Rick Steves’s Travel Philosophy and Progressive Politics
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 10.21.02 | 4:33 PM ET
Go ahead and say Rick Steves reminds you of your old high school history teacher. Call him, if you like, the Mr. Rogers of travel. The names don’t bother Steves because he has a mission.
“If there’s an ideal, I want people to broaden their perspective through travel,” Steves says in a profile by Seattle Times writer Carol Pucci. “If there’s a practicality, I want them to do it without going broke or wasting their time and having needless frustrations.’‘
Pucci’s fascinating look at the travel guide icon covers a little travel philosophy, a little progressive politics (Steves supports the legalization of marijuana and, in an upcoming episode of his public television series, he make points about European attitudes on pot and other social issues) and a bit about whether or not his books actually help or hinder travelers.
Pucci even covers the phenomenal economic success of his Europe Through the Back Door brand, not just for himself but for public television. “Steves is one of public television’s major fund-raisers,” Pucci writes, “pulling in more than $1 million a year for stations across the country.”
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
