Thanks, Rick, for this Forum

Ditto!! Good post, Dave.

Yes, ditto! And I hope he does get the message about how much we appreciate this forum.

Agree to Dave's statement.

My question was going to be, "Do you ever lurk on the forum and post under a secret pseudonym?

He accidentally posted on here a few weeks ago as himself. Turned out he didn't realize he was posting publicly and it was meant to be some behind the scenes testing. Or a case of PWD (posting while drinking). 🤪

Or a case of PWD (posting while drinking).

Or posting while imbibing in something else… 😊

Seriously, I applaud your post, Dave, and I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been coming to this site ever since it opened and have surfed the website for many years before that. In fact when I bought my first computer in 1996, this was the very first website I went to and was so excited. I can’t tell you how many internet rabbit holes I went down that day, lol!

Cheers to you, Rick!

Ditto from me, with a small addendum to also thank Andrew and the web staff for keeping things running smoothly and keeping the tone civil. I've bowed out of several other travel discussions because of rude/bitter/vindictive/unhelpful trolls.

Agreed! The ads on the other sites make me nuts! And the community here is very supportive.

He accidentally posted on here a few weeks ago as himself. Turned out he didn't realize he was posting publicly and it was meant to be some behind the scenes testing. Or a case of PWD (posting while drinking). 🤪

Was it deleted? Can you link to it for those of us who missed it?

A very nice post, Dave, and i heartily agree with what you have expressed ! Thanks Rick !

And dang, I am sorry I missed Rick's post !

Was it deleted? Can you link to it for those of us who missed it?

I thought it was deleted, but here it is. There were some replies as I recall, but those are gone. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/symphonic-journey/welcome-from-rick-steves

(Andrew, am I being naughty by posting this? Delete if so).

Mary, you're not being naughty. :) It is technically a publicly viewable post. But yes, it was intended for a much smaller audience - symphony conductors that want to host the Symphonic Journey special that Rick designed. It's fine if you see it, but it is not for public commentary. More about SJ is in the footer, and it's through there that you would naturally navigate to his post. Beyond that, we hid the Symphonic Journey section from appearing in All Topics as it was confusing our forum members.

And thank you all for the nice posts. :) I've been overseeing this forum since 2009 and I too am glad that Rick doesn't intend to monetize it. (Yeah, that 6-week static Holiday Sale banner is an ad but it's not exactly paying the forum bills).

I honestly don't know if Rick lurks on the forum. I'd assume not. Most people don't know just how busy he is. But he knows how popular it is and loves that we have a space where travelers can help each other.

This forum is great! I love everything about it. Even the banner about the 20% sale, which is actually good to know.

I heard a rumor that Rick Steves secretly posts here under the pseudonym of "Punxsutawney Phil".

But since I have not seen any posts under that handle I suspect my source of information is flawed.

Whatever the case, I have to say it again: well done team Rick! This forum is tops! (But you really ought to police the place a bit quicker-- those Edmonton Oiler jokes for instance were a little long in the tooth.)

Happy travels!

Haven't been here as long. Very much appreciate the Forum.

And, as said before, Mods do sacred work.

I'd also like add my thanks to Rick and all the dedicated people that make this forum possible. This is the BEST travel forum on the net (IMHO). This forum and Rick's books and tours have given me many, many great times in Europe.

Without a doubt, this is the best travel board I've ever seen. Many, many thanks.

I couldn't agree more. After having had a look at some of the other sites, smothered in advertisements, i quickly decided to leave them be. There is room for some improvement, but the RS Travel Forum is visually a paragon. Any ocular inspection establishes that it is without peer and unsurpassed. The best there is, even compared to any other site there is world wide, that i have seen in the last decade.
Let's see if an answer to your question can be found... Mr Steves loves Italy, seemingly above all. Consequently you should look for a forum member called Lost in Venice, Ostiacustomer or Cinquecicchetti. It would appear that you would find him there here, if anywhere. Happy tracing!

Thank you Rick for starting and maintaining the forum and for having the wisdom to hire Andrew and constantly giving to him significant raises, knowing without whom this forum would have deteriorated years ago.

Thank you, Rick and staff, for the enjoyment I have gotten over the many years of reading the Forum. In spite of not being able to travel anymore, I read the Forum multiple times a day and travel vicariously through the questions, answers and trip reports of many members.
So, yes, a heartfelt THANK YOU.

I just wanted to add my thanks to Rick, Andrew and other staff that make this such a good way to give and receive travel information. I also especially enjoy the forum bringing people together both in person and online via zoom with the travel groups. It has been a pleasure to make friends via those avenues, plus meeting forum members in person while traveling.

Yes. This board is probably the best patrolled travel board and doesn’t get into petty squabbles or trolls. And for us armchair travelers due to health or money, the Monday Night Travels are still fun. Old enough to remember watching RS in the early 1990s on PBS and dreaming about traveling.

Thanks Rick! This site is great. It's helped me through many trips to Europe, including several with my kids!

I took Rick Steves' travel class at the University of Washington's experimental college in the early 80s. He had just published the first edition of Europe through the Back Door, and was still quite unknown.

Afterwards, my spouse and I met with him in Edmonds and he spent about 2 hours with us going over our travel plans f in Europe that summer. Had many first class tips.

One of the most memorable was his recommendation that we stay in a Ukrainian convent in a building across the street from the Coliseum. This was just prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, so the nuns had no Ukrainian pilgrims and were happy to take in the odd travelling couple. The place had an amazing rooftop garden. We met another (older) couple there; he was Ukrainian and she was Australian. For several nights, ww sat up in this beautiful garden, drinking the wine we had snuck past the nuns, watching the moon rise over the Coliseum, and listening to the husband's tales of his time spent in WWII fighting on the side of the Nazis against the Russians. Man that guy hated Russians with a passion! A very unique and surrealistic experience!

Rick Steves still has great travel tips. Nowadays, though, you get to share them with thousands of his friends. 😉

Next trip: after retirement. 6 weeks or more in the Baltic States.

I've expressed many times my joy in finding these Forums and being able in my little way to contribute.

I'll take another opportunity to say thanks to Rick and his sidekick, Andrew, for giving such a wonderful gift to the world. Thanks very much.

And thanks for the opportunity to meet up with like minded lovely people in Zoom meetings and in person. It really lights up my days, and those of my bride.... Thanks

"Man that guy hated Russians with a passion ! A very unique and surrealistic experience ! " Not surprising at all considering what happened in the Ukraine under the Russians in the 1930s.

Amen.

...And thanks for being a fearless advocate for the idea of Travel building bridges and tearing down prejudice.

It's rare to find a forum this helpful and uncluttered. Thanks, Rick