After 13 and a half years as editor-in-chief of Canadian Geographic magazine, Rick Boychuk has resigned. His last day there will be Jan. 30. "I've been thinking about it for some time," he says. "I just felt that the magazine needed a new vision and new voice. I've just been restless for a little while and felt now was the time." A replacement is likely to be named sometime next week.

Two successful initiatives from Canadian Geographic—the launch of the Canadian Environment Awards and Canadian Geographic Travel magazine—were launched during the Boychuk era. He's also proud of the political world map produced in conjunction with the magazine's 75th anniversary (800,000 copies have been printed so far) and a special issue of Canadian Geographic, published in 1999, dedicated to the creation of Nunavut and featuring the first detailed map of the northern territory.

Like most titles, Canadian Geographic has seen its advertising dissipate over the last few months, but Boychuk says the magazine's subscription business (worth about $5 million annually, according to our calculations) remains healthy. He expects Canadian Geo to weather the recession "just fine." 

As for his own future, Boychuk says he would love to stay in magazines, but "doesn't see a whole lot of opportunities these days." Instead, he is "exploring a whole bunch of possibilities—none of which I can talk about right now—but none of them are in journalism."

Before he makes any career decisions, though, Boychuk has more important matters to attend to. "First off, I'm going to Cuba."