Destination: Uncategorized

We are hoarse and exhilarated after an amazing week of hosting our tour guides here for our annual guide summit, and throwing our annual tour alumni party (a thousand tour alums came by for our parties Saturday). The days were filled with radio interviews and tour guide workshops, and the evenings were filled with lots of fun and bonding.

Also over this last week, we’ve streamed the live recording sessions for about 30 radio interviews in 12 hours, as well as five “Test Drive a Tour Guide” lectures with live video webcasts (we logged about 2,000 hours of online viewing time). This is an exciting opportunity for us to share our work with travelers outside the Seattle area. (We’re editing the lectures now to be posted in on our website for viewing at any time in the future.)

If you listened to any of the radio interviews (or even called in with a live question), or if you watched any of the talks (including my “Irreverent History of Europe Through the Back Door,” which capped the week off on Saturday evening), please let us know how you think it went. What worked? What didn’t? How can we do it better next time?

Thanks for your input. We are working diligently with all the technology we can muster to share our passion for travel with all of you.

Thanks so much for the helpful tips and suggestions for my upcoming work in Egypt.

Last year I had an op-ed piece published in USA Today about the value of understanding the Holy Land. I proposed that finding a way to humanize and give dignity and security to all its residents would be the best thing for Israel’s national security interests. This generated an amazing amount of feedback, both angry and encouraging. And this inspired me to produce a TV show with the same intent that my Iran TV special had: Take a troubled and complicated land that is embroiled in tension (or worse) with our government and treat it as a travel destination. It’s not hammering away at the typical divisive issues, but simply trying to understand the heritage and history of the people who live there. And it’s for viewers to see the value in visiting as a curious tourist who, rather than taking sides, simply wants to learn from a firsthand experience.

Our Iran experience was hugely gratifying. I’m hoping our Palestinian experience will be the same. In April (after Egypt), I’ll be in Israel and the West Bank to scout for two new TV shows: one on Israel and one on the Palestinian Territories. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what to feature in the Israel show. But I’m excited to learn about the West Bank as a tour guide.

There are a million video projects that take sides on the Israel/Palestine issue. The world doesn’t need a Rick Steves TV show piling it on that way. I simply want to feature the West Bank (no Gaza) as a tourist destination…to see its sights and learn about the age-old culture of its people. To humanize and better understand it.

If you have travel experience in the West Bank, what are some facets–cultural and geographic–that I should be sure to weave into my script? If you have a favorite guide who is Palestinian, I’d love the contact information.

Thanks!

This is a time of year when we think about what’s really important. One of my favorite thoughts: “These are the good old days.” Considering our beautiful lot in life here in USA 2012, I can’t imagine it getting much better. I’m making a point to enjoy where we’re at, to be thankful, and — as much as is honest — to give things a positive twist.

Below you can watch part two of the blooper reel from the just-completed new season of my public television series, Rick Steves’ Europe. Reviewing these clips, I’m reminded what a blessing it is to have work — especially work you enjoy and believe in — and how good it is to laugh while working hard with people you enjoy.

In this series of screw-ups, we see my producer Simon at work — carrying a huge tripod to the top of the Florence cathedral in case the cameraman might need it. While climbing, Simon repeats a phrase we all tell our children: “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

While I still prefer no “product” or makeup while working, we have discovered hairspray. After 20 years of cursing the wind and dribbling water on springy hairs, we now pull out the hairspray when needed. To be able to work with the wind kicking up has saved our hides many times.

Whether savoring delicious food with local friends, teaching ancient history on an ancient toilet, demonstrating the importance of a helmet deep inside the mine, imagining barbarians from present-day Scotland storming Hadrian’s Wall, finding a piano to pound on, pitching hay high in the Alps at Gimmelwald, or skipping through the rain at Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Cumbrian Lake District, watching these bloopers reminds me how much fun it is bringing home the wonders of Europe — either with our guidebooks, tours, or TV shows. Thanks for traveling with us, and Merry Christmas!

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

With the release of each new TV series, we collect our favorite bloopers and wrap them up in a goofy little video package. We’ve posted this batch of the-camera’s-rolling screw-ups to brighten your holiday just a little bit and to share some of the fun we had while filming our latest season.

In reviewing these, I notice how I struggle to remember my lines, how we work hard to get just the right light (often in the last 30 minutes before sundown), how we scout just the right spot for “on-cameras” (like in the mud of the Venetian lagoon), how I’m determined to include the heavy history, and how I can hardly contain myself when it all comes together (like sitting in Casanova’s prison cell).

These clips also remind me how thrilling it is to be all alone in great places (like in Florentine palaces and with Monet’s water lilies)…and how we have no control over who veers into our shot. It seems we’re always dealing with limited time — either how long we’re allowed in a place, or how long we’ll have the good light. Many of the actual on-camera lines are crafted right there on the spot, when we better understand what we will have in the program (and with time running out). And another big concern is helping those making guest appearances on camera with me to be loose and have fun. I love to get other voices in on the program.

We have fun ongoing jokes with our crew. For a decade, I’ve been trying to sneak in my various favorite little factoids. For example, years ago I was told that the word “barbarian” comes from the Roman notion that non-Romans were little more than animals with a language that sounded that way: “bar bar bar bar.” But my crew always outvotes me on the veracity of that notion.

Anyway, enjoy these little bloopers as you enter into what I hope is a very happy holiday season for you and your family.

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