I would love to hear a word from Rick about the events in Paris.

Look under Ricks Steves Travel Blog, second topic down.

He has made some comments on Facebook. Find his FB page and "like" it. Then you will get what he has to say about a lot of things.

http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/dont-be-terrorized/

Thank you guys. That is just what I was looking for. And thank you, Rick!

Yes, I also had been wondering if Rick would make any sort of statement about Paris. Interesting blog. And do read the comments under the blog. Lots of different points of view there. Interesting.

Charlie writes, "Rick has been my travel guru for many trips. I rely on his advice because as I know many of us feel, he is a kindred spirit."

I appreciate Rick's contributions to my own trips and to European travel in general as well.

Rick blogs, "...especially given the impact of sensational media coverage, we need to respond intelligently and rationally."

I think all of us need to think intelligently and rationally about this issue - and about Rick's blog.

"In 2004, Madrid suffered a terrorist bombing in its Metro, which killed 191 and injured 1,800. In 2005, London suffered a similar terrorist bombing in its Tube system, killing 52 and injuring 700. These societies tightened their security, got the bad guys, and carried on. Paris will, too."

I have no issue with the notion that these places are mostly safe to visit. Paris typically loses 70 pedestrians per year in traffic accidents; terrorism in Paris has been unable to compete even with that. And clearly, most visitors to these cities made it in and out of these cities just fine after the attacks. However, it's equally obvious that the bad guys haven't yet been "gotten." The same movement carries on too - and when it doesn't get caught, it continues to kill off westerners whenever it can. There will be more attacks like this one in European cities and maybe in Paris too until such time as the jihadi movement has been killed off.

My sincere apologies, but I needed to remove an aspect of the discussion that was veering off topic from the stated topic of this thread. I know Rick brought it up himself in his blog. However, the subject isn't right for the forum. You are welcome to discuss that subject in the comments on his blog or on Facebook.

Also, Rick posted an update to his initial piece regarding reactions to the attacks on Nov 13th in Paris.
http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/dont-be-terrorized-your-comments-and-ricks-response/

I'm not a Facebooker but my sister is and we have enjoyed reading Rick's commentary while in Paris. So if you aren't travelling with someone who is, it's worth signing up for. You don't have to agree with everything to learn something from it.

A number on the travel forum here see Rick as a kind of daddy figure “a guru” who can solve every problem and take away every pain and fear. More realisitic Rick is a well informed travel specialist who tries to see the events in Paris in perspective and to my opinion he does and I appreciate that. And the only thing to control and deal with fear is to understand the reasons why these attacks happen and that is not an easy subject, you really need a deeper insight. A good step to start to understand these reasons is for instance reading his comments and info from solid sources to form a rational opinion. It will not take away the worries but it´s the best way not to be dragged into mass hysteria, making things worse.

I was in complete agreement with Rick's opinions and thought to myself, "some perspective at last."

I am quite dismayed, however, by the seeming contradiction between his opinions and his actions in cancelling a business trip to Egypt because of safety concerns. He wrote: I was booked to travel to Egypt last month to shoot two new TV episodes and cancelled for the reasons you describe. But Europe is safe. The description referred to a tourist's report of being on a cruise stop there at the time of the deadly clashes in Tahrir Square during demonstrations four years ago. The tourist wrote that the group was accompanied by armed guards and nothing untoward happened (except that they didn't "feel" safe). Here's Rick cancelling tourist business/promotion to a country that badly needs it, presumably because of the same terrorist threats that exist in Europe. Sorry, Rick, but I don't see the difference.

Chani, while the same has not applied to U.S. flights, I wonder if the UK's total suspension of flights to Sharm el Sheikh (up to Nov. 25, anyway) after the Flight A321 incident has something to do with it? That has been one of the most protected areas of Egypt due to its huge draw as a UK holiday resort destination. I believe German Lufthansa canceled its flights to that area from Europe as well.

It's interesting to take a peek at the UK's version of our State Dept. travel site. It tends to be much more toned down, caution-wise, than our own so the no travel advised/only essential travel advised map is a good visual indicator or how much of the country they've put on the don't go/shouldn't go list.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

Just a thought?

Chani, could Rick's business travel insurance no longer cover Egypt perhaps? I really don't know (this is just a guess) but I could see certain countries being blacklisted once the risk is too high from an insurance standpoint (same reason why airlines pulled flights from some parts of Ukraine and now Sharm-el-Sheik). Since Rick needs to ensure coverage for himself, his staff, his equipment, etc., maybe it just hinged on a a cost-benefit business decision (as opposed to a personal decision about his own safety).

Is Rick in Paris or Rome right now

Probably not as he was abroad much of the summer but pretty sure one of his tours may be.

"Best of Florence, Venice and Rome" and "Best of Rome" tours start tomorrow, and a "Best of Paris" starts on Sunday.

Rick also went to Iran in 2008. Pretty sure that one isn't real high on the average traveler's 'safe destination' list?!!

But another thought? We're all obvious tourists when we travel, hauling around cameras and guidebooks and what-have-you. But Mr Steves and the crew are a different level of obvious; they can have a much higher level of visibility with the work that they're doing. They could appear as important people to someone or group of someones who could see some dark opportunities. It's one thing, maybe, for him to travel alone but another with a film crew?

I find RS refreshingly optimistic about most everything and sometimes I just don't see it his way, maybe a little too optimistic. Great balance. I also think he's a worldly logical man that can sometimes just go with a gut feeling and call something off. I'm pretty sure most of us do this without the burden of having to explain it to others. That's the tough part of being a travel guru! From much is given much is expected.

He's posted a response on his Facebook page. In fact, he's written a few different times in the last week.

Rick has an opinion and it is his opinion an it his attempt to put the events in Paris in perspective. But he has not an absolute monopoly on wisdom so no reason to take everything he says for granted and for that it is good to be critical about his comments. However with the aim to form a rational opinion of your own instead start to panic by emotionally following others ideas about the situation.

In his December Tour News he includes a blog about this subject with comments from readers and his responses to those comments (not all comments just some he selected). It might be an interesting read to some who want to hear his response to the events in Paris. In one of his responses he does also mention canceling his trip to Egypt for reasons of safety but is quick to say you can't compare Egypt to Europe.

http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/dont-be-terrorized-your-comments-and-ricks-response/

Isn't that the same link the Webmaster posted 3 days ago?

Rick runs travel tours to Europe and is not going to say don't go there!

Realistically, you would be very unlucky if you did get caught up in any incident.

He is no more knowledgeable about the safety with terrorists than anyone else. Brussels is on lock down today with public transportation restricted. I'm thinking there are times when it is prudent to avoid some areas. My daughter lives in NYC and at times of high alert is it is wise to avoid certain areas. That being said, I prefer to think that the risk remains small when I travel to Italy for 6 weeks in February.

Kaeleku, I agree with Linda that Rick is no more knowlegeable about terrorism than anyone else on this forum. You go on to say that numerous people are writing in worried about going to Europe, and then, twice, you refer to "most" people... I don't think the 10 or so people on this forum who are "wringing their hands" about cancelling their trip are "most" people. There are far more people, I believe, on this forum that are not worried and are not cancelling (we're just not hearing from them). That would be me if I had a trip planned.

The fact that no tourists were killed on 11/13 is only luck. There could easily have been tourists at any of the places they attacked.

So does it make a difference who was killed and where they were from? In the latest Paris attacks it was French citizens who comprised the largest numbers of casualties. As none of the unfortunate events which occurred in Paris this past year were in 'tourist' areas, it was locals and countrymen who took the biggest blow, even though the most recent list of fatalities and injuries included people from various parts of the world.

Even though this is a forum specifically for travelers, it disturbs me somehow to see conversations about stuff like this focused on the risk to tourists from any particular country or tourists in general when it's so often locals/citizens who pay the biggest price.

Kathy, you and Margaret both nailed it pretty well. Thank you for the mature, frank and honest discussion.

James, as unpleasant and emotional as this subject is, its very good to be able to have the thoughtful and civil discussion even if we don't all agree. Rare for the internet these days! Kudos to all.

Kathy, generally speaking those that congregate here are nothing less than the cream of the crop class individuals who by and large do respect the points of views of others and do show tolerance for that which they may disagree with. Sometimes I have to remind myself that none of us are great wordsmiths and sometimes things come out sounding contrary to our intent. We are also blessed with a very understanding moderator that does provide a lot of room for the expression of opinion. We should be thankful for that as well. This is a pretty unique place.

Just to put everything in proportion. In this country kids are shot at school. Shouldn't we be sending them to school? People are shot at movie theaters. Should we stop going there? People are shot in shopping malls. Maybe we should stop shopping. Forty thousand people a year are killed in car accidents. Should we stop driving? People are shot in drive by shooting. Should we stop venture outside? Margaret, Kaeleku is right: In Paris it was ONE coordinated attack on three (or more if I remember) different places not three independent attacks; it makes a difference because if it was three independent attacks likelihood of that happening again would be higher. Terrorist attack like that is almost incomprehensible to normal people, add media coverage to it and it causes understandable fear. But statistics don't lie. You are still safer in Paris than in any major American city, meaning what is your likelihood to loose your life in a violent act.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that none of us are great wordsmiths
and sometimes things come out sounding contrary to our intent.

Lordy. All I can say is thank goodness for the edit function for all those times I've re-read what I've just posted, and thought O dear that sounds ALL wrong. And I STILL don't get it completely right! It's so hard to find exactly the right words sometimes.

Thank you, Ilja.

Well said (sadly), Ilja.

Re: Paris is safer than any major American city: One way we can test that is our taking public transportation in Paris. None of us shirks from taking the Paris Metro at night, or the London Tube for that matter. But can we say the same about taking the bus at night in a major American city insofar as the safety factor is concerned? I take the bus, yes Muni in SF because I am used to it, grew up with it, so to speak, and i know a lot of the routes. In US cities who takes the bus after the evening rush hour crowd?