By ANNE GOODFRIEND
USA Today

Arthur Frommer never stops.

The man who spun Europe on $5 a Day into an empire has just launched what he calls ''the culmination of a 40-year-old dream,'' Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel. The quarterly magazine joins the more than 200 guidebooks bearing his name, the cross-country lectures, the syndicated radio show, the 6,000-page Web site.

On newsstands this week, the 128-page premier issue includes ''This Spring's 40 Best Bargain Vacations,'' ''Las Vegas on $0 a Day (Well, Almost ...)'' and ''Swapping Homes: The Wise and Dazzling Route to Free Vacations.''

The outspoken, opinionated Frommer, 68, has made a career of championing Cheap (the word is proudly capitalized in his editor's letter) and attacking the travel industry's sacred cows.

He rails against ''fantasy books,'' magazines that send young writers of modest means ''to write up these $450 a night rooms. No one would do that with their own money.''

''I take trips more casually than most people,'' he says. ''I've been known to get on (a plane) without a suitcase, but I buy a T-shirt and shaving equipment and go to Europe.''

Typical tourist attractions don't attract him. ''I'm bored with the standard forms of travel - going somewhere just to look at some dead physical site I've seen in travel books or on TV. Part of the adventure of life is to confront yourself with other viewpoints.'' That goes for his readers, too.

Frommer sees Budget Travel, subtitled ''vacations for real people,'' as a how-to manual covering ''mass-volume, popular-price'' options for ''the entire American population.''

Information in several articles duplicates or adapts material from Frommer guidebooks and other outlets. The closing essay, for instance, can be found on his Web site (www.frommers .com), and the 40 best bargains include ''many I've written before,'' he admits. But ''there will be hardly any such (recycled) material in future editions.''

Though other writers, including his daughter, Pauline, contribute articles, ''the 40 bargains are my choices. We hope to eventually put a seal of approval on them, like the Good Housekeeping seal.'' While he's currently focused on the magazine, Frommer keeps his eye on the wider world of travel, spotting trends as well as deals. ''In the past few years,'' he says, ''the industry has mastered the modes of travel and the economics of travel, enabling more people to go farther than they ever dreamed - you can go to Tahiti for $700 from the West Coast.

''People of modest income are traveling to more remote destinations,'' but many places, such as Venice, ''are being overwhelmed by crowds and destroyed by the mainstreaming of travel. If there is a (trend), it will be to discover even more remote destinations.''

And yes, Frommer realizes that the traveler advice offered through his various enterprises ''might destroy a place or pensione I direct people to.'' That has been a ''constant conflict,'' he says.

But he's not aiming for the ''60 percent of Americans (who) travel to turn off their minds and free themselves of stress.''

Rather, he directs his expertise to ''a significant and growing number (who) travel for life enhancement, to learn and expose themselves to different lifestyles ... the only kind of travel that satisfies me.''

And where will he next seek satisfaction?

Though he has never been to Tibet and would love to see Sri Lanka, he'll head for China - after the magazine's second issue is finished. Arthur Frommer's favorite five destinations Travel guru Arthur Frommer crisscrosses the United States several times a year and has visited more than 100 countries.

In the United States, he recently made his first visit to Captiva and Sanibel islands off Florida's gulf coast, where he was delighted by Sanibel's wildlife refuge. Also dear to his heart are the Berkshires and western Massachusetts in the summer.

Frommer's five favorite foreign destinations: Paris. ''I never tire of it; it's the ultimate in tourism.''

Colonial cities of Mexico. ''In San Miguel de Allende, I took public buses every day, trying to live in the life of central Mexico.'' Inner Bali. ''The coast has been all squeezed out by tourism,'' but in the central uplands ''you find a rich culture. We saw marvelous dance presentations that are intended for the Balinese. There are cities that emphasize particular crafts like woodworking or stone sculpture, (where there are) no high-rises. Even there, they've had to fight the worst kinds of development. How much longer it can remain that way under the onslaught of tourism is the question.'' Northeast Thailand. ''Our most thrilling recent trip. We visited with the Hill Tribes, slogging through the jungle to meet these Stone Age people.''

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ''One of the most exciting cities in the world.'' During Carnaval (this year, Saturday-Tuesday), ''the melodies of samba are so infectious. ... The crowds are mainly from the area; only a tiny fraction are tourists. The entire nation lives for Carnaval: They're so proud of their culture, they're (happy) to have you there.''

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