Rick Steves is a freakin' National Treasure y'all

[Coventina]

I went to go see his show today, partnering with the Phoenix Symphony.

It was fantastic! What a great guy!

He started out the show talking about how we don't like "kings" in America.
The crowd went wild!

I get that the Rick Steves crowd might self-select, but still, I was impressed!
He spent a lot of his time between the selections talking about European freedom movements in places like:
Italy, France, Czech Republic, etc.

After the show, he came out and signed autographs for anyone who wanted them. He said ahead of time that he wasn't going to personalize them or pose for pictures, but to take pictures freely. He said it would take too long to have people line up and wait for a "one-on-one" session. He said just form a mosh pit with him in the middle and he'd rotate around and sign whatever was put in front of him.

He was still really gracious about responding to quick questions or accepting thanks for people who told him he'd changed their lives.

Just a really great guy!

[Coventina]

2. Yes, his company does. He has 100 in Europe and 200 stateside.

He also is a staunch defender of PBS!

He bought an entire apartment building near his home and donated it to homeless women and children.

[Tanuki]

4. I don't know how many people he employs,

but I heard an interview with him today on NPR, and he was talking about keeping them employed during Covid. One thing he had them do was to dig up and type the old handwritten travel journal from his fresh-out-of college "hippie trail" excursion, Istanbul to Kathmandu, and he has just published it as his latest book.
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/03/04/rick-stevess-new-travel-memoir-examines-wild-times-on-the-hippie-trail/

[Coventina]

6. Did he meet a strange lady? And did she make him nervous?

Did she take him home and make him breakfast?

Sorry, couldn't resist.....

[Zorro]

14. I'm going to have to check out that book

My girlfriend and I made that journey from Istanbul to India around that same time, and I recall there was a Turkish bus driver who really took a dislike an American longhair who he was physically getting up and pushing around for no apparent reason -- it just might have been Rick.

Were likewise in Teheran and Meshed during Ramadan, just weeks before the Iranian Revolution gained steam and just after the Afghan border was reopened after a coup -- then down through the Khyber Pass and into India.

Don't think that's a trip one can make these days.

[StoolPigeon]

13. I wish he employed 301 people.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

3. I was tickled to learn...

… he’s a serious cannabis advocate. Granted, I haven’t had TV access since I ditched satellite like 12 years ago, but I don’t remember that was ever a fact they mentioned on PBS.

[Coventina]

5. All his episodes are free to stream from his website.

And yes, he has worked to legalize pot since 2003.

Now that he's a cancer patient himself, I'm sure he's thanking his younger self for that!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

7. Ooh!

Thanks for that info. If I can ever put my Kindle down, I’ll have something fun to decompress with.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I went to see him about 30 years ago

and feel the same way as you. He is real, accessible, modest, funny and cool.

[58Sunliner]

9. Yes he is!!

[pfitz59]

10. He lives down the road from me.

Big supporter of Dem politics. He has an annual open house at his offices (super fun) and occasional fundraisers for Dem candidates. He is just like you see on TV. Down to earth and companionable. Lives by this quote: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."- Mark Twain

[FM123]

11. He certainly is!

[LoveTheDU]

12. His travel business is HQ'd in Edmonds WA

Just north of Seattle.
He has been a featured speaker at several No Kings and related rallies in Edmonds this year.
He walks the talk! True believer in understanding other cultures.

[Hassler]

15. I'm so old I remember people talking about him

At the bookstore I worked at in 1984.