So I’m sure some of you also saw Rick’s long post about his cancer treatment on Facebook. Short version he had a surgical procedure and the long-term outlook is good, but it is definitely going to be more of a recovery than he might have implied in his earlier post.
And I thought about that and some of the post I’ve seen on here recently. I thought it would be nice for me to at least express my thanks to Rick.
I took a group of teenagers to Europe and my Bible for that trip was the Rick Steves Europe through the Back Door. It taught them how to pack, it taught them what to expect, it was basically the book that helped them get ready for a trip to Europe. And I consider the trip a success because every one of them has gone back to Europe on her own often, dragging her parents along now that she knows how to do it.
His books and videos have provided guidance for me as I booked trips with my mother to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, London, etc. No, we didn’t always follow Rick exactly. For example, in Croatia, he says to stay in Split, we decided that was not a good match for us and we went to a smaller town nearby and had a great time, but it did give us ideas to get it started and helped me understand the logistics I would need to do to take my mother on these trips.
After my mother was no longer able to travel she enjoyed watching Rick shows on public television because they brought back memories or informed her about places she wanted to know about
And of course unlike so many other travel websites, this is not overrun with commercials or advertisements, etc. Sure there’s an occasional advertisement on the website to go to store or tour information but compared to what you see elsewhere on the web …..
So if Rick ever sees us or if the webmaster passes something along - thank you for providing this place for us to talk about travel and learn. We truly appreciate it and we appreciate all he’s done to make travel accessible for people who might be scared of the idea.