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Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick

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Fun in NYC with My Publisher

I recently spent a couple of exciting days in New York City with my publisher’s parent company, Hachette Book Group. The highlight: giving a 10-minute talk to the entire staff and sales team at their annual meeting — and sharing the stage with Hachette authors such as Sally Field and Julian Castro, a rising star in the Democratic Party.

 

sally field
Sally Field introduced her new memoir, “In Pieces,” to the team at Hachette.

The audience appreciated my joke that publishers’ lives would be easier if they only published authors who had been “self-published” first. And I was serious. Because I self-published the first three editions of my first book, Europe Through the Back Door (back in the early 1980s), I’ve always been loyal to and thankful for my publisher, Avalon Travel. I have a beautiful relationship with Avalon publisher Bill Newlin and his entire team.

 

bill newlin and rick steves
Me and my publisher, Bill Newlin.

Since business survival these days demands that small publishers be consumed by bigger publishers, I’m thankful our parent publisher is Hachette. Last summer, in Paris, I had lunch with the global CEO of Hachette, Arnaud Nourry, a brilliant business leader who was a backpacking aficionado of guidebooks back in the 1970s (like me), and now heads the world’s sixth-largest publishing house.

Big literary stars usually get all the limelight, but Hachette has recognized that, while I don’t have any million-sellers, collectively the roughly fifty Rick Steves guidebooks sell a million copies — and they do it over and over again, each year. The team is particularly excited about the new third edition of my book Travel as a Political Act, just released and updated to reflect all the recent changes in our world, including Brexit, Erdogan, the refugee crisis, and Trump. Along with print and ebook editions, it’s also out as an audio book.

 

rick steves

meeting

 

It was a thrill to be with everyone at Hachette. I enjoyed a tour of their headquarters and an amazing evening party with a chance to connect with each of the hardworking salespeople who make sure my books are well-distributed all over the USA and beyond. I learned a lot, and it was wonderful to be reminded of all the work that goes into making a successful guidebook series.

 

rick steves and hachette staff
Me with my publisher (Bill Newlin), his boss (Susan Weinberg), and her boss (Michael Pietsch).

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Behind the Scenes at a Public Television Pledge Drive

I love and appreciate the value of public television. And for the last 20 years, whenever I’ve been on the road in the US, I’ve tried to squeeze in visits to public television stations — particularly during pledge drive season. Stations are always happy when they can invite their supporters to join a TV host in the studio for a talk or a meet-and-greet.

kqed volunteers
In San Francisco, KQED volunteer Amanda wore the scarf I got in Siena while we were filming the Palio. I packed the scarf along to KQED, intending to wear it during the pledge drive, but it was a “green screen” studio — so the green parts of the scarf would have disappeared on film, and I couldn’t wear it. (It looked better on Amanda, anyway!)

Hosting a conventional pledge drive takes an entire evening (and 24 hours out of my travel schedule), but I’ve learned that, during a quick station visit at any time of the day, we can record breaks that can be used to create a “membership drive travel special.” Three episodes of Rick Steves’ Europe (with the various credits and plugs at the end edited out) plus three breaks (usually 11, 13, and 15 minutes, getting longer toward the end of the event) add up to a two-hour special. I get to huddle with the station to pick the episodes and assemble a compelling gift package that will “get the phones ringing.” We fill each break with “roll-ins” (pre-produced, one-minute clips about the gift packages) and talk (a mixture of travel insights, behind-the-scenes production stories from Europe, gift pitches, and “mission” — sharing why public television is important to our communities and worth supporting).

Mission pitches are easy for me because I believe so strongly in the value of public broadcasting, the “one place on the dial where I can write scripts that assume an attention span, respect your intelligence, and create programming that’s driven not by a need to keep advertisers happy…but by a passion for inspiring viewers to embrace our world boldly, in all its diversity.” I’ve become pretty effective in helping stations get new members.

Over the years, I’ve made lots of friends in public television. On my most recent trip around the country, I had the chance to work with some of my favorite pledge drive co-hosts: Greg Sherwood (KQED in San Francisco), David Preston (VP at Twin Cities PBS), Cheryl Hamada (WTTW in Chicago), and Jack Galmiche (President and CEO of the Nine Network in St. Louis).

greg sherwood and rick steves
Greg Sherwood, KQED.
david preston and rick steves
David Preston, Twin Cities PBS
cheryl hamada and rick steves
At WTTW, my co-host Cheryl Hamada and I both wore “Keep on Travelin’” T-shirts — and the same T-shirt was included in the pledge drive gift packages.
jack galmiche and rick steves
In St. Louis, President and CEO Jack Galmiche hosted a social event for Nine Network supporters.

I’d like to visit every station in person to help with pledge drives, but there just isn’t enough time. Instead, I focus my energy on producing “virtual pledge events” that any station can use, free of charge, after they “localize” them with their call letters and phone number. During my last lecture tour, I dropped by KQED in San Francisco and produced a virtual pledge event based on our recent Rick Steves’ European Festivals special. It will air nationally this fall.

tv control room
The control room at KQED is full of TV wizardry — with one of the best production teams in the country.
tv green screens
KQED’s green screen allows them to digitally place any background behind the people they are filming.

Are you a fan of public television? It would be fun to learn which local station you support, and why — please let me know in the comments.

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Fun and Friends at the Travel and Adventure Show

Each year, I spend several weekends at big travel shows around the country. This year, it’s been the Travel and Adventure Show in Chicago, LA, and the Bay Area — with Denver still to come this weekend.

I generally give three talks at these shows. This year, in addition to my basic travel skills talk, I’m also giving a talk that compares cruising, bus tours, and independent travel. Talking in a noisy hall is much harder than talking in a real theater, but the crowd is enthusiastic and fun.

 

Rick Steves speaking
Photo: Trish Feaster (The Travelphile)

We always have a Rick Steves’ Europe Tours booth at these shows. Our tireless staff talks to people one-on-one about travel all day long.

 

booth

rick steves and staff
Keith Stickelmaier, Heidi Van Sewell, and Trish Feaster are all tour guides — and they know how to sell tours.
rick steves and staff with mt. rushmore
In Chicago, our booth was right next to South Dakota’s booth— so why not stroke our egos with some Mount Rushmore fun?

It’s a thrill to be with so many enthusiastic travelers under one roof. And it seems that, at every travel show, I meet someone who is known among his traveling friends as a Rick Steves look-alike. Someday, all the Rick Steves look-alikes should have a convention. Not only are these folks good-looking…they’re friendly, too.

 

rick steves with fan poster

rick steves with doppelganger

rick steves with doppelganger

 

A big part of the fun for me at these shows is seeing friends like Pauline Frommer (the daughter of my mentor, Arthur Frommer — Mr. “Europe on $5 a Day”) and Samantha Brown. This is an exciting time for Sam, as she’s made the jump from the Travel Channel to public television. Now, she can get away from the gimmicks of cable TV and just be herself — and her infectious love of travel can really shine. Her new series, Samantha Brown’s Places to Love, is her best yet. Check it out.

 

rick steves with samantha brown
Dessert with Sam in Chicago. (She’s full of delicious travel tips.) Photo: Trish Feaster (The Travelphile)
rick steves with pauline frommer
Pauline Frommer

Next time the Travel and Adventure Show comes to your neck of the woods, be sure to say hello.

 

rick steves staff at booth

travel show line

 

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