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Posted on by Rick Steves

Your Questions Answered

Question: Why does Rick hate Greece? Was he beat up by a Greek bully as a child?

Many reacted defensively when I opined that, when it comes to beauty, mainland Greece and Athens don’t compare to many other European countries and cities. If France and Italy are at the top of the cuisine list, someone has to keep Norway company at the bottom. It doesn’t mean I don’t like Norway…or souvlaki. I had a great time in Greece (and I was not beat up by a Greek bully when I was a kid). I am open to Greece’s differences. I celebrate differences in my travels — that’s why I do it so much, really. And my observations about the rusty and ramshackle Greek mainland were just that: observations. If I said everything was sumptuous, “to die for,” magical…well, I wouldn’t be a travel writer. I’m the first one to admit that if I don’t appreciate a place, it’s often because I don’t know it well enough. I look forward to learning more about Greece.

Question: How do Greeks feel about Americans?

I’m sure there are Greeks who don’t like Americans and Greeks who like our president. But in these last two weeks in Greece I never met a Greek who liked our president. And I never met a Greek who didn’t give me a warm welcome as an American.

Question: How can you really know a hotel without staying there and paying for it like everyone else?

You can’t. I didn’t say that I learn all the hidden little warts. My point is, no guidebook writer can stay in all twenty hotels they mention in each big city. It is dishonest to say you can. You do your best to pick up all the little quirks and describe them honestly, whether you slept there for free, paid to sleep there, or didn’t get to sleep there. A charade of “quality research” based on the boast that someone doesn’t accept free rooms is a hollow sham that I just don’t embrace.

Question: Rick complains about Americans having the shortest vacations in the rich world yet doesn’t give his employees paid vacation. What gives there?

Fifteen years ago, when my company was little more than a gang of travel bums, we didn’t have paid vacations. We didn’t have any perks except an excuse to go to Europe and call it work. Today our 80 employees enjoy at least the American standard of paid vacation (admittedly nothing to brag about) and something much more. As an employer who’s never really worked for anyone else, I sometimes don’t empathize with employee needs, but I’ve also come up with creative alternatives that work really well. For the last several years we have given bonuses across the board equal to about a third of our salaries. Rather than paying people less and forcing them to take paid time off, we pay people more and encourage them to take time off without pay as they need it, while maintaining the option to take less time off and keep the money. We also let people with families work less than full time and keep all the responsibility they would normally have with a full-time position.

Question: When will Rick’s new TV series air?

Our new series will air starting in October on PBS stations across the US. New shows include: Barcelona, Istanbul, Athens and Side Trips, the Peloponnesian Peninsula, Dordogne, Burgundy, the Czech Republic, Copenhagen, the Danish Countryside, Great Swiss Cities, “Little Europe” (Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, and so on), and a surprise destination.

Question: How could an experienced traveler like you be caught off-guard by Greek Easter?

I wasn’t caught off-guard by Greek Easter. It just complicated our filming schedule. I had no flexibility in our production schedule, so we designed an itinerary that had us shooting through the holiday season and around the closures the best we could. This required mixing up two shows in one 12-day stretch — something we try to avoid. When you have a city of 4 million people all going on vacation at the same time, what is normally the cutest nearby island can be suddenly inundated. We knew we’d find most things closed and lots of family action on Easter Sunday, and that we needed to be in the right place to let that not mess up our filming. Therefore we flipped from one show’s destination to the other in order to not be in Olympia, for instance, when the ancient sight was closed. We secured our jet-boat tickets well in advance for the island, and so on. As it turned out, except for a few traffic jams and museum closures, we shot around Good Friday, Easter, and May Day just fine, and the extra pageantry and family action was actually a plus.

Question: Are your tour sales down from last year?

Our 2008 tours are a few percentage points below our best ever sales year (2007). Whether we take 14,000 or 13,000 people to Europe each year is not my concern. (For example, just yesterday I got an email from my staff suggesting we add Morocco to our list of destinations. We all love Morocco and it is less expensive than most of Europe, so it’s potentially more affordable for our travelers and more profitable for us. But I suggested that we not do Morocco, explaining that it’s not our realm of expertise, and I didn’t want to mess up our focus to sell a few extra tours in challenging times.) The cost of our buses, guides, hotels, and meals are in euros. This is what threatens our business — or at least our profit. Our costs have jumped about 25 percent in the last year — what we charge has not. Look for a big jump in tour costs (ours and everyone else’s) for 2009.

I’m in an exciting travel panic, heading off to a country that may surprise you. I don’t want to tell you anything more than that it’s a cash society where my credit card is no good, where ties are not worn because they symbolize the previous regime, and where urinals are non-existent for religious reasons. I’ll take you there in a couple days…In ša’ Allah.

Comments

26 Replies to “Your Questions Answered”

  1. Rick, your hints on your next destination are intruiging. Let me venture a guess- it ends with either “-ania” or “-ovo”.

  2. WOW – sounds like you’re going to IRAN! COOL!!!! If I’m right about this, please do all you can to show your American audience the wonderful people and culture of Iran. Hopefully, the more we all learn about Iran, the less likely we’ll be to support our current administration’s bloody, delusional fantasies of bringing the war over there. Safe travels, Rick!

  3. I just do not understand this problem people, including Rick, have that requires complaining about the country they are visiting. They have their culture, we have ours (in spite of the people who keep trying to change it). We are not Pollyannish about our travels, but there is really no place where we have visited in 70 countries and Islands that we would not be happy to revisit tomorrow. Of course some are more interesting than others, but when we travel we know it is their home, if we don’t like it we can leave. We have never been mistreated, we have never rushed to get away from anywhere. We are there to learn about their home and way of life, and we try not to tell everyone that our home and our culture is best, even though we are positive that it is. We have been asked a thousand time, what is your favorite country, what is the best place to visit. My answer, “There is no best, each is unique, there are many differences.”=“Breathes there a man with soul so dead … ” that he is not gratified by another’s appreciation of his home, his city, and his country. He may grumble in private over the plumbing, the taxes, and his government, but he loves to have the visitors find their surroundings beautiful and interesting. The architecture, ruins from ancient times, gardens with precision plantings, the natural beauty, art and treasures, all can easily be appreciated. The tourist who comes to “appreciate” will visit and see the beauty, and never notice the negatives seen by the tourist who came to “criticize.”=We have been to Venice 7 times, and have neither seen nor smelled a problem.=As for cuisine, we “Eat to Travel,” we do not “Travel to Eat.” A ham and egg omelet in our RV tastes the same in Norway, Greece, and in dozens of countries in between.=We could count on our fingers the times people expressed a dislike for the USA, but would need a calculator to keep track of the people who loved our country.

  4. Jim, I totally agree with you….I did apologize to Rick for being harsh at times for his post, however, I do believe that if the Greeks knew that anyone compared and felt this way about their country, they would probably ask them to stop visiting, the Greeks are very proud of their culture and country. I once asked someone in the tourist office why they do not have people dress up like philosophers, ancient Greek soldiers etc. for tourists to take pictures with, (I got an ear full), their culture is to be taken seriously, its not Disney World–Greece is the Cradle of European Civilization and they want to display this in a classic and elegant manner (and its not all about making money). They are very careful on how they want their country perceived, even when electing a prime minister, I was told they want someone intelligent and well spoken to represent them as a whole.–Hopefully we all grow as time goes on, as Socrates once said “An unexamined life is not worth living”

  5. Rick, you make me smile. One day I’d like to visit Greece. I hear the cheese is good, anyway. Thanks for your honest answers. Happy travels

  6. Rick, I appreciate your honesty and trust your opinions. When I am traveling I want a critical (but fair) eye evaluating the country, not just a regurgitation of tourism office descriptions that lack that personal “take” on the place that we have come to trust from Rick. Happy travels!

  7. you said “when it comes to beauty, mainland Greece and Athens don’t compare to many other European countries and cities.” What would Lord Byron say to this, he stated that no country in Europe had the natural beauty of Greece and he also wrote much about its antiquites…especially the Lysicrates monument, he wanted to send it back to England….and his heart is buried in the mainland

  10. thanks for making me LOL Alison, Byron traveled to Turkey and still said Greece but he was never negative towards any country…LOL..thanks for the laugh…

  12. You know if you are only down a few percentage points on the tours that is great. I know most of my friends are having to decide whether to pay 160 a week for gas or buy food. And the more expensive restaurants don’t have waiting lines anymore. The traffic is a little thinner on the highways because a couple of thousand people have lost their jobs. I honestly expected the amount the be down like one quarter.

  13. I am a Canadian (an Ontario girl) who lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. I have also lived in Mexico and in Colombia. Since moving to Europe two years ago, my boyfriend and I have used Rick’s guides for at least ten different country and city visits. I have been thrilled with his hotel and restaurant recommendations and delighted with the pyramid system for sites of interest. On our travels we meet fellow “Rickers” in the most unusual places and the sighting of that blue, easy-to-identify Rick Steves Guidebook often leads to a fun and helpful discussion about where to go and what to do… or even a shared meal. I have often thought of sending Rick a postcard from Paris, Amsterdam or Budapest to say “Wish you were here.” But I have never done so… and I have never written a comment on this blog until now. Today I wish to speak out in favour of the kinds of candid observations that Rick makes in his guidebooks. I believe that he reports things as he sees them (whether that is the condition of a hotel, the safety of a neighbourhood, or the beauty of a region) and his is a sensibility I have come to trust over two years of pretty intensive travel and living abroad. In no way do his comments don’t strike me as complaints (as alleged in a comment above). Culture is complex and dynamic. This can certainly be seen at home in North America where our countries are undergoing tremendous change. Visiting, and living in, other places is complex and, sometimes, challenging. Most travellers I know gather advice/information from a range of sources so that they can make informed choices regarding the right travel destinations for them, about being prepared for the trip, and about enjoying the host culture to its fullest. I am grateful that Rick’s is one of those voices. My experience of Europe has been richer because of him.

  14. I apologize for my typo above. I meant to write: In no way do his comments strike me as complaints (as alleged in a comment above).

  15. Jim wrote: “I just do not understand this problem people, including Rick, have that requires complaining about the country they are visiting…when we travel we know it is their home, if we don’t like it we can leave.” Funny, that’s just what I was thinking regarding people who post comments on blogs. If you dislike Rick’s style, why not leave rather than complain about it? It would never occur to me to define his observations as “complaints” per se. He’s simply one person, sharing one perspective. And a thoughtful listener reader observes the nods of appreciation he extends alongside his criticism. Keep on keeping on, Rick, and I hope to catch you the next time you head up to Bellingham.

  16. I will comment once on this matter: I have a concern with those who took Rick’s comments that he was underwhelmed with Greece personally. If a travel reviewer, like any reviewer — food, films, anything — gushes over ‘everything,’ well, his or her opinion is of little value, kind of like a teacher who gives all the kids a good grade, including those who didn’t earn it. Rick has a proven track record of success and non-biased opinions, and has expressed them in an objective, respectful, and open-minded manner. Time to move on, people.

  18. Rick, “The cost of our buses, guides, hotels, and meals are in euros.” The cost IS in euros! And not: The cost ARE in euros! (certainly not “the meals ARE in euros”! The subject is COST!) As a faithful Rick Steeves reader (and a language teacher), I just felt it my duty to let you know. Ask any language teacher. Bon voyage!

  20. Morocco may not be in your “realm of expertise”, but why not develop expertise for that country? Your staff is on to something good, maybe getting feedback from your readers? Do it not just to “sell a few extra tours”, but to expand your company, and us, as travelers.

  21. Our costs have jumped about 25 percent in the last year — what we charge has not. Hi Rick- I love you like a brother. And I truly am your biggest fan. However, when I first began investigating your Germany, Austria, & Switzerland tour last November the cost per traveler was $3,495, now it’s $3,895. Are you sure you haven’t raised your tour prices? –Ray Magee

  23. I have been completely relaxed with planning Middle East travel since taking my then second grade daughter on a three week trip with a small school group (9 kids, 9 parents, not all necessarily related) to and through Jordan some years back. Each child and female adult stayed with host families in Amman and the children spent several days in the school where they were absolute rock stars. We toured the country from Jerash to Aqaba, including Petra, maybe the most amazing human improvement on earth. The Middle East is no more homogenized than Europe with countries and cultures having their own intramural strifes, jealousies and unifying characteristics. We are all so similar….food, water, security, family, community and a future for our children are universal needs. The people were uniformly hospitable and routinely grateful to have their unfiltered viewpoints heard and their humanity respected. I think the region is phenomenal(oh to be 20 again) and I have many observations and no regrets from our times and followup there. I would travel to any Islam country save for Iraq but lack only willing partners! My best friends routinely scare off whenever I propose the adventure that will change so many viewpoints forever. Safe travels Rick. I know you will be intoxicated with so much of what you see.

  24. I would love to see a Rick tour of Morocco. I long to go but my husband is a trifle squemish about going to a “Middle Eastern” country. I threaten him that if anything happens to him I am going to Marrakesh! Maybe he’d be persuaded to go on a safe tour. HAH.

  25. Rick, On your trip to Iran did you feel safe? What would be a good number of people to travel with there and feel safe? What kind of value for the ever decreasing American Dollar was there in Iran?

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