Rick Steves: Travel as a Spiritual Act

Thanks, Jane, for posting. Have you been watching his Monday Night Travel Zoom meetings? I have and now I look forward to Monday nights. Traveling to Europe is still so uncertain, it helps to travel virtually with Rick. He’s a fun and amusing host and tour guide!

Judy B, we've been watching them as they've been made available on the website. In fact, getting a late start, we binge watched the first 15 or so; now we're catching them as soon as they hit RickSteves.com. And yes, we've been loving it!

Jane, I watched it - 1hour 42 minutes. I think people will be surprised to find RS talking unapologetically about religion and spirituality and how he finds it in travel. I think it overlaps the "Travel as a Political Act" theme, but thats probably unavoidable, and actually helps make that theme more understandable.

Thanks, Stan. I've noticed that Rick never seems reluctant to comment on his faith, but without wielding it as a bludgeon. I'm really looking forward to watching this.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the video either, but in so many places, the church/temple/mosque/chapel is the big sight. Other places feature stunning nature, which can be a spiritual experience. Unless one’s travel is all about shopping (which is maybe a religion for some), travel and spirituality would seem to fit together.

I just finished watching and it was very interesting and, actually, enlightening. As a person, I agree with Rick’s philosophy of how travel broadens our understanding of the world and it’s people. I live in a very diverse neighborhood/city and have always embraced the cultural differences of my neighbors. One item I would like to point out, the moderator asked him about when he has a meal with local families, is it set up ahead or is it spontaneous. He never really answers. If I missed his answer, within his response, please let me know.

Barbara, in some of the Monday Night Travels videos, he indicates that many (if not all) of the family meals are set up ahead of time. The same is true of the restaurant meals shown on his show. He talks about how the other diners have to agree to be shown on camera, the cameraman has to have enough room and light, and often scenes involving local singers or dancers will be repeated by request, so they can be filmed. Oh, and the empty chair with a plate of food in front of it? That's for the cameraman, who grabs a bite when he can.

Thanks for the answer.

I thought the empty chair at the dinner table was for Elijah?

Just on Passover.

Simon doesn’t get passed over at mealtimes; he’s usually at the table with Rick, but doesn’t have to operate a camera, or do on-camera dialog, just eat and drink. Nice gig!