South magazine 72: Travel & Adventure Issue | Page 18

PUB LETTER
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
PHOTO LOCATION
17 SOUTH ROD & GUN CLUB
BACKPACK BY BLUE FORCE
GEAR (BLUEFORCEGEAR.COM)
SOME THINGS YOU CAN ONLY
SEE FROM THE OUTSIDE.
S OME THING S YOU CAN ONLY SEE FROM THE
OUTSIDE. BUT ONCE YOU SEE THEM, YOU REALIZE
THEY’VE BEEN STARING YOU IN THE FACE THIS
WHOLE TIME.
I’d like to welcome you to our adventure issue, in which we
pay tribute to the many adrenaline-pumping experiences that
await around every bend in the river and fork in the road in the
South. Like nowhere else in the world, the South dares you to
find your next adventure, challenges you with every mountain
trail and backcountry duck blind to take a giant bite out of life.
They have lakes in Minnesota? Ours have gators. They have
fields in Kansas? Ours have wild hogs as big as pickup trucks.
Adventure is as much a part of Southern DNA as sweet tea and
sunshine. And it’s everywhere you look.
TEAM
SOUTH:
COVER
SQUAD
18
As we embarked on this adventure issue, it
seemed a fitting time for me to remind myself
what an adventure this magazine can be.
After all, some things you can only see from the
outside. For the longest time, I was worried I’d
forgotten what an adventure South magazine is.
It’s a common trap we all find ourselves in from
time to time. Some call it a slump, some call it a
rut, I prefer to think of it as a momentary loss of
perspective. My own momentary loss of perspec-
tive came after 13 years of putting out a magazine
with an all-consuming pride in craftsmanship.
That pride resulted in an amazing magazine,
if I may say so myself, but it also resulted in a
decade-plus of late nights, early mornings, and
marathon editing and designing sessions in an un-
broken chain. I’m immensely proud of the work
we did in making South what it is, but I had lately
become aware of the toll it was taking on me.
It was time to get away, to enjoy a look at this
adventure from the outside. I headed west to
celebrate my parent’s 55th wedding anniversary
and give myself a chance to breathe. A chance to
look at this magazine and the great adventure
it represents from a fresh perspective. It was
something I’d never done before, in all the mad
rush to have every issue completed on time and
with the same craftsmanship our readers have
come to expect.
And with that fresh perspective, I gained a new
appreciation for the adventure that awaits me
with every new story we come across, and with
every issue we put out.
May the adventures in this issue inspire you
to get away, pursue your own adventure, and give
you a fresh perspective on the adventures that
await in your own life.
This magazine, like the South it represents, is
an adventure. I thank you for sharing it with me.
April | May 2018
FORMER
ATF AGENT
TELLS ALL!
LOU VALOZE
FORMER
ATF AGENT
URBAN
RENNOVATORS
BNB
PARADISE
A/M
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(Display until MAY 25)
GoSouth!
THE GUIDE TO
THE GREATEST
PLACES TO EAT,
STAY, PLAY
AND SHOP
20
ADRENALINE
PACKED
ADVENTURES
2018
GREATEST
DESTINATIONS
Through various storefront operations
and a few dangerously close calls, Lou
Valoze took countless criminals off
the street as an undercover ATF agent.
Read his amazing never-before told
stories about what went on behind the
scenes on page 100. Cover photogra-
phy by Blake Crosby. Cover design by
Michael Brooks.
GoSouth!
THE GUIDE TO
THE GREATEST
PLACES TO EAT,
STAY, PLAY
AND SHOP
MISS
LAUREN YOUNG
(yep, that's her real bicep!)
THE VET YOU
DON'T EXPECT!
20
ADRENALINE
PACKED
ADVENTURES
A/M
APR-MAY 2018 H ISSUE #72
05
6
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0
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(Display until MAY 25)
USA SOCIAL MEDIA
PHENOM MISS
LAUREN YOUNG'S
RELENTLESSLY
PATRIOTIC QUEST
2018
GREATEST
DESTINATIONS
ON THE COASTAL SOUTH
This issue, we lucked upon our cover
model Miss Lauren Young, a former
army MP who’s taken by the internet
by storm. Miss Young represents the
relentlessly patriotic brand, Nine
Line Apparel, who has a little success
story of their own. Lauren’s boyfriend
Bobby Hill photographed her for the
cover and the article. Cover design
by Michael Brooks. For more, go to
ninelineapparel.com.
MICHAEL BROOKS
PUBLISHER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR
When it comes to pulling off a cover, you need to enlist the help of the best. For the Travel &
Adventure issue, we did just that. Photographers Blake Crosby and Bobby Hill brought the
vision for this edition’s covers to life. Local photographer Blake Crosby perfectly captured the in-
tensity of former ATF agent Lou Valoze’s incredible true story, which you can see on the cov-
er and inside the magazine on page 100. We turned to Bobby Hill for our other cover, featuring
patriotic internet sensation Miss Lauren Young. His work can be seen on page 94 alongside
the story “Model Mayhem.” For our stylist, we turned to Chellie Heckman, who worked her
magic to help bring South’s cover to life. You can find her by day honing her skills and helping to
keep the elite beautiful at Rob’s Salon in Savannah.
SOUTH
ABOUT THE COVERS
eckman
Chellie H
Blake Crosby
Bobby Hill