More Vintage Rick Steves Photos

It was so much fun reading your comments on my “Hipster” slideshow, that I dug up a few more vintage photos to share over the coming days. I hope they bring back memories of your vagabonding and backpacking days of travel like they did for me. I also hope they inspire you to start planning your next vagabonding adventure. As the saying goes, today is the good old times of tomorrow.

This is about the only photo I have of my first trip to Europe. It was 1969, and I was a 14-year-old nerd with my mom just outside Vienna on the border of Hungary. I was with my parents visiting piano factories. (The best and most expensive piano in the world, Bösendorfer, is made in Vienna.) Our host--the piano salesman--is in the window. And the man on the left enthralled me with a story of how he personally witnessed the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, which kicked off World War I. I was so wonderstruck hearing this vivid story from this amazing character, that I fell in love with history (eventually majoring in it a few years later in college). And I realized, “Hey, this travel stuff is fun.”
This is about the only photo I have of my first trip to Europe. It was 1969, and I was a 14-year-old nerd with my mom just outside Vienna on the border of Hungary. I was with my parents visiting piano factories. (The best and most expensive piano in the world, Bösendorfer, is made in Vienna.) Our host–the piano salesman–is in the window. And the man on the left enthralled me with a story of how he personally witnessed the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, which kicked off World War I. I was so wonderstruck hearing this vivid story from this amazing character, that I fell in love with history (eventually majoring in it a few years later in college). And I realized, “Hey, this travel stuff is fun.”
It’s June 20, 1973, the day after graduation from high school, and I’ve filled the biggest backpack I can find with needless stuff. I’m ready to fly to Europe for my first trip without any parents. It would, in retrospect, be the best European trip of my life.
It’s June 20, 1973, the day after graduation from high school, and I’ve filled the biggest backpack I can find with needless stuff. I’m ready to fly to Europe for my first trip without any parents. It would, in retrospect, be the best European trip of my life.
A few years after our graduation trip through Europe, Gene and I headed off to India. This photo was taken on the way home--in Frankfurt after sleeping on the airport floor using my new sitar as a pillow.
A few years after our graduation trip through Europe, Gene and I headed off to India. This photo was taken on the way home–in Frankfurt after sleeping on the airport floor using my new sitar as a pillow.
My favorite country in the world to travel in is India. It rearranges your cultural furniture and wallops your ethnocentricity. But, I think the experience is too personal to lend itself to my style of travel teaching. In Europe I can systematize smart travel. In India--it’s just you, the beggars, the monsoon, and God. When riding an elephant in India, always carry an umbrella. Back then, I wore clothes you could literally wash, wring out, and put on while still wet. It was monsoon season anyway. (I remember being so enthralled by this elephant ride that I pulled my legs up a split second before the elephant crunched into a concrete landing dock. Quite shaken up, I realized I came within a moment of losing both my legs in India.)
My favorite country in the world to travel in is India. It rearranges your cultural furniture and wallops your ethnocentricity. But, I think the experience is too personal to lend itself to my style of travel teaching. In Europe I can systematize smart travel. In India–it’s just you, the beggars, the monsoon, and God. When riding an elephant in India, always carry an umbrella. Back then, I wore clothes you could literally wash, wring out, and put on while still wet. It was monsoon season anyway. (I remember being so enthralled by this elephant ride that I pulled my legs up a split second before the elephant crunched into a concrete landing dock. Quite shaken up, I realized I came within a moment of losing both my legs in India.)
I’ve long used this photo to illustrate how good travel requires meeting people. “If you see four cute guys sitting on a bench, ask them to scoot over.” I’ve been saying this for 30 years...and it still works. Find something...anything to talk about (like black socks and the joy of lots of pockets).
I’ve long used this photo to illustrate how good travel requires meeting people. “If you see four cute guys sitting on a bench, ask them to scoot over.” I’ve been saying this for 30 years…and it still works. Find something…anything to talk about (like black socks and the joy of lots of pockets).
Comments

10 Replies to “More Vintage Rick Steves Photos”

  1. I know traveling to places like music festivals or even when I take my family on vacation it can get hard and you are always looking for a discount where you can lol I do when I have to take my son to concerts so I wanted to let you guys in on something I use hotelsmixmatch.com they will save you 80% on your hotel which is just amazing to me that’s crazy they are a underground company so that is why they can offer these low rate for any hotel you want good luck guys but if you save some money with the site and get a lot off your hotel please donate some of that money to st.judges hospital for kids

  2. Oh my gosh, more black socks. Anytime you are tempted to wear black socks especially with shorts, put a dollar in a jar and eventually you can purchase socks that match your pants or shorts. Your socks should never be darker than the hem of the item you are wearing. Violating that sock code is just plain wrong.

  3. In the first picture, who’s the man with the cigar? He bears a striking resemblance to Lech Walesa.

    “Your socks should never be darker than the hem of the item you are wearing. Violating that sock code is just plain wrong.” In the US, maybe. It’s fairly common, at least where I live in Germany.

  4. Rick,

    Your caption and photo from June 1973 bring back fond memories of my first visit to Europe. It was July 1993 when I went to Ireland. I chose the Emerald Isle because as an English literature major, I found that I loved Irish literature. You might have packed the biggest backpack you could find with needless stuff, but you still traveled smarter than I did. To Ireland I took an unwieldy leather suitcase packed with needless stuff. It was not until my third European visit — Germany and Austria in 1996 — that I started using a backpack. I got the idea after reading “Europe Through the Back Door,” which I had received as a Christmas gift. Thank you for the good advice I have followed and travel enthusiasm I have never lost for 11 visits to Europe and the Middle East.

  5. I did not know about black socks being common to wear in Europe. Does this also apply to women, because if so, I will wear them on next trip? Thanks for the tip.

  6. RE black socks… I rarely see anyone wearing white socks, but realize that the situations in which you would notice the color of the socks of Germans, Belgians, Swiss, Austrians (I can’t comment on the rest of Europe) are generally when people wear shorts. Meaning, you won’t notice this as people walk down the streets in cities, but more likely as they do yardwork at home, or go on walks in their leisure time.

  7. I remember buying one of your early books and recall how you suggested checking food left in trays by others.Boy ,have times changed re health measures!

Comments are closed.