(MONEY Magazine) – The fast-approaching holiday season is an excellent time for travel literature. With winter weather looming, what better time to dream and scheme about indulging your wanderlust? And what better way to please all those restless travelers on your stocking-stuffer list than by providing them with fodder for some prime armchair travel during the cold winter months? Lost in America addressed this topic last year by looking at travel reading. This year I want to examine a different type of publication: travel fanzines--or "zines," as they're typically called. Zines are small, eccentric magazines produced on haphazard schedules and shoestring budgets, often by a staff of one. Published in print runs that range from a few dozen to a few thousand copies, they can't match the production values of "real" magazines, but they make up in passion what they lack in polish. While most zine writers aren't professionals (there are exceptions: I publish a zine that covers the details of consumer products), their fervent devotion to their subject matter often results in articles and perspectives that other writers might miss. So while travel zines bear little resemblance to Conde Nast Traveler or Travel & Leisure, they nonetheless offer practical, hands-on information from real people who travel on real budgets, just like you do. Best of all, travel zines frequently cover topics you didn't even realize you were interested in until you read about them. That ability to spur the imagination and ignite the spirit of adventure is at the heart of all great travel writing. Here are some places to find it:

Out West: The Newspaper That Roams 9792 Edmonds Way, Ste. 265, Edmonds, Wash. 98020; 800-274-9378; www.outwestnewspaper.com; published quarterly; $3.50 per issue, subscriptions are $12.95 for four; payable by Visa, MasterCard or check

Operating out of his RV, Chuck Woodbury has been pursuing his unique brand of "dashtop publishing" for over 11 years, traveling the two-lane byways of the American West. Woodbury, who cites Charles Kuralt, John Steinbeck and Lewis and Clark among his inspirations, provides journals of his countless road trips, tips on where to eat and stay, short articles on noteworthy attractions and random musings about the people and things he encounters along the way. A recent issue focusing on Arizona included articles on ghost towns, flea markets and a small-town couple who operate a radio station out of a spare bedroom. A must for anyone traveling in the Mountain or Pacific time zones.

Tomb with a View P.O. Box 24810, Lyndhurst, Ohio 44124; members.aol.com/TombView/twav.html; published quarterly; $4 per issue, subscriptions are $15 for four; payable by check

Cemeteries, with their beautifully landscaped grounds, striking mausoleum architecture and rich historical heritage, are now marketing themselves more and more as travel destinations. This superb newsletter-style zine, edited by a cemetery guide and consultant, features nationwide listings of cemetery walking tours, articles devoted to topics like the meanings of common gravestone symbols, overviews of historically significant cemeteries (a recent issue spotlighted the Beaufort Old Burying Ground in Beaufort, N.C. and the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, both of which date back to the 1700s) and reviews of cemetery-related books and publications.

Travelling Shoes P.O. Box 206653, New Haven, Conn. 06520; published roughly once a year; $2 per issue, subscriptions are $7 for four; cash only

With only three issues under his belt, veteran traveler H.D. Miller has already established himself as one of the best travel zine editors. Each issue is devoted to a specific locale, with Las Vegas, Morocco and Seville having been covered so far. Miller's inquisitive nature and knack for historical detail make him an ideal travel commentator--in the Las Vegas issue, for example, he explains how prime rib became the city's ubiquitous cheap meal, and the Seville issue has a great article on the American fascination with bullfighting. Thought-provoking and entertaining.

Infiltration P.O. Box 66069, Town Centre Post Office, Pickering, Ontario L1V 6P7, Canada; www.infiltration.org; published five times a year; $2 Canadian per issue; cash only, American funds accepted

If you've ever driven past an abandoned factory and wondered what it would be like to roam around inside--and let's face it, who hasn't?--Infiltration is for you. Subtitled "The Zine About Going Places You're Not Supposed to Go," it's devoted to exploring underground tunnels, restricted areas, dormant construction sites and similarly off-limits places. Articles in recent issues have described trips through old utility tunnels in Chicago, storm drains in Minneapolis, abandoned missile silos in New Mexico and abandoned train stations in several cities. Of course, actually engaging in this sort of travel may not be for everyone (and in some cases may not even be legal), but that's okay--not many people can go on the lavish junkets described in the glossy travel magazines either. Even if you have no intention of scaling that chain-link fence, Infiltration's riveting articles make for some of the best adventure travel writing available.

Weird N.J. P.O. Box 1346, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003; www.weirdnj.com; published twice a year; $5 per issue; payable by check

Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore notwithstanding, the Garden State is more often the butt of jokes than a hot travel spot. But Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran see it differently. Exploring New Jersey's nooks and crannies, they report on local mini-celebrities, the state's wealth of old-fashioned diners and burger stands and the area's rich heritage of spooky phenomena (including the New Jersey Devil--yes, the one the hockey team is named after). As their zine's title suggests, Sceurman and Moran have a somewhat tongue-in-cheek take on New Jersey's charms, but their state pride comes through on every affectionate page.

Paul Lukas publishes his own zine, Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption. For details, reach him by e-mail at consumer@interport.net.