Keep an eye out for Rick, he's in Europe now

Well Kent, you always seem to know a little too much information about Rick...the speculation continues...maybe you are really him :-)

Thank you for the compliment! I wish.
I denied it 15 years ago and will continue to deny it.
Nor am I affiliated in any way with his organization.
The e-mail I received today was one that many of you probably received.
But again, thank you for the compliment!

Would he like to see me?

Rick helped us on our first trip to Paris when we were fraidy cats about traveling on our own. He was our guiding light. However...., he has gotten a little too smug, wanting all of us to forgo the perks of travel in favor of staying in darkened hovels , eating in back rooms, and pretending we like the deprivations of the locals. Nothing like experiencing the local flavor, but we are not destitute and don't want to sample that sort of lifestyle. There are many ways to connect with the locals but it is best done out in the countrysides of Europe, where the locals appreciate Americans, are gracious and welcoming, and are honored to assist you. Nowhere is better at that than in the Normandy countryside where they will always remember the Americans that gave their lives so they could be free of the Nazi yoke. We have been honored guests at several small villages in France, the Czechoslovakia Republic, Austria, Scotland, and central Hungary while on hunting trips. We had nothing to do with the liberation of Europe but they don't care. Being an American, and a former combat vet from Vietnam, was enough for them to honor us in the small villages across central Europe. Thanks be to Rick for getting us up and traveling. We can never thank him enough, and he made it so easy for us to do it on our own.

Well I accidentally ran into him in Copenhagen last July.

Although we chatted with him for a couple of minutes (mostly my wife) and took some pictures, I did not reveal my identity to not make him feel obliged to pay me for my advice services on his forum.

But actually I should have told him and demanded at least a hot dog and a beer (at 50 DKr a glass). Let me tell you, he does not stay in the cheap hotels he recommends to us common mortals.

Monte, I am pretty sure it would be a life-changing event for Rick to meet you. Perhaps he will drop in on the Moscow Idaho meet up some time especially if you have one of your demos prepared.

I saw a famous Rick once! He spells his name different though...

Ric Ocasek, with his gorgeous wife Paulina Porizkova. They almost hit me with their car as I ran out into the street in Hollywood. I didn't mean to startle them, but I thought it would be funny to get hit by a car driven by the leader of 'The Cars'.

"Let the Good Times Roll"...

I see that Rick is taking one of his own tours every year. When someone first posted that fact, there was a huge and immediate response from many of us poster. There were so many wanting him on their tour and yet so many not wanting him on their tour, that the Webmaster, I think, finally pulled that post line. I will be in Paris in June but guess he will be gone home by then.

Sometimes you see him even when you're not keeping an eye out. I met him last summer in Bacharach and had a nice, somewhat short, conversation with him, he seems like a very nice person. I had no idea he was in Europe at that time because I don't follow him quite that fanatically.

Kent, thanks for your email today, please send Roberto a check.

I was told by our Rick Steves recommended hotel in Rome that we had just missed him on our last trip. I did get my ETTBD signed when we saw him speak here in Los Angeles at the travel convention. If I ran into him I don't know that I would even approach him having had many run ins with celebrities here in L.A. and it is always a bit awkward. He is approachable and gracious and realizes that it is a big deal for the person he is meeting but have a feeling he is over it.

It was actually in the past that Rick liked to make people suffer and he's almost given up on that. Any current guidebook includes a good selection of less-darkened hovels.

We started using Rick's guide books in 1994 when they were "2 to 22 days in....(name country)" books. And about 100+ pages. Europe has changed - and so has Rick and his books. I miss the "old days". We still use his books and going again this summer for our 15th trip on our own.

Barb

I don't recall Rick recommending hovels.. someone seems to know a different RS then me..thank you Laura.. I thought I was imaging that.. but then I am not rich enough to stay in super fancy pants places and are happy with small locally owned hotels.. even if they don't have elevators or classy bars in lobbies.. lol

I met Rick once after a talk he did in town.. and he did not seem the least bit smug either.. he stayed at least 1/2 hour after his talk and just let anyone walk up and chat with him... answered more questions ( there was a section during talk where it was open question time too)

I met Rick after a talk at the International House in Berkeley, where current students gave him a rough time for not being quite multi-cultural enough. He insisted during the Q&A that anyone can travel safely and freely anywhere in Europe and a young Asian-American coed laughed that she'd sure love to be able to spend a summer in Europe as a tall white man.

Like some earlier comments in this thread, and opposite others, I miss the years when the guidebooks focussed on cheap travel and accommodations -- all this encouragement of paradors and taxis is not how Rick was back in the good old days, but we all get soft as we get older. Even I have begun to include the occasional taxi in my travel, although I do still think of it as a demerit, a little bit cheating.

He should have told her as long as she didn't rent a car she'd be fine.

I enjoy his evolution - he's aging with the rest of us and looking for a little more comfort as he does. There are a lot more elevators than there used to be. I secretly believe there is always one hotel on his tours without an elevator just to keep us honest with packing light.

Good! Im leaving next week for 22 days. He still owes me $5 after he renigged on a bar bet.
Talks a big game when he's throwing back that grappa!

Jason-Erik, get in line.