My Redemption Story: Inflicting the Fear of a Little Homelessness on a Paying Customer

Back in the 1970s as a tour guide, I drove small groups in little minibuses around Europe with a passion for getting my travelers beyond their comfort zones. It’s fun to look back on the crudeness of my techniques. Today we have the same goals, but pursue them more maturely, gracefully, and effectively — for which the 20,000 travelers who join us annually on our bus tours are very grateful. Here’s the “redemption story” (in the spirit of Ben Carson) of how I overcame my basest guiding instincts:

As a 25-year-old hippie-backpacker-turned-tour-organizer, I harbored a misguided notion that soft and spoiled American travelers would benefit from a little hardship. (In retrospect, I was pretty cruel.)

Rick Steves at age 25

I’d run our early tours with no hotel reservations and observe the irony of my tour members (who I cynically thought were unconcerned about homelessness issues in their own communities) being nervous at the prospect of spending a night without shelter. I had noticed that if, by mid-afternoon, I hadn’t arranged for a hotel, they couldn’t focus on my guided town walks. Believing they’d be more empathetic with people who never have a real bed, I thought it might be constructive to let my travelers feel the anxiety of the real possibility of no roof over their heads.

I remember booking a group into a horrible hotel above a sleazy bar, thinking that would put what I considered petty complaints about hotels in perspective. Seeing a woman from my tour group shivering with fear on top of her threadbare sheets at the threat of bugs, I felt triumphant.

Back when I was almost always younger than anyone on my tour, I made my groups sleep in Munich’s huge hippie circus tent. With simple mattresses on a vast wooden floor and 400 roommates, it was like a cross between Woodstock and a slumber party. One night I was stirred out of my sleep by a woman sitting up and sobbing. With the sound of backpackers rutting in the distance, she whispered, apologetically, “Rick, I’m not taking this so very well.” I gave her some valium — which was about all I had in my “first aid kit” — and she got through the night.

Of course, I eventually learned that this was the wrong approach: You can’t just force people into a rough situation and expect it to be constructive. Today, after learning from 30 years of feedback from our tour members and the experience of our team of guides, I am still driven to get people out of their comfort zones and into the real world with the help of our tours. But we do it in a way that keeps our travelers returning. (In fact, last year about half of the 20,000 those who signed up on our tours were alums, coming back for more.)

For me, taking a group of Americans through Europe is a rich opportunity to experience a little reality: Seeing towering stacks of wood in Belfast destined to be anti-Catholic bonfires and talking with locals about sectarian hatred helps make a trip to Ireland meaningful. Taking groups to Turkey during the Syria’s civil war has helped me share a Muslim perspective on that conflict. And visiting a concentration camp memorial is a required element of any trip we lead through Germany.

As a tour guide, I always made a point to follow up these harsh and perplexing experiences with a “reflections time” when I tried only to facilitate the discussion and let tour members share and sort out their feelings and observations. I’ve learned that, even with the comfortable refuge of a good hotel, you can choose to travel to complicated places and have a rich experience. (And when our tour members complain about something, I can’t help but think back on what we used to inflict on our paying customers.)

Comments

28 Replies to “My Redemption Story: Inflicting the Fear of a Little Homelessness on a Paying Customer”

  1. Did any of your “tourtured” tourists ever book with you again? Hope you treated them a tad better the next time. I love your way of traveling as a temporary local, but even as an old hippie myself I would have probably walked away from bedding down in the tent or above a sleazy bar.

  2. Rick, so interesting to see how you looked and ran your tours, back in the day. Live and learn and move to the future. That said, bring back the beard, Bluebeards Original would be happy to help!

  3. It irks me that you have such a low opinion of Americans when you are one yourself. From what I understand you didn’t grow up poor. Where would your highly successful business and lifestyle be without all us soft, uncaring, closed minded, spoiled Americans? One more thing. I do like learning about other cultures and even their hardships but why is it Europe is real but we have no “reality”.? I’ve always dreamed of taking one of your tours but not so much now. Why would I want to travel with a company who thinks so little of me?

  4. I too am a tour guide, at a large newspaper in Los Angeles, and I’ve evolved over the years. Though I never have experienced a tour in a circus tent with asst. color about, I find I can relate a great deal to this post. BTW, I always enjoy your PBS broadcasts, including the journey to Iran, amazing journey it was.

  5. Rick, we LOVE YOU! Your approach, sense of humor everything!!# It was a pleasure meeting you in Santa Rosa..my daughter Braggs to everyone that she met you, got a hug and an autograph for her birthday.
    Thank you. ;)

  6. I love the photo and story. I can totally relate to you, as I backpacked Europe by myself in “76 and “78. Only by being there can one really see how many fellow tourist become the ‘ugly American’. I have learned some things the hard way, and have also learned from other’s mistakes. Some simple things that we don’t give a second thought to such as walking across somebody’s grass is considered rude in Europe. And I’ll never forget when another American asked for ketchup, an incensed restaurant owner muttering “You Americans! You eat ketchup on everything!” But we live and learn, right? I’m glad you developed a better business sense though, or you wouldn’t be where you are now. And I’m still at it; my husband and I were backpacking in the Czech Republic last Sept. when an English gentleman approached us at the train station and said to my husband “Wow, I thought I was world’s oldest backpacker, but you may have me beat!” When we compared ages, I had him by 5 months, so I guess you and I may share the title Rick (I’m 63).

  7. I’m glad you’re no longer a snob about American travelers. You have opened up travel experiences for so many of us and let us see things we’d otherwise miss on our own. Thanks.

  8. Connie: Rick said that his attitude when he was 25 was misguided and cynical. Many people that age think they know everything, and much more than their elders. Like most of us Rick grew up and recognized the error of his ways. His tours are designed to challenge the assumptions of guests, stretch their thinking and expand their world views. The history of Europe and Western Asia goes back thousands of years. The reality is there is nothing to compare in our country. Rick is a good American, and I believe experiencing travel on one of his tours could only produce a higher thinking more compassionate citizens. I can only hope to go on one or more of his tours in the future.

  9. Although looking back I guess I got out of my comfort zone on more than a few occasions (e.g. driving through Tito’s Yugoslavia in the late 1970’s) I like to plan carefully. I had a husband who did not like to book ahead and he is now history. As a Canadian I think I was usually treated better by the locals than I would have been if I were American, usually because I did try to communicate. After I had kids (two daughters) we all left our “comfort zone” in 2001 when we went for a week in Paris during the school March break, after five straight march breaks at Disney. The kids were 12 or 13. The following year we were in London where we found no lineups at the London Eye (first day US bombing Iraq if I recall correctly). I would like to stress that leaving one’s comfort zone does not mean being cold, uncomfortable or in danger. It does mean being resourceful, being prepared, while at the same time being open minded and not judgmental. After years of organizing vacations, I am taking one of your bus tours in 2016 along with a number of cousins. Looking forward to it.

  10. Good gravy! I’m so glad you matured a bit! That’s pretty harsh. :) Thanks for all the interesting and helpful info you put out there for us.

  11. You’re great Rick. Nothing you do–or have done–will diminish you in my eyes! I have been on several of your tours and now I go it alone since I have lots of confidence to do so. In fact, I quit my job in March 2015 and backpacked thru Eastern Europe (7 countries!!!) all alone with no hotels booked. It went fine and was the experience of a lifetime. You are a NATIONAL TREASURE and have certainly enhanced and changed my life. (BTW, who the hell would have rutting sex in a tent of 400??? Maybe it was their lifelong dream/fetish??)

  12. Thank you, Rick, for this look back at your early tours. I enjoyed this glimpse of how your 25-year-old self felt about American tourists. Like a lot of young people, you thought you knew everything:) I have never been on one of your tours, but have relied on your guide books on every one of my six trips to Europe. So glad you mellowed! If you hadn’t, I doubt you would still be in this business. Hence, there would be no guide books, and I would have been lost in Europe without them!

  13. Rick,

    Few would be as candid and honest about the “way we were.” You were misguided, in a sense. I wish there was more candor to your present shows, more than the miscues on narrations, but the real mess-ups, when things go wrong. Maybe that doesn’t happen any more, the travels look so polished and perfect, and insanely easy… it’s intimidating. If you could open the door slightly wider, reveal a few more of the failures, perhaps more of us would have the zen mind to risk it and range.

  14. I love it! I’m pretty sure I’ve stayed in that huge tent in Munich during Oktoberfest (we actually planned to camp outside the big tent, but our little tent was flattened in a storm and the big tent was our only option). It was crazy, but fun, and made for great stories and memories!

  15. To what extent did the travelers under your watch know that they were getting into? After reading Europe Through the Backdoor, I had all the expectations in the world that I would be sleeping on trains and in public parks – which I certainly did when I was traveling solo. Didn’t the people on the tour have a similar notion? I always thought one of the key components to Europe Through the Back Door was to get off the beaten path (but of course not to beat up on traveling companions).

  16. Maybe its the sins of youth but I think it is ignorant to think that Europeans are so sophisticated and brilliant just because they are Europeans. They really are not they are just as dumb, rude and uneducated as Americans and really all citizens if the world. People are people and you can try and understand and respect and follow a countries customs and cultures but in the end you are the culture and customs you were raised and from what I’ve experienced Americans try alot harder to respect and be kind to other culture’s in their travels then they do when they come here.

  17. I respect your honesty. I’m sold, I will stick with your outstanding guide books and develop my own tours.

  18. Dear Rick:
    I have learned from you as I lead a small group to Italy each year. Our goal is to get as close to the average Italian experience as possible, see the off the beaten path hidden art treasures,and eat in cafés with locals. But we do book basic but safe clean rooms with ac. There is nothing worse than a grumpy traveler that didn’t sleep well, especially me.

  19. I too backpacked through Europe in the 70s-once for 2 months and again for 3 months. And we really did rough it too, sleeping in student hostels and in parks and dorrways and many nights on the train (not always having a seat on the train either! Sometimes standing or sitting on the floor!). Rarely did we eat in a restaurant!! A loaf of good bread and some cheese and ham was our normal meal-usually eaten on a park bench. It always amazes me how spoiled many travelers are, needing 1st class everything!! You definitely have a different trip when you rough it! I am glad I did my first few trips that way!! (Not to mention that I met my husband on my first trip to Europe, while on a boat going from Spain to Morocco but thats another story!!)

  20. Rick,
    On the look-back it may have been rather cruel. That is by today’s standards. Back then we seemed to handle a lot more discomforts that we do today. Did you ever keep in touch with that woman that was shivering, afraid of bugs? I would really like to get her point of view now, on how she felt then, compared to what she remembers.

    Suggestion: Go back and try to find some of those travelers from your tours in the early days and interview them! That would be an awesome read!!

    KEEP ON TRAVELING RICK!!

  21. I would love to hear about your “turning point.”
    What helped you to see things differently?

  22. Rick (et al): I completely sympathize with your original intent and appreciate the subsequent maturation of the process. I think your goal of exposing Americans to some of the harsher realities of life abroad, as well as the differing perspectives than what we get fed by commercial media are admirable. I look forward to similar “blasts from the past” when you have time. It might be nice to see other pictures from the past few decades…especially “then and now” pictures of places you’ve been to and people you’ve met.

  23. I’m feeling pretty lucky having only read your books and not having been one of your unsuspecting “Americans.” When you work in a profession of service, you expect and accept that you’re not going to make everyone happy. You don’t really know what it’s like to deal with complainers until you’ve walked a mile in an old army nurse’s shoes. I’ve long thought you’ve held my dream job. At least now I can feel good about changing the channel. Sad.

  24. Thanks for sharing Rick! I think sone of the negative comments come from people not grasping, that you did this in your youth and realized it was ineffective and perhaps you regret it now. I too believe it is important to be taken out of our comfort zones, for it is there, we truly grow and experience things on a different level and perspective. Keep up the good work in leading people to awareness to destinations and experiences unknown to them.

  25. Thanks for sharing Rick! I think some of the negative comments are from people not grasping, that you did this in your youth and realized it was ineffective and perhaps you regret it now. I too believe it is important to be taken out of our comfort zones, for it is there, we truly grow and experience things on a different level and perspective. Keep up the good work in leading people to awareness to destinations and experiences unknown to them.

  26. I was there in 1973, not with Rick, but somewhere in Europe traveling “through the gutter” as you say. It didn’t feel like a gutter, but an endless adventure. After my first backpacking trip in Europe(’73) I signed up for Rick’s newsletters. They spoke my language. They were cleverly written and tempted me to join a tour. But I was too cheap and would go on my own again to keeps costs down. ….oh and yes..that tent in Munich was perfect. I wished every main city in Europe had a giant tent because those darn hostels were too expensive. Sleeping spots included train station womans’ bathroom(we were desperate), leaning up against huge boulders in northern Norway (Tromsø)..missed last train), stayed under bushes waiting for early morning Holyhead to Dublin Ferry….just to name a few . Back then when I was 18 -21 , these trips were not homelessness, instead these trips were life adventures. Would I consider a Rick Steves Tour today? Definitely !!I’m 60 years and ready for comfy quaint hotels, but I still cant afford it. It is on my bucket list though.

  27. Hi Rick, I love the stories of your early trips, as a sheltered American, I long for those experiences NOW and much more. I want to get out of my comfort zone and get closer to life. I traveled to India to see up close how others in the world are living. On a recent trip to Burma, the guide was one of the best I have had because in the free time he offered us the opportunity to travel through very simple villages and get much closer to the people. We were invited to a wedding feast and one of the group asked him “Do you think the food is safe to eat?” and he replied “I would say there is some risk” but basically “live a little, take the risk” and amazingly some previously very cautious people dug in to the food. Lots of digestive upset on that trip, but no one died, as far as I know. I don’t think you were misguided in your youth, your actions were exactly what this American needs today. Rick, thanks so much for being so endlessly strong and positive.

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