Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Yes, I know I have favorite words, verbal tics, and trademark clichés that those who read or watch lots of my work find popping up over and over. These quirks give my travels maximum fun per mile, minute, and dollar while carbonating my ability to create experiences that are vivid and evocative.

Some of my fans shared this drinking game, which can bring even more joy to those watching my travel shows (watch full episodes for free). The rules are easy.

Drink whenever I say these words:

1. Beautiful/Beauty
2. Convivial
3. Commanding view (not just view, but “commanding view”)
4. Ancient (avoid the Italy and Greece episodes if you don’t want to get alcohol poisoning)
5. Work-a-day
6. Evoke/Evocative (drink twice if used correctly: to bring a memory, feeling, or image, into the mind)
7. Excite/Exciting
8. Local
9. Excessive alliteration
(Three words starting with the same letter = one drink; each extra word = one more drink.)
10. “My friend and fellow tour guide”

Extras:

Drink anytime I drink.
Drink every time producer Simon shows up.
Drink anytime I butcher the pronunciation of a non-English word.

Would you add any others?

Stay safe, drink responsibly, and “keep on travelin’.”

Recently in Rome, I wandered through what could have been a romantic piazza. The twilight sky was perfect…for sales. Guys from Africa launched their plastic florescent whirlybirds high into the sky. Then my attention was hijacked by the splat of a plastic goop doll hitting a board at my feet. The round creature became a flat mess, and then slowly, creepily reconstituted itself — ready for another brutal slam.

There were souvenir hustlers everywhere I looked. Each year, there’s a silly new street-trinket hit sold all over town. Cheap little tripods have long been popular, but now the street hustlers have shifted their focus to selfie sticks. And what about those little 2-D puppets that “magically” dance next to a boom box on big-city sidewalks?

These crazy gimmicks (which somehow keep illegal African immigrants from starving) make me wish I had bought all the goofy things people have sold on the streets of Rome over the years — from the flaming Manneken-Pis cigarette lighters to the five-foot-tall inflatable bouncing cigars to the twin magnets that jitter like crickets when you toss them in the air — and made a museum.

Share your thoughts, insights, and photos on the crazy things people from faraway lands sell on the streets of Europe.

I like to wear a very basic jacket when I’m on the road giving talks. I like a jacket that looks sharp, but can be stuffed into a backpack or into the overhead bin on a plane. The salesman in the shop pulled one out and claimed, “This the same coat Obama wears.” Hearing that, I said, “Sold.”

Still, for several years, I’ve wondered if that was true. Then, last week I had the opportunity to meet President Obama in person. It cost me a very expensive donation, but I wanted to put my “Obama jacket” right next to his. Now I have photographic evidence — if you look very closely you can see that, yes! They are the same jacket.

I’ve waited 60 years to shake the hand of a president. It was well worth the wait, and in my mind, this was the right president. I realize that lots of Americans are hell-bent on hating Obama and believe our country is going to hell in a Democratic handbasket. But I’ve traveled enough to know that our country is doing pretty well these days…and it’s not an easy ship to captain. And, to those who hate government in general, I’d recommend traveling to a land where there is no competent government, as I have many times. Good governance is a blessing.

Actually getting to do the “grip and grin” with our president gave me a chance to see the energy and security that surrounds the most powerful man on the planet and the leader of the free world. The thrill is hard to explain.

Like any evangelical travel writer and TV host, I brought along a copy of one of my books (Travel as a Political Act) and DVDs of my two political TV specials (Rick Steves’ Iran and Rick Steves’ The Holy Land). Once in line, I learned no one can have anything in their hands as they approach the president. My gifts were taken with a promise that they would go “in his box.” Who knows what happened to them…but I felt good to have at least brought them for his box.

When I had my moment with the president, I told him (in fast-forward mode), “Hi, I’m Rick Steves. Thanks so much for all you do. I host a public television series about travel, and I produced shows on Iran and the Holy Land in hopes that Americans can better understand those regions. My shows are in your box.” It was all so fast, I don’t even think I remembered to pose for the camera. Grip, grin, and outta there.

I debated what to say in my ten seconds with our president (knowing it would all be a blur to him anyway). I could have thanked him for supporting Bread for the World in drawing a “circle of protection” around our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, who had been facing program budget cuts. Or I could have asked him to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one drug (in a league with heroin) to a more honest classification. But now, having had some time to think about it, I’ve realized the best thing would have been to show him how we were both wearing the same jacket…and how good it looks on us.