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A Rick Steves-Style Paris Video Through the Eyes of Teenagers

A big part of the fun in my work is inspiring others to share their love of travel. I get lots of digital scrapbooks, amateur videos, and self-published travel books to review, and last week I received one I think you might enjoy. Sahal Farah, a 19-year-old college student living in Los Angeles, grew up watching my TV show with his family. Here’s what he wrote:

Dear Mr. Steves, My family and I have been massive fans of your show since we were old enough to watch television. My little brother Leeban, age 15, was asked by his French teacher to make a short and simple travel video when she heard that we would be going to Paris over the summer of 2012. We travel a lot as a family (especially Europe) and after watching your show for all these years we were actually excited to make it! After countless hours to get it just right, we finally got it done and the teacher was completely bewildered with how intricate and professional it was. She’s now showing it to her students for every new year. Anyway, my mom said that since the video we made was inspired by your show that we should send it to you. I’d love to hear what you think about it! If you enjoy it, I’d love it if you could give us a shout out on Facebook or Twitter! Thank you so much Rick and keep on traveling! -Sahal Farah

Here’s what I wrote back:

Dear Sahal and Leeban, You guys are great. Thanks for letting us enjoy a little bit of Paris through your young and insightful eyes. Best wishes and happy future travels (and video production, I hope)! -Rick

Here’s the video. Enjoy!

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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Organizing My 2014 Travel Dreams into the Best Possible Itinerary

RWith the holidays behind us, now I set my sights on my 2014 travel dreams. Year after year, my major fault is trying to pack too much into my itinerary. This year, I’m determined to let a little R&R elbow its way into the mix. This photo captures a magic memory of doing absolutely nothing recently on a Greek island. I’ll be sure to sweeten the 2014 mix with a little of that, along with lots of sightseeing thrills.

When it comes to traveling — for me, at least — every year creates a hard act to follow. As a young writer back in the 70s, I declared, “You can never exhaust Europe of what it has to offer.” For more than 30 summers, I’ve been lucky to live that statement, and I’m thankful it’s still so true.

In 2012, my focus was on Europe’s blockbuster cities. That year, we produced 10 TV shows that pulled together the best of London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome. This past year, 2013, had me more on the fringes. While I enjoyed plenty of Italy, Spain, and France, I also got to broaden my field of vision with adventures in Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Russia, Scotland, and Iceland.

It’s a tradition for me to start my planning by sitting down with our annual tour catalog. It’s filled not only with three dozen “best of” itineraries, but also gorgeous photos of my favorite destinations and the smiling faces of our travelers embracing the good life on the road. It’s a print version of window-shopping… or what Parisian shoppers call “window-licking.” Paging through it, I enjoy great memories of 25 years of leading these exciting tours, and I get to try on the best European vacations I can imagine. (You can request your own copy.)

I’m tempted by Portugal’s mix of hardscrabble cities, sweet port wine, inviting cobbles, wistful blue tiles, and weather-beaten faces. The people and places of Eastern Europe beckon, with a charm and confidence that happily knocks their tumultuous 20th century firmly into the past. Sicily, the island that cranks up Italy’s playful chaos to a cultural torrent, is high on my list, too: I dream of being back in the markets of Palermo, savoring a montage of singing merchants, feisty old widows in black who gossip with little more than winks and hand gestures, and a cuisine that seems to say, “We Sicilians may be conquered time after time, but eating well is the best revenge.”

While my wanderlust is pulling me in lots of directions, I also need to factor in my workload (poor me). I’ll need to spend several weeks with my TV crew, producing six new shows: Amsterdam and the Netherlands, Prague, Berlin, and Italy’s Veneto and Cinque Terre. I’ll research guidebook chapters from Helsinki to Carcassonne. And, each year, I get to join a Rick Steves tour — not as a guide (been there, done that), but as a tour member. While I’m tempted by so many of our tour itineraries, I’m really leaning toward the tour I used to lead ’round and ’round each summer back in the 1980s: our classic Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.

All these choices are so much fun!  Where will your travel dreams take you in 2014?

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Book Haus: Home of the Best Team of Guidebook Editors & Designers in the Business

I enjoy lining up on my windowsill the books we birth and nurture. And beyond that lineup, immediately across the street from my office, is the old building where that work is done.  I constantly marvel at how much beautiful work our guidebook staff does in what we call Book Haus. When we gathered for our annual group photo on the steps of Book Haus just the other day, I knew I was in the company of fine travelers, fine editors/graphic designers, and fine people who care as much as I do about our mission of inspiring and equipping our readers with the best information for the best possible trips. All of us are thankful that you travel with us. We look forward to bringing you even more information to turn your 2014 travel dreams into smooth and affordable reality.  Happy New Year from the Rick Steves guidebook staff!

My office-view twofer: Along the windowsill are many of the books we publish; through the window I can see the house where my guidebook staff works.
My office-view twofer: Along the windowsill are many of the books we publish; through the window I can see the house where my guidebook staff works.
My guidebook staff celebrates another successful year with me on the steps of Book Haus.
My guidebook staff celebrates another successful year with me on the steps of Book Haus.
This is a selection of the new books we created for 2014--including four radically revamped phrase books; "Pocket" guides to Venice, Barcelona, and Florence; a book covering Northern European cruise ports; a Barcelona guidebook; and more.
This is a selection of the new books we created for 2014–including four radically revamped phrase books; “Pocket” guides to Venice, Barcelona, and Florence; a book covering Northern European cruise ports; a Barcelona guidebook; and more.
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Looking Back at a Thrilling 2013

As we wrap up 2013, I’m enjoying travel memories of a richly rewarding year. It has been a year of getting out of my comfort zone and broadening my horizons. While I’m thankful for this thrilling year of travel, I’m also thankful for you — my Blog and Facebook fans. Social media has added a dimension to my travels that I couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. Not only do I get the joy of turning my insights into guidebooks and television shows that travelers will use for years into the future, I now get to have you as my real-time, virtual travel partners. Reading your thoughtful comments is an enjoyable way to end each day while on the road. Our online conversation makes my travels all the richer. So thank you!

I hope you enjoy this slideshow of some of my 2013 highlights.

A horse cart took me through a grove of Egyptian reeds and into a time-passed Nile village, where I drank tea with a proud old hajji who had just returned from Mecca.
A horse cart took me through a grove of Egyptian reeds and into a time-passed Nile village, where I drank tea with a proud old hajji who had just returned from Mecca.
In nearby Israel, I celebrated that country's 65th birthday with Jewish friends at a city-park BBQ, complete with pork-free "bacon."
In nearby Israel, I celebrated that country’s 65th birthday with Jewish friends at a city-park BBQ, complete with pork-free “bacon.”
Across the wall in Palestine, I hiked "Biblical Terraces" through an ancient olive grove and joined a local family for the harvest. At the end of the day, I watched the golden olive oil spill into their buckets at the village press.
Across the wall in Palestine, I hiked “Biblical Terraces” through an ancient olive grove and joined a local family for the harvest. At the end of the day, I watched the golden olive oil spill into their buckets at the village press.
A continent away in St. Petersburg--as brides and grooms posed for wedding portraits, filling city parks with hope and happiness--I realized why President Putin is so popular in Russia: It's a land where dreams of stability trump dreams of democracy.
A continent away in St. Petersburg–as brides and grooms posed for wedding portraits, filling city parks with hope and happiness–I realized why President Putin is so popular in Russia: It’s a land where dreams of stability trump dreams of democracy.
In Scotland, I read a poem scrawled by "Robbie" Burns on the chimney of a village inn, then helped to stomp the paint off the neighboring pub's floor thanks to a rockin' folk band.
In Scotland, I read a poem scrawled by “Robbie” Burns on the chimney of a village inn, then helped to stomp the paint off the neighboring pub’s floor thanks to a rockin’ folk band.
In France I found new ways to make history come to life--from strolling into the world of medieval stained-glass symbolism with Chartres scholar Malcolm Miller.
In France I found new ways to make history come to life–from strolling into the world of medieval stained-glass symbolism with Chartres scholar Malcolm Miller…
… to touring the lavish Loire Valley palaces of financiers of pre-revolution France with my France guidebook co-author Steve Smith. More than just climbing through châteaux, a tour of the Loire includes prancing horses, towpath bike rides, and pulling escargot out of their shells literally by the dozen in small-town restaurants--where even a Yankee traveler is fed like a prince.
… to touring the lavish Loire Valley palaces of financiers of pre-revolution France with my France guidebook co-author Steve Smith. More than just climbing through châteaux, a tour of the Loire includes prancing horses, towpath bike rides, and pulling escargot out of their shells literally by the dozen in small-town restaurants–where even a Yankee traveler is fed like a prince.
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That Was Christmas… Now Help Me Do the Same for Easter

Writing the script for our Rick Steves’ European Christmas special was a fascinating challenge. We had two crews to fan out across Europe, visiting seven countries in two weeks leading up to the 25th. While we could only actually be in two places on Christmas Eve and Day (Salzburg and Rome), we managed to fake Christmas Eve in the other places. This required calling on European friends (mostly tour guides and people who run B&Bs that I recommend in my guidebooks who had small children) to let us come into their home as they celebrated “Christmas Eve”…several days before the actual holiday. As they cooked the goose, invited the grandparents, hung out under the mistletoe, and so on, we were right there — on the carpet, in the kitchen, and under the tree — with our cameras rolling. Since we were footing the bill, we encouraged each family to pull out all the stops and put on a blowout Christmas to remember…and they all did. These kids will always recall 2005 as the strange year they celebrated Christmas twice.

I’ve worked with producer Simon Griffith for many years, and his brilliance was what I’ve come to expect. When Simon suggested that his wife, Val, co-produce and direct the second crew, I was skeptical. My rule is generally, no family on the crew. I knew Val socially but had never slogged through a TV production with her. But smartly, I trusted Simon. Val was absolutely wonderful — an artist, a great writer, and a strong leader and manager. Her crew ended up with the hardest schedule (England, France, Italy), and they did more than just cover the script. Val also co-authored the Christmas book that was a byproduct of our project.

We could never have pulled off the production of this special without the help of Steve Cammarano (editor and assistant field producer), Gene Openshaw (script and book editing), Maddie Thomas (England mom/guide/organizer), Christinia Schneeweiss (Salzburg guide/organizer), our two talented and hardworking cameramen (Karel Bauer and Peter Rummel), and many more both in Europe and in our home office. We hope you can enjoy Rick Steves’ European Christmas each holiday season on your public television station. Buon Natale! Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!

By the way, I’m hoping to do a similar public television special on European Easter, with related Carnival and Lent festivities. I expect we’ll have two crews filming in Europe during the next two Easters to put this together. I’d love your help in planning this. What are your favorite Easter-related happenings in Europe that you’d recommend I consider for our Easter special?