I recently responded to some questions from a reporter. I thought you might find my answers interesting (and I have nothing else handy in my blog bucket).
How has your job changed the way you travel?
I do whatever is necessary at whatever cost to maximize the value of my time, like hiring taxis and local guides.
How much do you plan your trips in advance? (What do you leave to chance and what do you nail down beforehand?)
These days, because I’m committed to an intense research schedule, I book all my hotels in advance. Each day unfolds as I’m there. It’s really a fun challenge to envision each day’s work of a two-month trip, three months before departure, and lay out an itinerary where each overnight is right on.
What are some packing tips you’ve picked up?
Pack light.
What’s the one thing you won’t leave home without taking with you?
I’ll give you three: my laptop (with an extra battery), my iPod, and a little something to help me sleep.
What do you wear on the plane? Why? And what do you bring with you on the plane to make the ride bearable?
I wear a sweater and my noise reduction headphones. I’d rather fly coach with noise reduction headphones than business class without.
How do you deal with jet lag?
Leave home well-rested. For about the first three nights in Europe I use a quarter tab of Ambien when I wake too early to finish that night’s sleep.
What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at a destination to acclimatize yourself or get the bead on a place? How do you get your bearings?
I read my guidebook chapter about the place. (That also helps me sleep when struggling with jet lag.) I also like to simply get out and wander—slow, alone, head in the clouds—to just pick up the current flavor.
How do you find non-touristy spots?
I talk with locals about their favorites. The Moms and Pops who run the little B&Bs and guesthouses I recommend hear day in and day out what thrills and disappoints their guests. I vigorously pick their brains. But it’s important that I get beyond cronyism. People working for the tourist boards are worthless in this regard.
How do you approach local cuisine? Is it something you seek out (or find overrated?) How do you find good local restaurants? What are your thoughts on street food? What sorts of things do you look for to determine whether a street vendor is worth trying?
Places near markets, places with no English menus, and places with fast turnover are a good sign. Döner kebabs are my new fast, cheap, lunch option, washed down with a nice refreshing glass of ayran, a yogurt drink. But I want a kebab stand that does a brisk business. “Local cuisine” is often clichés that only tourists eat. Lately I’ve been careful to cut back here.
How much of your travel is on your own? What sorts of things have you learned to do when traveling solo? Do you have tips for other solo travelers? (Do you have tips relating to bars and restaurants in particular? Nightlife?)
Unless I’m filming or apprenticing a new researcher, I generally travel alone. I assume my readers are in bed by midnight. I use my evenings to check restaurants. I then eat a late dinner in my favorite restaurant find of the evening. Then I go home and input text into my laptop of what I learned that day. I can work 60 hard, long days in a row but only if I get 7 or 8 hours sleep a night.
How do you record and take notes on your trip while traveling? (Are there certain products you use? Do you schedule certain times of day that you take a moment to write observations down?)
I love my Moleskine notebooks. I feel like a human lint brush. I’m constantly collecting scraps of news, tips, and new ideas and then diligently working them into existing or new chapters as I input it all into my laptop.
How do you keep in touch with others while traveling? (products? times of day/ email? postcards?)
I deal with my email nearly every night—but only once a day. I haven’t sent a postcard for ages. I’ll never travel without the help of a mobile phone.
What sorts of tourist etiquette tips have you picked up along the course of your travels? Is there a way you’ve learned to approach locals that particularly effective? A type of attire? What would you absolutely avoid doing?
I don’t worry about what kind of flowers to bring or how to cross my legs. I am just genuinely respectful, curious, and positive with the people I encounter on the road. And I enjoy being received warmly. For people in the tourist industry in Europe, I just do my work with laser focus and if they appreciate that they work with me. If some big shot in the tourist board wants to have a long lunch with me, I tell him that I am committed only to my readers and I have one shot at updating the material in his city and I have no time for a social lunch. This just doesn’t make any sense to (and astounds) many of the bureaucrats I meet and deal with in Europe.
Thanks Rick, for “keeping it real”. We’ve all aged a bit since starting this travel lifestyle, and some conveniences, like taking a cab from the train to the hotel can make a huge difference in energy levels for the rest of the day. You’re still our travel mentor…thanks for all your hard work. Do you have the best job in the world? Some would say yes, I’d say, whoa, could I work as hard as you do on your research and filming trips? I doubt it.
I would not for the moment suggest that Rick’s way of travel is not the best for him, and most other people. I will list a few of what I call Travel Gems, that show another way of life, but with several suggestions for all of you. === Just remember, It’s amazing how many ridiculous, stupid, ignorant, inefficient, obnoxious people you will meet, when you are in a bad mood. === Just make allowances for what you don’t know, and look for a place to sleep before it gets too late in the afternoon. After a good night’s sleep you can put up with most anything the next day. === When you travel have your purpose, budget, and overall schedule well in mind. Once you decide what it is you want to see and do and what your schedule and budget will permit, don’t make changes without a good reason and then come home disappointed that your initial purpose was forgotten. === Our Travel concept includes: If we have no schedule, we aren’t late. If we don’t care where we are, we aren’t lost. If we can’t see IT this trip, we’ll see IT next time. If we have no itinerary, we’re just where we ought to be. === We certainly don’t “rough it,†in our RV, we couldn’t be more comfortable in our 1200 nights in a RV or trailer. During our private travels we have spent 200 to 300 nights in maybe 130 hotels, in perhaps 40 states, in Canada, and from Prague, Czech Republic, to Saipan in the South Pacific. === During business travel, I spent maybe another 900 nights in 70 cities in 37 States, in maybe 150 to 200 different hotels. Those numbers of nights and hotels are estimates, but close enough, you get the idea. === In the past 60 years I have spent 2500 nights in someplace other than my home address, and my Sweetie was with me for 1500 of those nights. === The only long journey I will ever make again, is to join my Beautiful Sweetie in her gorgeous new home, for eternity.
Hi, Rick. I stay up until the countries sleep time to adjust to the time change and ward off jet lag. Ambian would work, too. Happy travels.
hey Rick, bravo for not messing around with beurocracy. props! being on a tight buget everytime i go to europe has led me to the doner kebap as well. however, i discovered that this would be my staple diet when im in europe on my first trip to europe 6 years ago. i live in southern california so i like to think of the doner kebap as the “mexican food” of europe. only better.
Hmmmmm. I’ve given the Donor Kebab fair tries, but beside the impressive exhibition of a huge sizzling hunk of meat, the flavor, etc. leaves me underwhelmed. I much prefer a big sausage in a bun, a beer and a paper cone of nuts. No wise cracks please.
All interesting, but the question I would ask you in an interview is what other television travel shows do you like watching. I wouldn’t ask you which you don’t like–you appear to be too much of a gentleman for that. But Michael Palin’s series have had their own voice, as have some of the “Globe Trekker” programs. Actors have other actors they love to watch, as do directors. Writers have favorite authors. Classical musicians enthusiastically admire others of the genre they enjoy. We know from your radio show that other travel writers who have guested do work you respect. So — do you like to watch others who host television travel programs? I wish that journalist would have asked.
Enjoyed this summers blog, kind of sad it is over! But the Euro is dropping and maybe it is time to start thinking about another trip. Thanks for the info and kind words you gave my son and daughter in law this summer when they met you! Thanks to all your books and videos they had a great three weeks in Europe! Judy
Would someone please leave a description of what a doner kebap is. I’ve never seen or tried one. Thank you.
Rick now that the pound and the euro are finally dropping to match the US dollar and our economy are you considering lowering your tour prices since you jacked them up because of the poor euro, pound dollar match?
The Donor Kebab. I’m no expert, but this is what I have observed: The meat is usually lamb or chicken, though can be beef. Never pork, since a huge percentage of ownership in the stands in Muslim. I seem to recall they marinate in spices, large thin slabs of meat, possibly pounded into large round slabs…about 12 inches or so in diameter. They then impale the slabs on a vertical spit…building layer upon layer of meat until they have a stack that looks 2 feet tall. Then they swivel very hot lamps into position and turn the spit motor on…which rotates the meat for an even grilling of several hours. There is a nice juice catching pan at the bottom, but I’ve never seen them make gravy or pour the juice on my sandwich. Once the meat is done enough on the outside, they slice little bits off…round and round the whole chunk and lay it on a pita bread wrap. You get some lettuce and tomato and some sort of sauce. The diameter gets smaller and smaller as they trim and as the day goes on. I guess because they mostly use lamb or chicken, the meat does not have a nice healthy color. It is bland tan, pale yellowish. I’m sure the color, colored my ability to appreciate it as other on this blog have. I’ve only tried them in Germany and Austria, so maybe the flavor is better somewhere else?
If it’s a sandwich with chicken, lettuce and tomato, it sounds good…for me anyway. No snails or pig ears for me. Thanks for the description
Just a quick note to compliment whoever the reporter was that posed the questions you answered Rick. I think the questions they posed were very insightful and thoughtful.
I’ve never seen a doner kebap made with chicken. Lamb and/or beef. And depending where you buy it, and what part of the meat it comes from, it can vary from delicious to almost inedible (Thessaloniki bus station).
In listening to some of Rick Steves’s podcasts (while I exercise, clean, travel), I have heard him speak about “The Lonely Planet”. I’m not sure if they have a TV show or not, but do know they have travel books. So this is one outside travel “expert” I know Rick Steves enjoys. In fact, he even recommends some of their books.