I was at the Washington State Democratic Party victory celebration in Seattle tonight following the election. They introduced Rick Steves as one of their speakers -- he gave a brief speech about the results of the election, and how Obama's victory would be a great thing for the country, for international relations, and even good for travel. Afterwards I got a chance to chat with him and his wife, and thank him for all his efforts (on travel and wider topics). Made me proud.
Posted by
Beautiful Austin TX
582 posts
That must have been wonderful! I wish I could have been there! I admire Ricks thinking!
Posted by
San Jose, CA, USA
424 posts
That's great David! I've had the pleasure meeting Rick at AA's Museum in Dallas (he gave a great lecture) and also at a travel symposium here in San Jose. He's much taller than I expected and very personable (which is exactly what I expected).
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6813 posts
Yeah, it was pretty cool. I had actually met him briefly a few times before (I live in Seattle and his HQ is nearby, in Edmonds, WA, so it's not really that hard to rub elbows with him around here). My wife was somewhat star-struck. He is exactly like he comes across in the shows - genuine, no BS, a "regular guy" who is obviously having a great time doing what he loves.
Rick (and his wife) were both clearly jubilant at the election results - like everyone else in the room, we were all pretty much overwhelmed with joy. It was pretty cool.
Posted by
Seattle, Washington, United States
91 posts
How lucky, David.
I'm fortunate to live in the Seattle area and I regularly atend the Travel festivals + some of his classes over the weekend.
Last year, I could have kicked myself for not taking the courage to talk to Rick when he came out the Edmunds Theatre after giving his talks during his Travel festival. There were no crowds and I could have really had a nice conversation with him .. But nooooooooooo... I didn't do it.. dweep that I am! I was thinking in my mind that he probably gets tired of people asking him the same questions + trying to talk to him everywhere and shouldn't bother him!
I will be attending the Travel festival this coming Saturday and am hoping to get like 2 mins with him so he can sign his Switzerland book for us! Wish me luck!!
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
I too have met Rick when he came up to our town to give a talk. He is a very nice person and very comfortable in a group and onstage, likely part of his huge success.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
Living about 30 minutes away from Edmonds, I've been able to attend several ETBD events, including a presentation Rick gave on his revised Europe 101 art & architecture book. Not only did I get to meet him (yep, he's as nice as he seems!), I got an autographed copy of the book after a panicked dash during the break to find a nearby ATM!
On a slightly different note, for anyone who has a chance to attend events at ETBD, I highly recommend catching a lecture by Gene Openshaw (co-author of the Italy guidebooks) if you can. I've seen him twice and he's fantastic.
Posted by
Beautiful Austin TX
582 posts
Just today Rick was in Austin Speaking at Book people!
There was a huge crowd in the tiny bookstore. But I did hear his interesting talk, and one of the things he talked about, was Iran.
I know many people here don't care about politics, but the name of his talk was called,"Travel as a political act." I feel lucky that in March 2007, I went to Edmonds for Rick's travel festival, and got to talk to him a lot. But this time it was brief. I've been back from Milan for only a day, and I still had jet lag. It was interesting seeing Rick only a few hours after getting back.