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World Hum Interviews Rick Steves
It's hard to argue with the success of Rick Steves. Even if you're not a fan of his guides (I am), you can't deny the influence he has had on millions of travelers bound for Europe. Our friends over at World Hum recently ran a great interview with Rick. Here are some highlights:On communication...
"Stuff that we couldn't even imagine 30 years ago is commonplace now in Europe. In the old days it was a big issue how to stay in touch with a loved one. You'd go to the American Express office and you'd pick up mail that was two weeks old and you didn't know if you got it all and so on. Now, my son just calls me on the cell phone and you pay a buck a minute and it's great. I just love it."
On experience...
"What takes away from the [travel] experience is having enough money that you buy yourself out of all the risk and all the unpredictability. That could happen 30 years ago, it can happen today. When I travel, there's no unpredictability. If I'm determined to get from Milan to Córdoba today I'm going to get from Milan to Córdoba. There's something to be said about roughing it for the sake of roughing it. You just have a more vivid experience. You meet more people. You're more needy. You let yourself into people's care."
On drugs...
"I've also been comparing American drug policy to European drug policy. People in America think you're either hard on drugs or soft on drugs. They say Europeans are soft on drugs. I think you're either hard on drugs or you're smart on drugs, and I think Europeans are smart on drugs as opposed to waging war on drugs."
Click here to check out the interview in full.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kathy S. Glow Aug 13th 2007 10:15PM
I love Rick Steves travel books. We went to France last year and used several of the hotels he wrote about and he was "right on" about everything. That book was in the front seat with me right by my purse for easy references to just about anything. My husband uses a travel bag that he sells and finds it quite handy. For us, he is a wealth of information.