New Rick Steves interview

Can’t read the article unless I subscribe😢

Barbara, that's strange. I was able to read it and I don't subscribe.

I could read it without a subscription. The main point of interest is that he is seeing individual travel coming first, then later organized tours, and that he can't risk starting up with uncertainty. Also says he wants to get his guidebooks in shape for the post-COVID travel world.

Great article! When I first clicked on the link, I couldn't read it without subscribing. When I tried the link again, opening it in a different tab, I was able to read the article right away. I have no idea why that would have made a difference.

That's the website for my city's paper. If you've already read the freebie or two you're initially allowed, then it's subscription blocked. You can usually get around it to see another freebie by deleting the website data from your tracking history. Same thing with the New York Times or other subscription news sites.

That said, try this?
https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2045083727071/why-europe-guru-rick-steves-wants-travelers-to-stay-home

Ah, yes, I must have reached my free limit. Thanks, Kathy, for the other link-I was able to read that one!

Yay! Happy that worked for you, Barbara!

Excellent interview with Rick Steves on travel post-COVID.

This comment:

....(first there will be).....individuals traveling. And then, after that, it will be organized tourism, bus tours and so on. I do not want to get my tour program all up and running and have something happen where we all have to go home early. It is too much emotional turmoil. It is too much inefficiency. It is too much cost. We need to establish mastery of this thing before we start pushing the limits.

and this one

On the business end of it, I have 50 guidebooks covering all of Europe. I need to schedule a pedal-to-the-metal, maxxed-out tour and sort everything out to get my books in beautiful shape for the post-COVID age. Because nobody knows how this is going to hurt the little businesses. That’s what I just love about Europe — all the little mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, hotels and guesthouses. I am going to gather my lead researchers. We’re going to go to Europe, sweep through and assess the damage, and make the guidebooks accurate.

lead me to think it is unlikely RS will be operating Tours in 2021.

I need to be put into cryogenic storage to stop the aging process, so when travel is possible, I will still be young/fit enough to do it.

Good interview- learned about his high interest in India. As to European Travel he keeps repeating his known position (that many are ignoring- but my, isn’t ignorance bliss). For business reasons Rick has to say things in certain ways (preventing the Osborne Effect is the term) and he just hopes the inside folks will wake up and read the clues (they won’t). Kinda like being at a party and Joe Clueless starts complaining about Bob who is within ear shot and everyone is elbowing Joe in the ribs trying to get him to catch a clue and shut the hell up, but Joe remains clueless and motors on...

So Rick’s position in the interview (and others of recent past):

1. Europe is closed to outsiders, he is very happy LOCALS get to travel and see their local sites...and he himself is doing that here (just tried kyacking) while Europeans see their local sites.

2.. Individual travel will open first, LONG before bus tours like his; he does not want to travel in a safety bubble (you can’t Social distance in a bus).

1. His tour books are out of date and he will need a mega (few?) trips to get them updated; needs to see what businesses survived and what visitor levels they can handle.

2. He (his tours) will NOT be first out of the gate; it is going to be a good while, maybe 2 years for recovery

3. In prior interviews/postings he noted reducing staff to 70% this summer and 40% by the end of this year

4. He says he will not be the first back and then have to close again, too expensive of a process. He will go when we are at normal as he is not taking tours in an isolation bubble.

12/13 years ago Steve Jobs (Apple) announced the first iPhone by showing 3 different device shapes on a screen that spun as Steve mentioned them saying Apple has a new iPod music player, a breakthrough internet communications device, a new phone...he kept repeating, faster and faster : new iPod music player, breakthrough internet communications device, a new phone....Until the audience finally went from Clueless to catching the clue...not 3 devices but 1 that did all three; the iPhone.

How many times does Rick need to say he is prepared for a 2 year shutdown of bus tours, that individual travelers will travel long before his organized bus tours, his tours will not travel in a bubble aka no tours with a mask and social distancing, all museums open, unrestricted, Rick has to go back and rewrite all the guidebooks,.....are you folks thinking of your spring 2121 “Tours” finally catching a clue. Think and plan 2022 for tours folks.

EDIT: Rick is real clear that INDIVIDUAL travel will start first and long before group/bus tours.

One fast Bob,
Just the conclusion I have reached, if there are any RS tours, they won’t run until September 2021. I think 2022 is the year he will re-introduce his tours. After all, he has to do an extensive update of his guidebooks. And, very importantly, he has to assess which small hotels and restaurants that have survived.

Joe 32f,
Haha! I’m with you on finding cryogenic storage to stop the aging process to be fit enough to travel in 2022! I’m determined to do it!

When do you think Rick will give us permission to travel again since it seems some of you are waiting for that?

What about all those $5 guidebooks I bought. Should I just throw them out and wait to do any trip planning until his new, updated versions are out? Or am I allowed to use other sources of planning like the internet? Instead of waiting to find out it a museum I am interested is open with an updated guidebook--that can be out of date upon purchase--I'll get on this thing called the internet and find out.

I understand him not wanting to plan and offer group tours because doing this is a lot of work and very costly if he has to cancel.

People are jumping to conclusions based on their own beliefs. I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow let alone in 2021. I make no predictions and I believe no predictions. When Americans are permitted in Europe again I will then decide if I think it is safe to travel. And that decision will be based on many factors. Not just whether or not RS has updated his guidebooks.

Frank II, you can borrow my crowd’s (family and close friends) new answer for any question: “No. One. Knows. Anything.” It’s a great one size fits all answer, reminds us everything could change in an hour, and also makes us laugh at ourselves for trying to make a plan. :) Doesn’t keep us from thinking about things, though...... :)

Selective reading, no. Interpretation- hell yes. But is what I get paid to do. I’m very good at it and very expensive just for that reason.

Frank- no one is saying travel can’t begin before the great RS says so. Every interview he has given has been beyond clear. INDIVIDUAL travel will start first. He isn’t trying to hold anyone back on that point.

Travelmom--thanks, I've been using those words for a long time. Sadly, there are too many people who come to their own predictions and believe them to be gospel truth. Or they interpret what some expert says as gospel truth as if that person has a crystal ball.

Rick never said there would be no tours in 2021 nor would there be no tours in the Spring. That is someone's interpretation of what Rick said. And to then say people who don't get these predictions are clueless is just insulting.

Onefast bob.....look over what you wrote:

"are you folks thinking of your spring 2121 “Tours” finally catching a clue. Think and plan 2022 for tours folks."......when did he say this? Did Rick actually say there would be not tours next Spring?

"As to European Travel he keeps repeating his known position (that many are ignoring- but my, isn’t ignorance bliss" So we are ignorant and clueless is we ignore his beliefs? Does he also have a crysal ball?

You can read the RS interview with an overly optimistic frame of mind and see one thing. You can read it with an overly pessimistic frame of mind and get an entirely different interpretation. It is really difficult to read anything you may have an interest in and be totally neutral.

From my reading of the interview, I don't expect any RS tours until 2022. Maybe I am too pessimistic. However, Rick makes statements like "I do not want to get my tour program all up and running and have something happen where we all have to go home early." "It is too much cost." "Tourism is gone." "Individual tourism will be open long before tour organizers like me will be comfortable putting their tour bus program back in action." You are free to interpret this in any way that makes you happy. My interpretation is not making me happy, I wish I could see it differently, but it is what it is as they say.

Of course this doesn't mean all tour companies will follow him. I would never expect that. Cruise lines are trying to get going now. Airlines hope you want to fly everywhere you are allowed to right now. I'm sure hotels would be very happy to sell out a night again right now. I am also not waiting for "permission" from the great RS to start traveling again either. I am using the vast internet to help me decide when it will be time for me to travel once again and RS plays only one part in that. Hint: my time for recreational travel still appears far in the future at this time, and I have never been at the front of the line when it comes to traveling in new situations.

I have always had the opinion that travel guide books are outdated before they even come off the presses. Especially those referencing hotels, restaurants, and other activities subject to change like museum entry times and cost. So yeah, throw those crates of books you just bought away as they are completely useless for anything.

Actually, Paris, Rome, and London, and all the other cities in Europe will still be there years after a guidebook talks about them and some sites will be forever. Even a guidebook to Europe printed before the introduction of the Euro currency will have some helpful insights today. I use the books only to provide a framework for my individual time to point me toward things I might be interested in that I would otherwise be unaware of.

RS does not have to wait until his books are updated in order to restart his tours. They are a handy accompaniment to the information provided by the actual guides, but I have survived a tour or two without the book. On one RS tour I took, the guidebook was being written by our guide as the tour was in progress.