A Bug’s Life

So much more than luggage, Travel Bug gets into the beer game

BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com

You’ll find not one but two signs at downtown travel shop, bookstore and, perhaps unexpectedly, café and beer outpost, Travel Bug that read, “Buy books from people who want to sell books, not colonize the moon.”

And you know what? Heard. It’s a solid dig at the most dig-at-able Jeff Bezos’ seeming war on independently owned bookshops for sure. And even in Santa Fe, where folks go around telling people we’re progressive as all get-out, many still patronize Amazon more than our local haunts. That on its own wouldn’t be so bad—people are only human—but it’s usually at that point we turn around and wonder why things have changed so much around here for locals.

I digress. In the case of Travel Bug, change is good. But then, maybe it’s not change-change so much as it’s a method- ical and deliberate evolution that has played out over many years under the watchful eye of owner Greg Ohlsen. When one thinks of Travel Bug, they likely envision suitcases and paper maps, maybe a nice sunhat or a sturdy water-resistant watch. It’s the place you go when you want or need a high quality printout of a USGS map pulled from any coordinates in the country. And though you’ll surely find those things, Travel Bug also boasts a comfy café with a simple menu of hits such as panini, a breakfast sandwich and bagels, plus coffee; Ohlsen has also been brewing his own beer on the premises lately.

And though it is notable that Travel Bug is also the only Briggs & Riley luggage retailer in the city, not to mention a solid stop for new-release non-travel books, I specifically visited one recent afternoon to learn more about the burgeoning beer program and to get a little snack. After doing so, I’m ready to call it, folks: Travel Bug is a winner, and more people should hang out there.

Of course, you probably know the name. The business has been a Santa Fe fixture since 1998, when Ohlsen, formerly a contractor, opened up on Montezuma Street near the former Sanbusco Center. Previously, circa 1990, Ohlsen and his wife, Ellen Stelling, founded Garcia Street Books, but they sold that business when Travel Bug opened. Since then, they’ve been adding any elements to their travel mecca that strike their fancy, including the aforementioned menu and beer, plus travel talks, poetry readings, slide shows and more. It was enough to make me ask myself why I don’t frequent the place, but em- ployee Devin Horne kind of hits the nail on the head: “I just don’t think people know it’s all here,” she says. “But they should.”

When it comes to house-brewed beer, for example, most folks might not immediately grok to a travel store carrying that particular item. It’s just the one variety for now: an IPA-style number that’s still in flux a bit, but it’s reportedly getting better with each new batch. The small sample I tasted was not over-hoppy, but it was certainly refreshing and bordering more on the traditional pale ale style. Considering Ohlsen only started brewing beer in earnest during the pandemic, though, it feels like he’s on the right path.

“It’s a challenge, it’s harder than I thought, I watched a lot of YouTube,” he tells SFR. “I went around and talked to the local brewers, but it can be hard to learn how to do anything just from talking to people.”

Ohlsen’s one of those can-do types, though, so he’s making it happen. Travel Bug serves up a damn fine cup of coffee, too, from Albuquerque’s Red Rock Roasters, and though the shop doesn’t offer drip, note you can get espresso drinks—including an Americano; $2-$3.95 depending on your preferred number of shots. Really, this trip was about the ham panino with roasted red peppers and sun dried tomatoes. At $9.95 it’s a good deal, and you can add the aforementioned beer if you like ($4 per half-pint, $6 for a full-pint) or just stick with coffee. You can enjoy it all in the cozy inside space’s seating areas, or, once warmer months roll around, the street side patio on Paseo de Peralta. Ohlsen is even kicking around the idea of adding a small pizza oven to his operations, but that’s not a done deal yet. Besides, the business is already working for many patrons as-is, especially nearby resident Judy Costlow. “I come in here most every day,” she tells SFR. “I like the ambiance, the coffee, the treats.”

Ditto, Judy. In fact, if I were looking for a place to do some writing, pick up a new novel or even just hoping to throw down a quick sandwich with a bud, Travel Bug is pretty high up on my list now. Or how about knocking back a cold one, recently brewed, while enjoying a travel-based slideshow or poetry reading some evening? Sounds like summertime magic to me.

FLOWERING POETRY CLUB OPEN MIC:

6 pm Saturday, March 4

Suggested donation Travel Bug

839 Paseo de Peralta (505) 992-0418