One hundred and twenty weeks ago, when I committed myself to producing a regular radio show, someone wise with experience sighed, “You’re taking on the tyranny of a weekly hour.”
That’s a funny thing — how easy it is to jump at a creative challenge, and then realize you have just adopted a chore that continues at a regular interval until it fails or until you kill it. Thankfully nothing is failing. And I like my little creations too much to kill any of them.
Lately, I’ve felt the mounting tyrannies of my ongoing commitments: annual guidebook updates, a new TV series every two years (the tempo I’ve maintained since 1990), an hour every week for public radio, a weekly column for my newspaper syndicate, and even this blog.
Perhaps the toughest is the weekly radio show. With 70 or so stations running it each week and my wonderful producer (Tim Tattan) doing such a fine job, it’s a thrill. And we have a serious responsibility not to stumble in our production schedule. We always have a few weeks of episodes in the can…but it seems we always need to be producing more. Next week we’ve scheduled a two-and-a-half day frenzy of interview recordings to get the raw material for, I hope, 8 or 10 new shows. (We’ll be streaming the interview sessions live and taking call-ins — to be announced on our website.)
When I took on the radio show, I unrealistically figured I could crank out shows with just a couple hours of work for each. But it takes much more time. We need to set up the interviews and prepare the questions. (I’m put off by interviewers who don’t prepare before an interview with me, so I feel an obligation to the experts we have on the show to be ready with a thoughtful interview.) Then, after the recording sessions, we need to write and record all the promos. I can’t bear to have sloppy promos airing all over the country — so these take a fair amount of time, too. In January, I’m looking ahead at my annual travels (being gone for April, May, July and August), which means we’ll need shows in the can to cover us until September.
And then there’s the rest of life. (We’ve got some pretty exciting projects cookin’.)
Someone just asked where our son Andy was. I said in Prague. They asked, “What’s he doing there?” I said, “Just hanging out.” Who’s he with? Alone. Has he been there before? Nope. I offered to get Andy a room. He said he’d prefer to just get there and find a hostel that felt the most fun. Andy’s confidence as a 20-year-old on the road brings me great joy. (In a week, he’ll stop “hanging out” and report for studies for his Notre Dame semester in Rome.)
In Prague, Czech Republic, we drove around downtown a while, then this ‘ol homing-pigeon driver drove directly to the campground in Branik, a few miles south of downtown Prague, on the west side of the Vltava River. I don’t understand that. I have driven in how many cities since we were here last, four years ago? We came to this large ancient city with a tangled jumble of streets, from a different direction than in either of the previous two years we had visited here, but still, right to the campground. It sometimes seems a map would be a hindrance. (1995)
Andy owes you a nice blog update from Prague. I mean he is in Europe and hanging out possibly on your dime. Just a thought. Oh and yes life can be very very hectic. Just when you think you’ve done all you can do another project pops up. Life is like traveling. Fred in Atlanta
Keep up the good work. Happy travels in 2008!
Rick you have done so much good for travel, don’t think we could have ventured out on our own without you! But you are about my age and just don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. Kids grow up fast and it really is fun to slow it up a little!
I have to second Judy’s comments. I think my husband and I are about your age and planning our 5th trip to Europe thanks to you! I graduate from nursing school this spring and plan on working so that my husband can take a break from his job. I know that if he keeps up his current pace he won’t be around to enjoy his grandchildren! I’m pretty sure that you and my husband have similar work ethics and you both work extremely hard. I think I can speak for most readers of this blog when I say I am very appreciative of all you have done for us travelers! At the same time I hope you don’t come to a place in your life where you wish you would have slowed down to enjoy your own life with your own family and traveling just for pleasure!!! Maybe as your kids graduate from university you can turn over some of your responsibilities to them allowing you to slow it down! It seems they have been mentored very well and both have a lot of the skills required!!!
Rick, you may be doing a million things at once, but we want you to know, we do appreciate it. This isn’t to say we wouldn’t understand totally if you stopped to smell the roses, as Judy posts, but just so you know, your blogs and specials and books and other works are enjoyed tremendously by everyone here, as well as countless millions you probably don’t hear from. You are a true Renaissance Man!
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Rick, you have great kids!!
Rick, What a great gift you’ve given your two kids. To see the world as an adventure to enjoy. We travel a lot with our 10 y/o daughter, and I hope she has the same outlook later in life that you’ve given your kids. Please keep traveling, I love your shows.
I can’t think of a better place to hang out than in Prague. I did just that for a month (April 2007) and while my friend (an ex pat living there) was able to get me a flat to rent in his apartment building (what a way to live in Prague, though it took me awhile to get the hang of using this ancient skeleton key to open the front door of the building!) I did stay at Sir Toby’s Hostel for a few nights as well and loved it.