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.
Won’t your NRH usage on planes, trains and buses be a little counter-productive to your back-door, connect-with-locals philosophy Rick?
Re: NRH – I just won (amazing – I never win anything) a set of ableplanet NRH (via a competition I found on Twitter). Cool, but with the case they weigh nearly a pound, and it’s 8×9 inches – too big and too heavy. Even without the case they’re a good half pound. What kind do you use? Are they smaller and lighter? Re: “Stay away from any place within easy striking distance of a cruise ship. ” – great advice, except it would exclude Venice. And Dubrovnik. And Nice (cool place in the off-season.) And probably a bunch more good places.
The operative words are “off-season”
@ Deepak How is wearing NRH on an airplane packed with other tourists and businessmen counter-productive to Rick’s back-door, connect-with-locals philosophy?? You got me confused on that one!
Yeah, I just saw that on my USA Today app on my iPhone. Fun stuff. I’m looking forward to one day making it to Croatia and Turkey. Your tours those regions of Europe look quite appealing.
Turkey’s definitely amazing. My wife and I went there on our honeymoon, which was originally supposed to just be to the Greek Isles. But I had seen Rick’s recommendation to give Turkey a shot and my wife only agreed because Rick gave it his stamp of approval. Don’t know what it says that my wife trusts Rick more than me … wait, don’t answer that question =)
I agree with Rick, we are surrounded by too much advertising which adds to visual noise and makes everyone more status conscious and insecure. I recently scraped or pried off brand names from objects in my home. Computer, TV, phone, air conditioner, refrigerator and many others. It is surprising how advertising is everywhere. I do not buy clothes with any writing or symbols on them. I went to http://www.optoutprescreen.com to reduce my junk mail advertising and I call the companies that regularly send the huge wads of ads full of fast food coupons to stop them. I support and make use of the wonderfully commercial free and enlightening institutions of PBS, NPR, and my local public library.
Isn’t “Rick Steves” embroidered on his Civitas bag?
Midnight Express OMG you hit my hot button. But I am thinking this year of breaking out of my ME fear and doing a fall Turkey Tour. You just had to go and say Midnight Express. I may be totally at the end of your political spectrum but a better tour company with the best memories- it is yours.
KathyM – definitely go! Are you planning to import drugs? Didn’t think so – forget ME. Read some of the scrapbooks on this site and get inspired. I’ve been there with tours and on my own, and I felt perfectly safe (although you do need to practice saying no to salesmen (always seem to be men) and keep a sharp eye on the direction any taxi driver is taking).
A tip of the hat to “Louisa” who clearly understands what makes people tick. Incentives! Whether it’s Citigroup, or the Pentagon or politics, I think Louisa senses it (probably helps to be over 40). While we are at it, travel frequently upsets stomachs. Yep. It happens more when you are older. But it also happens when one is 20. This is not medical advice. But, anecdotally, I read more and more about low cost, otc remedies, like Pepto Bismol, which seem to help. Latest report is in a health column in the NYTIMES which covers coping with norovirus on cruise ships and airplanes and your kitchen counter top.
Funny, the colleague I hadn’t seen in a while aske dme about my trip to Istanbul last fall. When I extolled how wonderful the Turks are, she brought up that whole Midnight Express thing again, and that was her perception of Turkey. I even heard that from an American bussinessman i struck a conversation with during my layover in Frankfurt on my way back to Houston. It’s kind of sad how we allow genralizations in media feed our fears. Kathy M, go to Turkey already; you can even do it solo like I do it. Kathy C, you are dead-on about the salesmen–though it seems most of the carpet hucksters are concentrated in Sultanahmet (naturally). The taxi drivers if you aren’t careful can be the only negative of your Instanbul experience (I can tell the tale). Hopefully soon I can not only return to Istanbul but also visit more of Turkey. Let’s keep on traveling, good people!
Thanks for the input. If I do go in the fall it will be with Rick’s tour. I was going through all my pictures this week making a disc for my granddaughter and by far the most powerful and best memories have come from the Rick tours.
Loved to hear about Valentino’s in Croatia. We have planned a trip this summer with a stay in Rovinj (planned with the help of your Croatia/Slovenia book). After my experience with your book in Rothenberg Germany and learning the hard way with schneeballen (how could something that looks so good be so awful?) I am always mindful of your suggestions.
I put Turkey on my list of places to visit after Rick’s show on Istanbul. Can’t wait to go. Just wondering, though: How much of an issue is the language barrier?
There is no language barrier. Everywhere you go you will find English speakers. I have gone east of Ankara into the more remote places of Turkey and never had a problem. Turkey is a beautiful, wonderful place to visit. It has everything a visitor could want, mountains, beaches, exciting and vibrant Istanbul. If you know your New Testament a little you can visit some of the places to which St. Paul addressed his letters–Ephesus, for example, and see the mostly unexcavated locations of the churches of the Book of Revelation–Laodicea and others. One definite recommendation–drink bottled water only and be careful about the ice in non-urban places.
I was going through all my pictures this week making a disc for my granddaughter and by far the most powerful and best memories have come from the Rick tours.One definite recommendation–drink bottled water only and be careful about the ice in non-urban places. ————————————– mary scott
This is a comment on the one-hour Iran show on PBS, which I have just watched. My husband was a Fulbright professor of American literature at the University of Tehran from 1966 to 1967, and I taught English as a second language at another university. We visited Esfahan and Persepolis, places I enjoyed seeing on the show. What I will never forget is this: Although it was 1967, a student came to me and said, “I wish to offer you my condolences on the assassination of President Kennedy. You must be very sad.”