We lost one of our own this month – our Consultant Photographer, Dhaval Dhairyawan, passed away, far, far before his time. It was numbing, shocking, devastating, unbelievable – and even these words can’t really say how we feel at having lost him. Having worked with Dhaval at my previous magazine, BBC TopGear, and at Lonely Planet Magazine India, I’ve had the honour of working with one of India’s very best photographers, and a genuinely wonderful, warm, eccentric and lovable person. Even though he did not shoot very much for LPMI, owing to his long and ultimately fatal illness, he set a standard that we tried to stick to, which is why he is still, even this month, listed as our Consultant Photographer in the masthead, one last time. He shot our very first feature – Hong Kong – in our very first issue in February 2010 (the ‘sea-monster lady’ photo remains one of our most iconic), and we featured some of his last work in our Easy Trip to Singapore in our April 2012 issue. I’d give anything to have known more about the illness, to have been able to tell him to stay at home and get better before he went rambling around again, but at least we have his work in our magazine, and for that I feel privileged.

Wherever you are, man, have a good one.

Nevertheless, we’re trying to look ahead – we have our awards coming up (the ceremony will be held on May 3, 2012), and we hope we’ve brought you another great issue. The third in our annual Summer of Discovery series, this one, too, aims at unpeeling the layers of the world’s most interesting places, sneaking around in unknown alleys and talking to fascinating people. We start with Prague, bringing you the relaxed side of this exotic (and sometimes spooky) city, move on to Kuala Lumpur, which we’ve explored in four different ways, not just one, and pop back to Europe to bring you its national parks – did you even know Europe had those? We also have India and the very pretty remnants of its colonial past, and Montréal, the answer to every negative thing that’s ever been said about big cities.

It’s summer – go explore.

It’s all very well to decide that yes, we’re old and respectable enough and we should go pat a couple of people on the back, but it’s a lot more difficult in practice. Whom are you supposed to give awards to, for example? Great travellers? The best restaurants? (God, no, there are thousands.) The best places to go in the summer and winter? We do that anyway. The best food? The most comfy beds? The cleanest trains? This could go on and on.

So we simplified it, and, in a moment of great cunning, left it all up to you. We simply drew up a list of nominees, and made you do all the hard work, all the hemming and hawing, the gnawing at the end of your pencil before you decide, the paper cuts and the scratching out and re-selecting, and figured we’d just show up at the party.

I probably owe you a beer, come to think of it.

In the end, though, we’ve come up with something pretty big. The best destinations, the best travel providers, all the stuff that India likes most when it goes on holiday. Everyone whose name comes out of an envelope at the awards ceremony should – and will – feel pretty damn kicked, because it’s their customers who have voted for them. From the airline that gave you the best service to the country that helped you immerse yourself in its culture to the homestay that most made you feel at home, we’ve covered a vast spectrum, and celebrated travel as a whole.

Just in case you still wanted something more in terms of travel ideas, we’ve included our usual armada of Easy Trips and Mini Guides – and also brought you the sometimes mystical, sometimes sinister beauty of Beijing, and the wonderful Moplah cuisine of Kerala.

Thank you for making Lonely Planet Magazine India’s first-ever Awards a big success – and we hope your travel improves as a result.

This is me talking to several heads of state. I have them tied to chairs in an undisclosed location, with Dr Evil-style deaths designed for them if they show even the slightest signs of disagreement. I’m also, of course, much better-looking, have a Porsche and a lair inside a volcano.

“Look, gentlemen,” I say, “let’s be reasonable.”

They nod fervently, unable to speak because of the socks stuffed in their mouths.

“Why do we need visas?” I ask, in a calm, reassuring tone of voice. “Why do I need your permission to roam around your country, buying things, paying for food, spending rather large amounts of money in your hotels? My country has decided to give me a passport, I clearly have the means to travel, and a nice home and a great family and a great job to return to. Yes, I have relatives there, but I actually gave them the idea to emigrate in the first place, because they talk too much, so what makes you think I’d want to stay on with them? I can’t work in a shop – I’d eat all the candy – and I’m not fit enough to be a labourer.

“See… I’m going to contribute to your economy. You get me and my countrymen there, your voters will earn money. I have scads of your people shuffling along in Goa and Manali and Hampi, with next to no money and no place to stay – and I have to present a full itinerary before you’ll let me in? I beg you, reconsider.”

Then, the unmarked graves filled, I’ll go party with the other heads of state, the ones who welcome me in, no visas required, and we’ll celebrate a better world.

Actually, this has already happened (the government’s just hushing it up) – so I can bring you our list of the fantastic places you can travel to this summer – places that either don’t require a visa at all, or will give you one with great ease because you’re Indian.

There’s Turkey – whose majestic, colourful capital makes for a delightful short break, there’s Costa Rica, which is as easy to do as it is exotic, and there’s Taiwan, Cyprus and a whole load of others, which you can get to if you already have a valid US, UK or Schengen visa. Among those is Ireland, where you can try, and fail happily, to play the harp after several hours of beer and great humour – and try to figure out who made the Cliffs of Moher.

There’s our own country, too, which isn’t particularly bad, even in the summer.

There are great places to take the typical big Indian family to, there are hill stations in South India to go escape the heat in, and there’s the satisfaction of knowing that some officious idiots abroad are making a little less money because they’re being so cranky about handing you a visa.