kids to Berlin (page 52), or picking Bing cherries in Wisconsin (page 62), then by all means check out this issue of Budget Travel!