Someone wondered in a previous blog “just how does Rick spend his time and what does he do for fun in Europe?” It’s strange that I would take time out of my sightseeing to respond…but, for some reason, I feel like you are all my travel partners…and it’s fun to share. Here’s my routine (excuse the clipped writing…but I’ll be fast):
Bottom line for me–get eight hours of sleep and stay healthy. Otherwise, virtually every minute while I am researching is dedicated to the mission: make the books more helpful for my readers. While working in Europe, all experiences of the day are dedicated to research. If my readers can’t do it next year…it doesn’t exist. I thrive on local tips, leads, and feedback. Hotel receptionists, who deal with American travelers day in and day out, are hugely helpful. My Madrid hotel doesn’t serve breakfast so I need to find one. If it’s a problem for me…it’s a problem for my readers too. I ask the receptionist’s advice–where’s a good churros place (greasy cigar-shaped doughnuts Spaniards dunk in hot chocolate for breakfast) He says, “Americans want Starbucks…it’s over there.” I need to balance my interest in having people enjoy the old fashioned cliché and the modern reality. I dunk a few churros (it’s a chain cafe…not much local energy) and treat myself to a latte and blueberry muffin (we’re all just human). Next year, it’s in the book.
Over coffee I review my goals for the day. Updating a chapter is like that video game where the little guy bounces through all sorts of pitfalls collecting golden rings. He won’t get them all, but the more the better. There are a million little things to check. If I’m well-organized, I’ll visit nearly all in person and minimize what I call “the phone sweep.” As the books have grown, it is unrealistic to physically visit every place mentioned every year. When my time is just about done in a town, I call it good and finish things off by phone. You’ll see phone numbers in many listings that you might wonder “why have a number for that?” It’s there for me (or another researcher) for updating purposes.
Making a smart schedule is critical. Minimize walking and do things at the smart time. Checking hotels before 10:00 is bad news–people haven’t checked out yet…the staff is still busy with breakfast. It’s hard to get anyone’s time and it’s hard to see a room. Checking late in the afternoon is also bad–everyone’s checked in for the day and many places are reluctant to show rooms.
To save time these days, I often hire a taxi by the hour to hit a series of hotels and sights. This saves time but puts distance between me and the transfer reality of a typical tourist with my guidebook. I need to understand the public transit challenges. I routinely take the subway and bus just to physically do what my readers are doing. For instance, a few days ago I took the new shuttle bus in from the Madrid airport, connected to the subway, and walked and walked and walked between underground trains with what seemed like millions of people with my bags to get to the hotel. This is the experience of my readers and it’s mine too.
A major challenge these days is to find the real price of a hotel…sorting through the ups and downs dictated by new-fangled computer programs that predict the demand and price-sensitivity. These days rack rates are bloated to cover the 20% commissions paid to web booking services (which are becoming the standard system for most hotels in Europe these days). I try to convince hoteliers to appreciate my readers coming direct by giving them a net rate (their rack rate less the commission they assumed they’d lose).
My great advantage over other researchers is that the recent success of my books means I meet people all the time who I can quiz. They think I’m so friendly and gracious to take time to chat…but I truly enjoy it…and it’s practical–very helpful for me because I learn what works and what doesn’t and what are the pitfalls and frustrations people traveling with my book are dealing with.
I wonder when I’ll burn out, but I absolutely love this research work. I guess I’m powered by the proud feeling that no one in America with his name on a guidebook is actually doing this. The sight of my frayed pants and dusty old shoes gives me a tri-athlete’s buzz (I think). I have a knack for finding small business people who love their work in Europe. This gives my books a passion for people-to-people connections. I can understand how President Bush can claim to look into someone’s eyes and see their soul. (But if I’m wrong, it’s just a bad hotel value). I meet someone for a few minutes and factor in their passion and integrity for their work as I decide which of many otherwise similar hotels or restaurants to recommend.
How do I find the good hotels and restaurants that make my books work well for travelers? It’s certainly not me. I feel so clumsy in much of Europe. For twenty years I’ve been pushing doors that say pull and walking into doors that say push. Here in Madrid, to say “where’s the toilet?” I still point my index finger to the ground and say “Psss?” My ability to suss out good places is from carefully compiling and building upon twenty years of local tips, and the advice from guides and European friends who generously share their expertise. That is then combined with my secret weapon: 20 years of experience as a tour guide, seeing for myself the joy, fear, frustration, exhaustion, and wonder in the eyes of my travelers up close and personal.
It’s expensive to spend so much time researching guidebooks. No other publisher invests so much shoe leather in annual updates. There’s never really enough time. Triage is standard operating procedure. The day is divided between hotels, sightseeing, travel practicalities, and eating. I filter out information on temporary exhibits that are gone next year. Festival events that are rare on the calendar are invisible to me. I don’t care if the Queen’s sharing her box at the Royal Albert Hall…if my readers can’t do it next year, it doesn’t exist.
Year after year, I visit the sights and do the walks. Every two years I’m here in Madrid: dropping by the cloistered nuns (just as I propose in the book). I talk into the dark wood of their lazy susan (me in English, them in Spanish), and order their cheapest cookies. This year they spin out lemon short cake. I measure the experience and affirm that it’ll work for my English-speaking readers.
I balance time between three star sights all travelers will do and the obscure and new sights. (Yesterday in Madrid, I dropped by the Egyptian temple given to Franco for helping save antiquities from the rising Nile while building the Aswan Dam. Everyone says it has the best city view in town. My experience: The temple is under rated…the view overrated. A big wide view of Madrid only makes you wonder why anyone would build a city in this non-descript piece of Iberia…so don’t seek a big fat view.) But nowhere else in Europe can you see an actual Egyptian temple standing in a park.
Lately, restaurants have become a big priority for me in my research…perhaps because I like to eat well now more than in the past. There are two hours of prime restaurant review time each evening. You can bet every evening that’s when I’ll be out–checking restaurants. (I call it “blitzing restaurants.”) I get my ducks in a row (take a minute to write out a smart plan on the map), consider all reader feedback received (both for existing places and tips on new places). My reward–just before the kitchens close…eat at my favorite place visited. Each year I try to add a few and drop a few just to keep things fresh. I can’t eat everywhere…but I can talk to people in each place. If I meet a couple with my book who are eating for the second night in a place (for instance), that’s a fine listing.
My challenge is to write up a listing so people can really know which place is best for them when reviewing options back in their hotel room. My image: one traveler is in the shower, their partner is on the bed paging through the guidebook reviewing the options. Listings need to be clear and concise so the right choice is obvious.
Menus and the mechanics of ordering can be frustrating. It’s my challenge to sort this out for people. If a stew is a local must-eat experience and big enough for two, I learn if splitting is allowed. If the place is mobbed after 8:30, I’ll suggest ways to avoid the line. If the ambience is great on the ground floor and lousy downstairs, I’ll make that warning. If it’s dead on hot evenings (as many indoor places are), that will be noted. If the business practices are aggressive, I’ll say so with encouragement to understand an itemized bill before paying.
Like giving the chapter a haircut, I enjoy trimming extraneous info and needless words that sneak into the book by my crew of earnest and talented researchers and editors. When it comes to a good guidebook, less is more. And I’ve found credibility is hard earned and easily lost.
My favorite two comments when on the road researching: local Europeans who marvel at how useful the book is for them when they enjoy a night out; and travelers who pack lots of guidebooks along, but only one leaves the hotel room with them when they’re out and about…mine.
More then ever, these books have become a team effort. We’d never be where we are with these without the help of many great writer/travelers. And I am spending more and more time apprenticing researchers. Still, personally writing and maintaining these guidebooks is the work I enjoy most.
Rick: I have been using your books since I first reviewed Europe 2-22 days some years
ago. It seems to me that your latest books
appear to have less information for those driving in Europe. Even in the small towns
we need information about safe & easy parking for hotels, resturants and sites.
Our next European travel will be in June 2007, for 5 weeks! We are excited now!
Scot
Dear Rick,
Thanks for responding to my querry. The passion for your work is evedent in your books and it’s nice to know how you make it happen.
Before I took my first trip to Europe, I read “ETBD” and “Best of” from cover to cover many times. The knowledge I gained, especially in transportation, really helped me put together three amazing weeks. I wasted almost no time and had great daily sight-seeing choices at my fingertips. Thanks Rick, you made it easy.
Rick:
Many thanks for your books and DVD’s. We travel Europe twice a year and using your material has made travel comfortable and money saving. Love the blog. Puts the human element back in your travel books. There really is a Rick out there peeping and trying things before thousands get on planes. Never went wrong on any hotel or restaurant using your many books. Heading to Poland and Copenhagen in Oct and researching as I type. Can’t wait for the 07 print and the fall’s new programs. Again many thanks.
So how does one become an apprentice researcher for the greatest job in the world?
Hi Rick,
Thanks for revealing your method of madness – it’s much appreciated from someone who is trying to learn the ins & outs of tour guiding and travel researching/writing. My wife and I used your Spain 2006 book in April – I had never used your books before and found the layout and information extremely useful, particulary the “Transportation Connections” and the circular mini-bus tours of the Albayzin in Granada. Nice compact, little size for carrying around as well. Needless to say, I enjoyed your book so much that we decided to go on your Ireland 2006 tour. We just returned and are still talking about how the tour was really professional and fun.
Information Triage – that’s such a great way to distill your experience in doing these wonderful guides! Thanks again for all you do (not that you need the thanks – it’s something you love to do), but we (readers and viewers) get great information/advice in the process.
It’s a win-win! :)
Thanks for the insights!
Thanks for the great work, Steve! I have one suggestion about hill towns write ups in your books. We’re going to France for the first time next year and, after reading your guidebooks, we have a hard time knowing which ones are worth a visit and which ones are just so-so. We don’t care about a particular church or museum (you lead us through enough Jesus paintings to last a lifetime in Italy) but the rather general ambiance of a town. An ordered list with certain criteria (friendliness, english speaking, scenery, shops, touristy-ness, etc.) rated for each town would be great! Or even just a subjective list from top to bottom of your own feelings for the town.
Hey Rick,
Thanks for the insight on your daily work regimen. Used your guides last summer for a trip to Spain and Portugal. Every hotel and eating recommendation was right on. Love the little things like the visit to the cloistered nuns for cookies. My kids still think that was one of the highlights of the trip.
Rick,
As a European traveler, I appreciate all you do to keep your guidebooks up to date and filled with so much interesting information. I have been using your books since 2000 and take a trip every year, sometimes twice a year. All of your hotel and eating recommendations, as well as museums and other sites have been a wealth of information. And I really enjoy your sense of humor! I have enjoyed making close friendships with some of the people you mention, like Anneliese. It was a great pleasure meeting you in the Pension Suzanne in Vienna this summer, also! It was the highlight of my five-week trip! Thanks again! The passion you have for sharing your knowledge is greatly appreciated!
Rick
I found this item very interesting. You make it clear you look out for us so that we have a great time with excellent information. I have used your books for eight years and they have helped make my trips very rich in experiences while low in cost.
I read your Irish book a few years ago to see if you had the flavor of the culture and you we right on every time, such as your description of a night in an Irish country pub (I’m Irish).
One area you used to be weak in was restaurant listings and after many bad experiences I virtually stopped using them. If I was lucky 40% were OK.I have found in the last 2-3 years that has changed markedly.
I now use your listings often with great results. One of my all time favourites is the DeBuren in Haarlem. Incredible rib dinner, all you would want, very good price, hidden location by a tiny canal, and the couple who own it are some of the nicest people I have met.
A very informative posting, Rick! I love your blow-by-blow description of how you work. I’d always imagined that, while you’re lucky to be over in Europe while most people are stuck at their desk jobs, you’re hardly “having fun.” It’s work, work, work and time is tight. Probably doubly so when you’re shooting.
I found this part to be particularly surprising:
> I feel so clumsy in much of Europe. For
> twenty years I’ve been pushing doors
> that say pull and walking into doors
> that say push. Here in Madrid, to say
> “where’s the toilet?” I still point my
> index finger to the ground and say
> “Psss?”
Wow, *you* feel clumsy?? I’d never guess that. It’s a nice confession, however. ;-) The third time we were in Germany, I actually felt “back home,” it felt so familiar. (We’d just come back from the Czech Republic, which was all new to us.) I was actually starting to find much of Berlin (finding my way around) second nature, at least to some degree.
Rick-
Been with you since my mom gave me a copy of “Europe 101” before my 1st trip back in 1987. You rock.
Any plans to expand your e-book offerings? I took your 2005 Italy e-book with me this past June. Along with the laptop I took, and a small portable printer, it was wonderfully convienent! Look forward to not having to also take hard-copies of your France, Spain, Rome, Paris, Provence books next time!
How do you find the restaurants that you pick? Is it based on what people suggest to you or do you sometimes just wander about and see what might come to you?
I admit I spend a lot of time researching restaurants to eat in so I can pass along the information to friends.
You probably have heard this when you meet Americans in Europe during your work, we all appreciate the work that you do. I’ve been to Europe a half a dozen times and your books are the only ones I use when I leave the hotel.
I run into other Americans in France and Italy walking with their heads down totally immersed in your guidebooks. My only question is how will pass the torch. To piggyback off a previous comment, will there be a Rick Steve’s apprentice? It would make for an interesting reality TV show.
Hello, I’ve just discovered your website when I was researching travel ideas for our daughter’s trip to Europe. You have wonderful tips and lots of much needed info. I enjoy your television shows as well. Keep up the blogging, it almost feels like we’re along on your trip.
Here’s another complement for your books, Rick. We moved to Paris a year ago, intending to stay for two years, planning to blanket Europe with our travels. We puchased 10 of your guidebooks to use during our travels, and bought all your DVDs. They are getting well used.
While I like to thumb through Eyewitness Guides when *planning* a trip to look at pretty pictures, nothing goes in my suitcase except Rick Steves.
One thing I have always valued about your books is that you rate the sights. Only you and Michelin (which has a very different personality) does that, I think.
I still might visit a less-rated sight depending on what interests me, but it is helpful to know your opinion too! Thanks for providing that as well as the information.
Rick,
Thanks for the re-cap. I was introduced to your shows by my parents and now, between them and myself we own about 10 of your books. Everytime we walk into a restaurant you recommend with one of your books the restauranteur always says “oh, Rick Steves, I love Rick”, and have occasionally received special treatment just for carrying your book.
Keep on doing what you do, you make travel even more fun than it already is!
Rick,
I like your newest communication setup. I don’t know how you find time to keep it up, though. My wife and I just spent 2 weeks in Ireland with your book and a car. I trimmed a few branches with the left mirror, but we had a ball. BTW, if you go thru Cashel, check out the Rockside House. It is three doors down from the entrance drive. Beautiful place and Rem and Joan Joy are great. It is our kind of place. Thanks for all of your work. My wife and I enjoy your shows and videos. We have been in Europe three times and have found your book to be right on. My favorite is the Rue Cler in Paris. That is on our wish list for a return. Thanks.
Bill
Rick
Don’t do it, don’t put the location of a Statbuck’s into your guide book. Stay with what we all love your guidebooks for, helping us have a European experience, not an extension of our everyday USA one. Don’t make it easy for Americans to locate the nearest, comforting, I’m still at home Starbuck’s Don’t make it easy for us to miss what could have been a travel adventure. I’m begging you!
I’ve been to Europe twice in the past 2 years – Amsterdam and Brugge 2 years ago and Stockholm and Copenhagen this summer-and your books are invaluable. It’s the insight and the little things – the perfect place to get Dutch pancakes on the Prisengracht in A’dam (I still think about them!), the gestalt of Christiana in Copenhagen and the delightful walking tour lead by “Hans Christian Anderson.” I admire your work and appreciate your efforts.
While traveling in Italy this summer my husband and I decided that using a Rick Steves travel guide was like beloning to some special club. Actually, we started saying that it was “the cult of Rick Steves”. We actually gathered up all of our books and our friends’ books and took a picture of them. (5 guides in total) It seemed like no matter where we went we’d met up with people holding one book or another and inevitably there would be conversation exchanged about the books. One family had begun calling you, “The Rickster”. Another tour guide from Context in Florence said, “He’s the man!” Even the Canadians that we met in Pienza had great appreciation for your books. So, I guess all of your hard work and research really do matter to a whole lot of people. Thank you!!!!
Hi Rick,
Along with all the wonderful tips and ideas…your books give me confidence in my travels. Thanks!
Please keep up the great work :-)
Rick, you were asked what do you do for fun, in between “work”. Don’t you guys get it?? He is one of the lucky folks that is actually powered up by his work, and the successes he has, hour by hour, are his “fun”. I guess most of us NEED breaks from the tedium of our “work” and I, for one, turn to travel. If you still have to ask Rick what he does for fun, you’re missing the point.
When your apprentices start writing book sections, I’m trusting you to disclose what’s written by whom.
It is interesting to page through your older work, when you traveled much closer to the ground: drying your room-laundry on your back and sleeping on trains. For me, that every-other-year trip still requires perpetual frugality.
I’m hoping that your delegating and restaurant-touring don’t push you too far from those roots.
Rick, it’s a wonderful thing to find someone who does his/her work as a labor of love. Thanks for your invaluable guides with their many interesting and money-saving tips.(Traveling abroad is becoming ever more expensive.) Please know that your legion of readers mightily appreciate what you do, but I have to think that the one who profits the most is you because you do it with all youir heart AND you have a knack of relating to people–a vital asset for any traveler. Please, “suss” on!
Hi Rick
We toured England and Wales (3,000 Miles) for 3 months this spring. Having attended your March seminars in Edmunds, the pack lightly seminar was taken to heart and we travelled with your suitcase on wheels with packing cubes, your day bag and of course Great Britain 2006.. The cubes and ziplock bags made packing so easy and the day bag is stronger than it looks and carryied everthing we needed for the day including water and picnic..
We also found that we had taken too much and can in fact cut down again when we pack for our next trip.. The fact we started our trip in Ontario in April meant we had some warmer and heavier clothing with us. (It was too hot to wear those things home in July!!)
We included places we had not previously considered.. In particular Hadrian’s wall where we spent two days climbing over the wall and in the Vandalinda museum. Also we arrived in York to hear the bells of the Minster ringing and listened to the mrvellous singing at evensong. Thanks
Rick,
You feel clumsey?
I love hearing that even you, one of the most well healed, still has to grapple with these emotions.
Isn’t getting beyond the uncomfortable emotions, a huge part of the do it yourself travel experience?
Walking into a crowded “locals” restaurant to try and get a table.
Ordering pastries, front of the line at a hurried hour in a patisarie, with little language skills at all.
Doing something incorrect with the “unusual” fixture in a bathroom?
“How does this thing work?”
It happens.
But as you always note – the un-insular experience always seems to reward at least as much as it befuddles and humbles.
Maybe we should consider clumsey our sign that we’re sticking our necks outside the comfort zone.
Bravo!
Thanx so much for what you do!
Went to Lisbon, Portugal in July and the Rick Steves’ tourbook was the only one that left the hotel and returned home. It was very useful. One update for the tour book — there are walking tours that are great. We took 3, skipping only the pub crawl, and 1 of the 3 offered day trips. All were good. Guides were young and all spoke excellent English. The more you take, the less the cost! And if you are under 26, you get a discount (we weren’t). On one in particular, we went where there were absolutely no other tourists. Here’s the link to the website –http://www.insidelisbon.com/
By the way, Lisbon is a great little city and the tall ships were there. We got to hear the 2 21-gun salutes given by the military to the winning vessel (from Spain) and later saw all the participants in the harbor. On our day trip, we met two young ladies, sisters, from Ireland who were going to be crew on the Irish ship for 2 weeks. Linda.
Rick – I really enjoyed your blog on travel research. And your readers really appreciate your personal touch! My daughter and I traveled to Prague, Budapest and Vienna this spring (with your Eastern Europe guide book). Like your other readers, I consulted the book constantly, commenting Rick says. . . , Rick recommends. . . , Rick suggests. . . My daughter finally said “I’ve heard enough of Rick; why don’t you just say ‘my lover says'”? That became our inside joke for the rest of the trip. I’ll keep reading the books – and continuing to rely on your advice!
Just want to share what wonderful adventures we’ve had visiting Europe, thanks to the encouragement of Rick’s guide books. Some of the most memorable experiences have come from doing the most mundane things. Doing laundry in Versailles with the assistance of one of the area residents. Hanging out on the Champ du Mar with the Parisians when your hotel room is too hot. Shopping for groceries. Learning enough French to ask for a reciept on the express way. Missing a turn in Ireland and seeing a truck with my family name painted on the side as I try to get back to the correct road. Sucking in my substantial stomach to get through the door of tiny shower stalls. Relaxing in a little park outside Paris during the early evening, watching the little kids play, old ladies visiting, couples walking their dog. These are the small adventures that have made our travels so memorable. Rick’s right, the more you can do what the locals do, the more rewarding your experience.
I used your “Paris” book when I visited last February. I was amazed at how all of your suggestions and restaraunts were **perfect**. LOVE the walking tours and your commentary (I laughed out loud several times). I am a teacher and I travel with students each summer, and just last month I was in Paris and ran into a couple who were using the same Paris book I had. We struck up a great conversation about how wonderful you and your books are, and I told them to trust your book out of all the books out there. **Thank you!**
This was a great post! I felt like I was there with you on your mission. My feet are tired, but my belly is full and my heart is content. Thanks for taking us on the road with you. Please keep blogging. It’s wonderful to read.
Dear Rick,
I love how you say when it comes to guidebooks “less is more”. It kind of sounds like the way you tell us to pack! I couldn’t agree more! Your guidebooks made our trip to Italy exceptional. We used it for every restaurant and hotel and it was right on. I wish you wrote guidebooks for the U.S. Although I know that is impossible and not as much fun! My favorite piece of advice you gave was to go out the right door instead of the left door in the Systine Chapel. I laughed as I walked through it thinking you had done the same thing many times! thanks for all your time spent writing these wonderful books. Keep up the good work, Courtney
Haircut info was used….
After traveling for 3 weeks on our honeymoon my husband REALLY wanted a hair cut…
Your Venice barber was the perfect recommendation!
What a fascinating look behind the curtain, so to speak, at what it takes to put together (IMO) the best travel guides in the market. It also helps explain why sometimes there’s info missing that makes me go, “How/Why did he leave this out?”
So, where do I send my application for ETBD researcher? Seriously. I’d move to Seattle in a heartbeat!
Happy travels.