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Europe Today in USA Today

I get a lot of calls for interviews. When Kelly Carter of USA Today asked me these questions, I put a little more oomph into my answers than normal. I was just in a good mood. Kelly got the interview in today’s edition of USA Today. I thought you might enjoy some of the interview and answers.

Q: What’s the first thing you do when you walk into a hotel room after checking in?
A: Gather up all the fliers, sales pitches, requests for feedback, breakfast menus and annoying notices that litter a room. I want a nest with open, uncluttered surfaces. That’s why on planes of airlines like US Airways that cover seat trays with advertisements, I peel them off, too. We need to hold the line against advertising that is rising like a greedy tide in our already shrill world.

Q: What one item do you take on every trip?
A: I never leave home without my noise-reduction headphones. I’d rather fly economy with NRH than business class without. The droning hum of an airplane is exhausting. And so are some super-chatty seat mates. When I wear my NRH, no one talks to me. I can snooze or think or write or, if I choose, enjoy music. I also use my NRH on bus rides, train rides and if a hotel is unusually noisy.

Q: Where have you been recently?
A: I was just in Croatia, and I love the knack they have for taking a humble stretch of rocky shoreline and turning it into a wildly romantic bar or café. In Rovinj at Valentino’s Bar, you grab a pillow as you enter and settle among cool Croatians into a place literally on the rocks. As the sunset fades and the flames on the old-time candelabra seem to brighten, you realize that you don’t need to be rich to enjoy a luxurious moment on the Adriatic Coast.

Q: What’s the most surprising or unexpected place you’ve ever visited?
A: Iran. I was clueless and afraid. That’s why I went. All I knew was what most Americans knew — what Ted Koppel taught us. … Walking the streets under 10-story-tall banners that proclaimed “Death to America” on flags made of dropping bombs for stripes and skulls for stars, I realized 70 million Iranians don’t hate us. Their government may tell them to hate us. They may be confused by our foreign policy and their media. But I found most Iranians — like most Americans — are good and caring people confused by media and motivated by fear and love. Later, while stuck in a Tehran traffic jam, a driver in the next car asked my driver to roll down his window. Handing across a bouquet of flowers, he said, “Give this to the foreigner in your back seat and apologize for our traffic.” I’ve never been so warmly received on the streets of any city as I was when people in Iran learned that I was American.

Q: What’s your favorite vacation spot?
A: Traffic-free Italy. Whether Sienna, Venice, the villages of the Cinque Terre or some windy Tuscan hill town, I love Italy. And I love it most when it’s quiet and I can hear the rustle of strollers on the piazza, the pecking of the birds on medieval windowsills, the snapping of laundry high above, the commotion of happy eaters spilling out of a trattoria and the joy of children running free. Give me Fiat-free Italy and I’m one happy traveler.

Q: Can you offer an insider tip or recommendation for your favorite vacation place?
A: Go one step beyond Greece to Turkey. Stay away from any place within easy striking distance of a cruise ship.

Q: What’s the next hot destination for Americans traveling to Europe?
A: Turkey may not get into the European Union, but as far as travelers are concerned, it’s as good as there. Turkey is exotic, unpredictable, fun-loving, cheap, tasty, filled with history and friendly. For a generation, many Americans have been afraid. … As Midnight Express images fade and as Americans learn to celebrate rather than fear the diversity on this planet, Turkey is the best deal going in Europe.

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Guidebook or iPhone?

One of my workmates, Robyn Cronin, just got back from a “spring break” in Europe with an interesting observation about how two twentysomething travelers accessed information. Print or electronic? It’s a choice many of us will be making in the next decade. Here’s what Robyn wrote:

My cousin and I spent a week between Venice, Barcelona, and Madrid — her choices; this was only her second time in Europe. Having worked at RSE for six years and having helped lead or taken 10 tours, I am very familiar with the Rick Steves guidebooks and how to access all the information in them, from our two-page spreads of each city’s most important sights, to our sections on public transportation options to and from airports or train stations. Armed with our latest editions and a familiarity with each city from previous trips, I was excited to share each city’s unique specialties with my cousin, along with my own personal favorites. But she came equipped with what is quickly becoming a “can’t leave home without it” item — her iPhone. She insisted on relying on apps for the same information I get from the guidebooks.

The seven days we spent together soon became a (friendly) battle over who could find the information first. It was app versus guidebook. While I’m happy to report I was totally victorious (finding the information quicker than she could even find the proper application that might give her the information she was looking for), what struck me was witnessing her dependency on her iPhone. Rather than simply opening a physical guidebook to the already dog-eared page offering step-by-step instructions, she repeatedly chose to hunt-and-peck her way through the interactive highway of travel information for the answers she was looking for.

We’re both intelligent, tech-savvy, 28-year-old college graduates, perfectly capable of processing information from a variety of sources. Yet she never connected with the guidebook and I never connected with the iPhone. Technology is exploding all around us, and it’s hard to ignore the impact Apple has made on our travel publishing industry. But I don’t think it has to be an either/or situation. There’s plenty of room for both apps and guidebooks to share the travel market.

Still, even though I’m more a tech snob than a tech snub, you won’t see me jumping to replace my paper bookmarks with electronic ones anytime soon. There’s too much of Europe to see to waste time sifting through clunky apps for my information.

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Cherry Blossoms and a Nudge from FDR

Yesterday I was walking around the Tidal Basin to celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossoms while visiting my daughter Jackie in Washington DC. We popped into the FDR Memorial, and I was blindsided by how it inspired me.

Aware of all the rancor lately in our capital city, I lost myself in the natural and thought-provoking space the four outdoor rooms of the FDR Memorial. It was a misty morning. While this memorial lacked the grandiose feel of the nearby Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial swept me away: Heavy stones, cascading waterfalls (the challenge of troubled waters, and then life and hope), tangled vines, bronze statues of salt-of-the-earth people bearing hard times, and memories of a great statesman who inspired a nation to be both strong and civilized.

Depression, war, and fear gripped our nation then as it does now. And Roosevelt, rather than using more fear and scapegoats, reminded us that “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” With his leadership and New Deal, he appealed to our higher nature to inspire greatness in our citizenry. The quotes chipped into the rustic stone walls on the misty stroll struck me. Their wisdom seemed both timeless and timely. And with the perspective provided by the passage of a little time, the way our country’s “Greatest Generation” responded then gave me hope that we can still make FDR proud. Let these quotes take you on a 2010 walk with FDR, as they did me:

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

“In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow men.” —From a campaign address, Detroit, Michigan, October 2, 1932

“Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.” —From a Message to Congress on the Use of Our Natural Resources, Washington DC, January 24, 1935

“I propose to create a Civilian Conservation Corps to be used in simple work; more important, however, than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.” —From a Message to Congress on Unemployment Relief, Washington DC, March 21, 1933

“I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.” —From an address at Chautauqua, NY, August 14, 1936

“More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.” —From an undelivered address prepared for Jefferson Day to be delivered April 13, 1945

“Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.” —From an address to White House Correspondents’ Association, Washington DC, February 12, 1943

Travel—whether abroad our in our own country—roughs up the surface of our outlook so lessons stick better. I’m so glad Jackie studies in Washington DC so, together, we get to explore our nation’s capital.

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Help! Prostitutes Have Taken Over TV News

In the last year, I have stopped watching TV news and the Sunday morning talking-heads shows. I now get my news from various newspapers and magazines online (and Jon Stewart). Of course, like most people, I gravitate to news sources that affirm my core beliefs. We all like to feel like we “get it.” The good news is that I probably spend six hours a week less time getting my “news.” My challenge: to break out of the idea incest so many of us suffer from when we choose our news sources.

A year ago, I had a hunch that there would be more demands on my time than ever, and that the political discussions on TV would be less productive than ever. (How many hours have you dedicated to following the health care “debate” in the last year? And, looking back, what did that earn you?) And I also had a strong feeling that the shapers of public opinion were corrupt — men and women who were selling their souls to get on the air or keep their advertisers happy, or worse, were actually secretly paid consultants of corporations with an agenda. Then, recently, in The Nation (an admittedly very liberal magazine, March 1, 2010 issue), I read Sebastian Jones’ article “The Media-Lobbying Complex.” Here’s an excerpt:

President Obama spent a day touring Allentown, Pennsylvania, meeting with local workers and discussing the economic crisis. A few hours later, Pennsylvania’s former governor, Tom Ridge, was on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, offering up his own recovery plan. He said, “The real answer for the White House is for the president to take his green agenda and blow it out of the box.” The first step, Ridge explained, was to “create nuclear power plants.” This was an “innovation setter” that would “create jobs and create exports.” While Ridge was presented as and sounded like an objective commentator, TV viewers weren’t told that in the last five years he’s received over half a million dollars serving on the board of Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power company (or that he owns a quarter million dollars of their stock). I believe marketers at Exelon gave him those talking points.

Moments earlier, on the same show, retired general and “NBC Military Analyst” Barry McCaffrey told viewers that the war in Afghanistan would require an additional “three- to ten-year effort” and “a lot of money.” He’s the perfect on-air package combining the credibility and service history of a US general with the likability of a caring grandpa. I wanted to like him and believe him. And for years I have. But MSNBC neglected to tell viewers that McCaffrey, their “military analyst,” was paid nearly $200,000 this year alone by DynCorp. Our government had just granted DynCorp a five-year $6 billion deal to supply American forces in Afghanistan. The first year is locked in at $644 million, but the additional four options are subject to renewal, contingent on military needs and political realities. And a man who served his country with such nobility is now selling his soul by using his credibility to get in on the easy money lavished on our military by promoting his benefactor on air in the guise of news analysis. DynCorp gives McCaffrey his talking points and, encouraged by a fawning “news anchor,” a naïve populace believes him. People die, debt grows, and some get wealthy.

In a single hour, two men with blatant, undisclosed conflicts of interest had appeared on MSNBC.

For years, like most of the American public, I let consultants like these shape my opinion about important issues like war and energy. All news in America (even PBS news) is a mix of news, entertainment, and propaganda. We can’t hope for CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News to provide serious journalism. But we can hope that Americans understand how corporate interests shape the political discourse in our nation these days.

By simply no longer watching, I find there’s less political noise in my world and more time to simply live. And I don’t even miss the talking heads I once thought were a plus in my life. (My practical time-saving tip: I get my news at stray, otherwise wasted moments throughout the day from my iPhone apps.)

How does a conservative or liberal get news that challenges rather than affirms their beliefs? As a traveler, I went to El Salvador three times — both during and after their civil war — to get a handle on that complicated struggle. I went to Iran to understand the mindset of the people who elected their president. I toured the medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland to understand that situation; I followed up that trip by spending a day at a (drug company-sponsored) convention of doctors and pharmacists learning about the addictive qualities of cannabis; and then I took Seattle’s top narcotics cop out for dinner. I went to Tijuana when headlines told of beheadings there in the drug wars. And I went to Shanghai to feel the energy of the new Chinese economic power. I even went to Papua New Guinea to see if modern Christian mission work had progressed beyond “bras and Bibles.” Sure, you can learn lots by going on “field trips.” But trips like these are both time- and money-consuming.

Way back in 1973, I took a high school elective class called “Understanding the Media.” Today, understanding the media would be considered subversive and certainly not worthy of public school curriculum. But we can share insights and tips with each other. How can we use the media to better understand what the heck’s going on? After all…that’s what the news media is for.

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Miscommunication at the British Museum

I just have to share an email that creates a fun image (sent to my office from Sheryl in Marysville, Washington):

My husband, Scott, and I went to England in 2004 during a heat wave. We were in a sweaty crowd wherever we went. At the British Museum, Scott went to the men’s room. I sat down to wait, and I realized I was sitting next to travel guru Rick Steves, who’s from my home state, so I had a conversation with him. When Scott returned, I pointed and mouthed, “Rick Steves!” Scott just nodded, and we walked away. His lack of reaction surprised me, but I let it go. Back home, we were showing our neighbors pictures of our trip, and I said, “This is where I sat next to Rick Steves.” Scott asked, “When did you see Rick Steves?” I reminded him of the moment at the museum, and he said, “I thought you were saying, ‘He stinks!'”