May 06 2008
Confessions of a Rick Steves Fanatic
I have a confession. I am a Rick Steves fanatic. You know who I’m talking about – he has a travel show on public TV (NOT Rudy Maxa; the other guy). His travel philosophy is to get away from big hotels and really touristy places (Sorrento excluded, because he loves it too), and get more of a local flavor and save money while traveling in Europe by staying in B&Bs, going to local family-run trattorias, etc.
Rick (I’m on a first name basis though he has no clue who I am) has guide books, runs tours throughout Europe, offers free MP3 audio tours for the big churches and museums in Italy, and hosts a web site and community of travellers with lots of helpful tips (www.ricksteves.com). He even sells his own luggage and travel accessories (he has built up quite an empire).
His advice has helped us save a lot of money, helped us not get pick-pocketted in the major cities (I carry my passport and credit cards in my Rick Steves moneybelt!), and has also given us great restaurant recommendations so that we actually enjoy the process of gaining weight while we are here in Italy.
It seems that there are many others like me. We’ve seen many people walking around with Rick Steves guidebooks, and at several of the restaurants he recommends, half the people in the place had the book sitting on their tables (the other half were locals). If you’re going to Europe and are interested in getting opinionated advice from someone who wants you to save time, money, and get an authentic travel experience, I highly recommend his books.
Meredith and Rick (in Book Form)
– Meredith
One response so far
We had the same Rick Steves experience when we took our trip to Spain & Portugal. Everywhere we went, other people had the book on their tables, our B&B had a Rick group staying there, etc. You’re right – you can save money and find good places to eat and stay, but we did start to think that perhaps his “empire” is really a cult… 😉