Destination: Uncategorized

Something amazing just happened. In Business Insider’s “The Most Famous Author from Every State” article, I was their pick for Washington State.

Our state has produced some great and serious authors (most notably Sherman Alexie and Richard Brautigan), and some very popular, mass-market writers (including romance novelist Debbie Macomber, Dune author Frank Herbert, and rabble rouser Glenn Beck). But they chose a guy who writes guidebooks. I suppose if it was based on titles in print (67) or ongoing sales (about a million a year), it might make sense to pick me…but certainly not for “literature.” Still, I will willingly join the ranks of other states’ most famous writers, from Herman Melville (New York) to Mark Twain (Missouri).

In my defense, I believe that, out of the 51 writers named, I’m the only one who’s designed a series of phrase books, assessed the flamenco options in Sevilla, laid out a pub crawl in Venice, collected a listing of coffeshops where older travelers might enjoy a joint in Amsterdam, discussed the morality of stealing lunch from your guesthouse’s breakfast buffet, or explained how to enjoy the Vienna Boys Choir without buying a ticket.

Take a look at Business Insider’s list, and see if you agree with the writer who made the cut for your state. (And, to whoever at Business Insider chose me: Thanks, and happy travels!)

It’s so nice to be home for Thanksgiving. One thing great about foreign travel: When you get back home…you’re really thankful. I hope you enjoy this little clip from my hometown — which I’m savoring with friends and family this holiday. (I’ve spent so much time in Europe, I get flamenco and flamingo mixed up!)

Speaking of Thanksgiving: Thanks to the more than 800 fans who have already responded to our Bread for the World Christmas Fundraiser Challenge (donating $100 to BFTW in return for three gifts from us and a promise that we’ll match their donation). But that means we still need 200 more people to help us make our goal of raising $100,000. With my matching donation — and if we hit this goal — a total of $200,000 will go to fighting hunger. Help us by donating to Bread for the World. What a great way to counter all the Black Friday frenzy with an initiative true to the meaning of the season. Thanks for joining us! And Happy Thanksgiving.

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

Support Bread for the World’s work with a $100 donation, and I’ll match it. Plus I’ll mail you a special Christmas gift. Join me in this challenge by going to Rick Steves’ Christmas Fundraiser Challenge.

I’ve enjoyed sharing my experiences filming our public TV special in the Holy Land over the last month. It was a powerful learning experience for me, and I hope you found it worthwhile, too. Now it’s great to be back home.

Whenever I travel outside of the peace, stability, and affluence of Europe and the US, I find myself adjusting my worldview. I become more in tune with the realities of people who will never have the joy of seeing their name on a vacation plane ticket. If these times seem tough for our friends and family, imagine how tough they are for hungry and poor people — especially in tumultuous and less stable parts of our world.

To add extra meaning to my holiday season, I’m helping to raise funds for Bread for the World, an organization that advocates for hungry people at home and around the world. This year, the needs are particularly great, so I’ve got a fun challenge to do something that, collectively, can make a huge difference:  Consider supporting Bread for the World’s good work with a donation of $100 — and I’ll match all gifts up to $100,000. Imagine: As an extended family of caring citizens, together we can empower their work with $200,000! Make your donation by going to  Rick Steves’ Christmas Fundraiser Challenge.

Bread for the World advocates for the world’s poorest people. In others words, they lobby Congress to go light on budget cuts that will hurt those in need. Considering all the interests competing for attention on Capitol Hill, I’m proud to support what I consider the best way possible to give the hungry a voice.

Bread for the World is amazingly effective. While the food provided by all the charities in our country only amounts to 6 percent of the food assistance available, our government provides the rest. That means Bread’s advocacy work has a huge impact. For every dollar Bread raises, it leverages $100 in terms of funding that is vital to poor people. Assuming that ratio holds, if we hit our $200,000 target, we’ll generate $20 million of life-giving, hope-instilling funding for this cause. I’m convinced that supporting Bread is the very best way to leverage my charitable giving. That’s why I’ve been a Bread member for 30 years.

So here’s my challenge: To give this holiday season an extra punch this year, go to  Rick Steves’ Christmas Fundraiser Challenge, and help Bread for the World with your gift of $100 or more. As a thank you, I’ll match your donation (so Bread will receive double what you donate) and send you three gifts from my Rick Steves’ European Christmas collection:

• Rick Steves’ European Christmas DVD
• Rick Steves’ European Christmas coffee-table book
• Rick Steves’ European Christmas music CD

I’ll happily pay for the cost of these three gifts, plus shipping, so that Bread for the World can put 100 percent of your donation to work. Make your gift by Dec. 10, and you’ll get everything in time for Christmas.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

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

Whew! I’m back from the Holy Land and ready to put my focus back on Europe. Thanks for traveling with me on this adventure here on my blog. (My TV crew will now begin editing all that great footage into our upcoming Holy Land special.)

Last night, we streamed my homecoming lecture. And, while it was fun to have about 600 people in the auditorium, it was really exciting to have thousands of people “attending” virtually via our streaming of the event.

For those of you who did watch last night, I’d love some feedback both on the talk and on the tech end of it. How could I have made my lecture and slideshow more helpful as a primer for someone wanting to better understand the Holy Land? Also, how can we tweak the technology to make viewing a talk like this online better from your end?  I’ll enjoy your suggestions and comments.

By the way, many asked if we’re going to upload the lecture for later viewing online. We will certainly offer this lecture online (likely a later live presentation), but it’ll be coordinated with the fanfare we hope to generate with the release of our hour-long public television special (which we plan for this April). Stay tuned for more on that.