I wanted to share an email with you that inspired me today:
Hi Rick,
This may be something you get ALL the time but I am giving it a shot. I admit, I am not writing as a long-time fan. But after hearing about you from my father, I have taken the time to look at your website and check out some clips of your shows. Let me explain.
My dad was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. Eventually he was forced to quit his job in a hospital because the environment was something that his immune system could not handle. I do not want to go into the cliche details of a cancer patient’s ups and downs. However, I would like to share a little detail of how your work has given a great ray of sunshine to a grim scenario.
At the age of 57, he was forced into home confinement because of this cancer. He joked around about becoming the stay-at-home husband he’d always dreamed of being. But we knew it was making him miserable. However, he would talk about some of the things he would do to stay busy. He especially loved the “European travel show with Rick Steves,” as he put it.
As I eventually began learning, your show was what he looked forward to each day. He cut our phone conversations short so many times because your show was about to air! Through all of the depression and shock of trading in an active life for staying home each day fighting cancer, he found his joy through your program. He knew his illness would never allow him to travel to the grocery store again, never mind Europe. However, after every episode he would still make notes about all of the places he would love to go in the cities you visited.
During my last year of college I studied abroad in London. After returning, my dad was fully prepared to quiz me on the things I had done and seen because “Rick said THIS was the best place to go” or “Rick said THAT area near the Thames River had the best views.” I laughed at the time but as I write this I really do appreciate the fact that my dad was able to escape the hell he was living in by traveling with you to London, Budapest, Normandy, Tuscany and all of the other places he could only dream about.
I realize this is part of the reason why you do the show and have heard thousands of stories, but I couldn’t resist sharing this.
He is currently receiving treatment at a cancer center here in Houston, Texas. He came for a stem cell transplant but things are not looking so great and it doesn’t look like he will make it to that transplant. But what keeps him going each day? Having his family here and the fact that he found a channel that sometimes airs Rick Steves’ Europe!
It appears that you only do European travel so I take it that you won’t be in Texas anytime soon. But I would love nothing more than to have him receive a personalized message from you, perhaps in the form of a phone call or hand written card. This may sound absurd but I figured it was worth a shot.
I understand if it’s not possible and I haven’t told him about this wild idea for that reason. But I do want to send a big THANKS from Houston!
-A new-ish fan, Adele Thompson
I hope Adele and her father’s story can inspire us all to be thankful for our health, to embrace life while we have it, and to travel (if we’re so inclined) while we can.
I used to be very wrongheaded about the value of my travel teaching being for “real travelers” only. Now I now see that part of my mission is also to help those who can only dream about faraway places to do so vividly.
Most of us will, one day, be able to carry on the way we like to only in our dreams. My dad will always be on the verge of buying a boat, even though his sailing days are over. And for as long as he’s around, we’ll talk of his next boat. My old landlord used to shuffle into my travel center (well into the Parkinson’s disease that eventually took his life) to plan his next trip — even though his caretaker and I knew it would never happen. I remember unfolding the maps and marveling at how just daydreaming about flying away brought him such great joy.
I called Adele hoping to speak with her father today but he was unable. As I pop some DVDs in the mail to Adele’s dad and hope they’ll arrive in time to take him on a few more trips, I am reminded how our travel spirits can outlive our passports. And I’m inspired to respect and celebrate the resilient spirit that keeps us going.
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX is the premier cancer medical treatment place in the South. Others in the U.S. are Mayo Clinic and Sloan Kettering. Your number is never indisputably UP, but the odds are that none of us is getting out of here alive. So doing what you think will make you happy while you are still capable of doing it is important. Of course, most of us have obligations to our family. So we shouldn’t spend outrageous sums to fulfill our last minute dreams and leave debts to our spouses and children. But if we can vicariously enjoy travel, why not? And Rick Steves obviously contributes to that with his blogs and books and DVD’s. To be perfectly honest about it, sometimes our armchair travels – using our imaginations – are almost as good as the real thing. So to Adele Thompson, whose dad is so young, you did a nice thing. So did Rick Steves.
What a beautiful letter. Rick, I do hope you called this man. I work in health care, and I know your call would be like majic to this man.
Rick, this may be the most moving post that you have ever made. Thank you for your compassion.
Rick, These are the kinds of posts that I love to read from you. Long before I was ever able to afford to travel, I did so with you every Sunday morning at 9 am. I would drink my morning coffee as you took me off to some European land. You have the ability and talent to take us all to the places that many of us only dream about. Keep on travelin’ and telling us all about it.
What a special letter! My husband and I are still able to make regular trips to Europe, but we also enjoy being armchair travelers between trips. This letter is a good reminder that we all need to be thankful for our health and the ability to do our day to day activities, as well as travel from time to time. Thanks for sharing this.
Adele, I really appreciated reading this letter. I too enjoy traveling in my mind. It is a wonderful tribute to your father. Rick, You reach a lot of people. I hope that you will consider writing a post to encourage people to contribute to the relief effort in Haiti.
Rick, I love this post. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to travel to Europe. However, I am also enriched by your travel shows and opinions. Keep at it!
My wife and I managed one trip abroad before a major stroke 10 years ago made any more possible. The vicarious travel we achieve through watching your programs is a really good second-best to being there. I’ve talked with others who do the same. Thanks from all of us.
Sometimes the most vivid trips you take are in your imagination with the help of your shows. You have shown this person grace and a focus he would not have otherwise.
I hope you do call him. I know it must be hard sometimes to be out there and people really do think they know you personally by your vidio’s. That is just the way you present yourself. We travel almost once a year and we watch all your shows in between. They are really uplifting. Get us through real life. I know if we met you in person we would probably be surprised how different you are. My son and daughter in law met you in Harlem and they were shocked at how tall you are.
I was reading this post yesterday and boy…it begun to get a bit dusty in my office; being 40 and having both my parents around, this surely reminds me to be greatful for it. Me and my wife have travelled to Europe every year for the past 6 and looking forward to no. 7 this september,we were born and have always live in Mexico. Adele’s story reminds me of that scene from Forrest Gump (one of my 10 favorite movies) were Forrest is telling a sick Jenny all the beautiful places he had travelled to and she tells him: “I wished I could’ve been there with you” then he says “You were…”, well Adele’s father is going to be with a lot of us in our travels.
I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to travel extensively, both on my own and with groups including Rick’s. I too now have cancer and am confined to a wheelchair. Rick’s blogs, programs and DVD’s have helped me continue and relive my travel dreams. Thank you for that
This has been the most inspiring and worth while post in forever. Thanks for sharing with us and I hope you sent him tons of free stuff to read. In case he does not know it he can catch you anytime he wants on Hulu for free. Great great heartwarming sincere reverent post
Dear Rick, I was in Kaiser Hospital in Oakland for three days in intensive care after a heart attack, but feeling fine after a clotbuster. How great it was that your marathon was on for KQED (I think). Even the nurses would sometimes sit on the edge of my bed and watch!So I traveled flat on my back! Now OK 4 years later. Did you cure me?
There you go, Rick. If that doesn’t give you the motivation to produce more TV shows, then I don’t know what else will. PS to Adele: After your dad has seen every Rick Steves’ episode for the 20th time, have him check out the “Visions of Europe” series, for a great bird’s eye view of Europe.
Thank you so much for sharing this letter with all of us and I am sure your phone calls and DVD gift will be greatly appreciated. It is wonderful to hear touching stories like this. Keep them coming Rick!
Wow. The past two posts have been the best I have ever read. I have been following this blog since it’s inception. Blog Gone Europe has morphed into an amazing tool that reaches beyond borders. Like having a unapologetic passport to all countries.
Because we are all globally inter-connected whether we want to be or not, I can’t imagine any traveler, including arm chair travelers, or even any non traveling US citizen not taking interest in what is going on outside our borders. “French Leaders Push for Ban of Muslim Dress in Public Places” headlines the 16 January 2010 edition of the Washington Post. Mama Mia, as one of Rick Steves’ guides (Helen Inman)likes to lace her conversation with when she is expressing surprise. On 26 January a parliamentary commission in Lyon will urge condemnation of full-face veils in France. At its extreme, such a law would bar fully veiled women walking down the Champs Elysees. The proposal has sparked a fire-storm of controversy on both sides of the issue. There are 5 million Muslims in France of which a few thousand wear veils. Some people feel banning veils is a security issue. Others feel it is ironic and inappropriatte in a land that bills itself as the cradle of human rights. The full veil is a fundamentalist symbol and way of life for Islam but is it appropriate outside Muslim countries? Stay tuned all you “citizens of the world.”
About five years ago I took my parents on a trip to Scotland just before they turned 80. We all had been before, but never together. Dad hurt his foot before he went, but not so bad that he couldn’t go. We had a great trip together. I’m so happy I did this as since then my Dad has not been well enough to take that long a trip. They still travel in the US to visit family an friends back east, but a 8 or 9 hour flight would be too much. So, he too now travels through my journeys, shows like Rick’s, and great books. Thanks Adele, for writing and Rick for sharing.
Thank you for this!
It makes me very happy to see that humanity is still alive. Sometimes in world today I wonder if people really care about one another. I see that we still do. I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to Europe three times. When left Europe the last time I said “Goodbye” to Europe as I knew my health and age would not allow me to return. Your shows keep my dreams alive. I feel so privileged to travel with you without leaving my living room. Thank you for this post. Adele’s father shall be in my prayers.
Rick, one of your best blog posts ever. I lived overseas as a child and as soon as I “re-found” European travel as an adult, I found out I may have a limited time to travel due to an illness. I am embracing what I can afford now, while I can, but half the fun is daydreaming and planning. God bless you for your attempt at calling. Prayers for Adele’s father.
I feel so privileged that Adele’s father is a guest in my city. He is getting the best possible care–especially if it’s at M.D. Anderson. What a fantastic post. Reading these other comments makes me glad I didn’t wait any longer to travel to Europe. The best time is always now, and the connection all of us share here is our curiousity for other places and cultures, whether we are able to travel or not. I know my highlight of the week is sitting down for Rick Steves’ Europe on PBS/KUHT Channel 8 at 1:30. Tomorrow, I’ll definitely be thinking of Adele’s father.
My dad died three years ago. I had just returned from my annual trip to somewhere in Europe(that year, Italy), and had only a week to talk with him about it before he died . I did not know he was ill, and he forbade my mother from telling me because he didn’t want me to cancel my trip.I was heart-broken, at the time, because I felt I had been cheated of time with my father, and I told him that. His response to me was that my traveling was his ticket out of our small town, and that he wouldn’t have missed this last trip for anything!I started traveling because as long as I can remember, my father bought me books about other peoples and places, told me to make sure I dreamed large.To make sure that I became a world citizen. To imbue MY children with the love of travel(which I did. They both travel with their college friends, now).My husband and I enjoy planning our trips, and we always watch your PBS series as part of our planning.
I just had an enjoyable experience triggered by my lead guide in Spain and Portugal, Helen Inman. She has lived in Madrid and I always had a million questions I wanted to ask her about contemporary life there but never got the chance. But in perusing the RS website today I discovered the radio interview section, stumbled across an interview with the Seattle-born wife of one of RS’s guides (Jennifer Iglesias Galvin is Carlos Galvin’s wife) and thru that interview plus a call-in from an American who married a Spaniard and living in San Fernando Cadiz for nearly 30 years got many of my questions answered. To Adele Thompson whose dad is hungering for info about Europe while he recuperates, I suggest he plug into these radio interviews which embrace many many areas of Europe because I think he will find this 20 to 40 minute vignettes very entertaining and insightful. And thanks RS lead guide Helen Inman for whetting my appetite to learn more about day to day life in Spain.
Dear Friend, this was a wonderful post. If anything, it emphazises how important your work is to countless people. Your shows transport on journeys the vast majority of us will never travel. Your blog is equally important to thousands of people who have already watched all your shows and continue to watch them. We use this blog often to spur thoughts of one more trip, have one more opportunity to see in our mind’s eye lands unknown to us, peoples unmet, and cultures different. The blog becomes water to parched lips. Many of us will never be able to physcially travel again, but we can come here and read yours and come to know you better. Thank you for attempting to share your time with Adele’s father. Thank your for providing breaks from my day when I read your blog. A thousand thank-yous would never express our gratitude.
Rick — Thank you for posting this touching email. My father passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. Since then, I have had conversations with my mom, who says they wished they hadn’t put off doing their big travels until they were older and retired. They always figured there would be enough time once they retired, but they never dreamt my dad would get ill so soon. She told us that her one regret in life was to not travel more. We’ve taken her thoughts to heart and now travel as often as our schedule will let us… to farflung places like Rome and Istanbul (through your tours). It’s a big splurge but we’d rather do it now while we are younger and can still afford and enjoy the experiences. Thank you.
Rick, Thankyou for posting this! My thoughts and prayers are with Adele and her family.
Rick……….I think Adele’s letter was beautiful and moving….and your reply to it and phone call was the nicest post I have read of yours since you started your blog years ago now….I hope you finally do get to talk to Adele’s Dad soon if he is well enough…..best wishes to Adele and her Dad……and may he enjoy the DVDs you sent and your shows on TV for some time yet…..
Heckuva job Brownie!!
Dear Rick, Count me as another armchair traveler. I’m in good health, thank heavens, but like many people my limited time (and income!) are focused on raising my kids and caring for my family. Travel overseas is going to remain a distant dream for quite some time. Your shows provide the added bonus of bringing some cultural knowledge to my kids. The kids usually stop to watch when I pop in one of your DVDs, and thus absorb the bits of art, architecture, history, and culture you include in every show. They aren’t getting very much of this at school, so I’m very glad to be able to provide some at home. You never know what will spark a lifelong interest. So I just wanted to thank you for providing these wonderful windows into other places. You help expand the world for lots of people. Well done, sir.
I second everyone’s compliments to Rick and thoughts and prayers for Adele’s father. We began traveling to Europe as often as possible after we started watching Travels in Europe 15 years ago! Rick, your shows made us believe we could do it ourselves. I’m in Houston, and checked the KUHT (Houston’s PBS channel) schedules. Hopefully Adele will read this or someone at RSE can pass this info along to her and her dad: Rick Steves Europe airs on Sundays at 1:30 pm on the “main channel” (HD8.1) It also airs every weekday at 2:00 am and 2:00 pm on the “secondary channel” (SD 8.2)
This letter and your response gave me chills. Our time on earth can be short but finding that one thing that lifts our spirit if just for a moment is so important! I remember too how I would take one of your guidebooks to my solo lunches during a low pt in my life when I could not travel to Europe. It was the relief and distraction I needed. Keep up the good work.
I’ve noticed that Adele and her dad have generated much more feedback than some of RS’s other subjects like drugs. Do Rick’s employees notice that? Is there a correlation between what people seem to want to read and Rick’s business prospects? Is it possible some of Rick’s employees are pushing the envelope to the detriment of their peers and his business? Maybe they think the way to fill the cornucopia with NEW business is to cater to what THEY think is the new wave of traveler in the US?