Has Travel Changed You?
Rick Steves wants to hear from people who had never left the country before using Rick's guidebooks or going on a Rick Steves tour. Please let us know how your worldview changed as a result of Rick's influence on your travel . Did you meet someone abroad who made a dramatic impact on your life ? Has traveling overseas changed your views on America?
Please note: We may contact you based on your comments posted here. Please include your email address if we may contact you.
- Please don't post questions here. Use our Travelers Helpline.
Smitten
For me travel is much more than just an annual two week vacation to relax. I could never be content with just a getaway where you lay around on a tropical beach for a week with umbrella drinks. Such a romantic scene would surely be wasted on me.
I discovered travel much later on in life. I never studied abroad nor travelled independently as a student. But when I returned from my first trip to Europe a number of years ago, I knew that life would be different. It was so much more than just a "trip". It was an educational and cultural eye-opening metamorphosis. It made me realize how little I know about the world around me and how much I wanted to know these things. It also made me enjoy and love life that much more. When you are constantly in a day dream of where you want to go next, scenes from movies/pictures/books that have sparked your fancy, nostalgia for places you've been, there just seems to be so much more to look forward to and get you through the day. The interesting thing is, even when I go into the City for a night out with friends or just to have a cup of coffee, I try to see it through the eyes of tourist, I treat every little jaunt like a micro-trip, even though it's close to home. It's made life a lot more interesting and exciting.
KC <email>
San Leandro, CA USA 06/10/2009
Serendipity
After reading about Ricks's recent experience with the choir, I want to share my experience at the Louvre. There was a beautiful lady, white hair tied in a bun, teaching a group of 3 & 4 year old kids about stained glass. Can you imagine what would have happened to me if I had been exposed to such things at that age? It was so special, I could not disrupt it by taking a photo. It stays in my heart.
Dorie Marnell <email>
Dallas, TX USA 06/09/2009
Travelmorphogenesis
When our plane landed at Fiumicino, I knew life would never be the same. The very air I breathed whispered change, subtle but definite change. I found my mind absorbing everything in its path. The same thought kept repeating; I'm seeing life in real mode. Materialism is in check, love of family and friends takes precedence, work equals pride.
One week on the RS tour felt like three. After our return, my husband was amazed how meals were now a pallet of simple creativity, the house was "relieved" of stuff, and shopping was only for necessities. Time with family and friends increased. And though the "job" was still necessary to survive, the art brushes were dusted off and the notes and outlines for stories were pulled out of the bottom drawer and revived.
What I saw as life in Europe crystallized how I, and many around me, live in America. Though my circle of influence is small, the grassroots of change grows in our apartment, and people see it.
Thanks Rick for leading us into the world's classroom and teaching us the lessons we needed to learn.
Karen D'Amato
San Carlos, CA USA 06/05/2009
8 things travelling the Rick Steve’s way has taught me:
1) No matter how far we travel, we are all human, we worry about our children and our parents, we need friends, we have bills to pay, jobs to work, we fall in-love and we have our hearts broken.
2) Every country and culture has something to teach us, even if it’s what “not to do.”
3) Our access to information and viewpoints is always limited, no matter how “free” our culture is, and only by experiencing another culture can we get a different perspective. (Yes, even in America there is propaganda.)
4) There is no “one right way” to live for everyone.
5) Americans don’t value our families, elderly and friends nearly enough.
6) We are so very blessed in this country, home ownership is an accessible dream, anyone (even a high school dropout) can go to college, you can choose your career and change your mind later, we can go to just about any country we want to with little trouble, no one tells us what we can name our children, even if it’s offensive or strange, and we have the right to criticize our government and leaders even rudely on TV if we choose to.
7) We don’t appreciate the benefits of being an American nearly enough.
8) We work too hard and live too little.
Gina
Denver, CO USA 06/01/2009
I grew up very poor and abused. travel was a "dream for dreamers". I couldn't go to all the places that could take me away from it all. I started to believe what those horrible people where telling me. Then I discovered Rick Steves; his PBS shows were like "OZ", could it be possible to travel?? could this be the place that I could hide?? YES!! Rick gave me hope. I was able to escape the horrible life I had. no more abuse. but the mental baggage haunted me. I found that dreaming,reading about and planning to travel has saved me. I am going to Europe this summer for three weeks. a healing for me that no one could understand. Being a dreamer is ok, chasing that dream is better. Thank you Rick Steves you truily are the mighty "OZ".
Healing
USA 05/09/2009
A passion for European Travel
Travel has changed me in so many ways. I am the type of person that actually needs to see what I am reading about.Its one thing to pick up and read a Rick Steve's Guidebook but it is another feeling to actually be there in the moment.
The more trips overseas the better. What better way to wake up in Paris take a nice walk and have a leisurely breakfast in a cafe before touring a museum. I try to become a local as much as possible.
Europe is my playground. A fresh Baguette along with some exotic cheeses, yogurt drinks, Fanta Orange Soda, and good wine are my staple meals in Paris.
Even a simple meal in a cafe with the street life going by beats sitting in traffic on the freeway back in America. In fact I forget that I even live in America when I'm in Europe. I live the moment to its fullest.
When I return its back to the computer I go to research my next destination.
So yes travel has changed me for the better.
Daniel Onn <email>
Saratoga, CA USA 04/16/2009
Small World
I think traveling makes one see how small the world really is and for how different we are, we are still the same.
I'm always engrossed by the history of a place whether it's Gettysburg or the Tower of London. But equally engrossing is considering what it would be like to live in the place I'm visiting.
I tell folks I know that if I ever disappear it's because I've started over in Santorini.
Doug <email>
San Francisco, CA USA 04/08/2009
Travel not only changed my life, it defines my life.
To say that traveling has changed my life would be quite an understatement. I always had the desire to travel when I was growing up in Ohio, but no one in my family had ever been abroad.
In the mid-90s when I was in my early teenage years, I discovered Rick Steves' television shows on PBS. I watched as often as possible and even borrowed every episode I could find from the local library. As my passion grew, I discussed the possibility of becoming an exchange student with my parents.
In 1997 at the age of 16, I achieved my goal and spent one year in Finland as part of an exchange program. It was the greatest year of my whole life as I not only got to know Finland but also traveled throughout Scandinavia, St. Peterburg, and went on an exchange student bus tour around western Europe. This taste of Europe motivated me more than I could ever imagine.
Back in Ohio, I spent my senior year of high school grinding out hours in a pizza shop to save for a two month backpacking trip around Europe that summer. I would spend the next five summers, and even some Christmas breaks, in Europe all from pizza delivery money and still going to college at the same time. I also studied for a semester in Prague and worked for half of a year in London at the Westminster Abbey bookshop as part of the BUNAC work study program.
Europe would change my life once and for all in 2003 when I met a Romanian girl at a festival in Sighisoara who would become my wife in 2004. At this time, I also started to travel more outside of Europe to places like Egypt, China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, and a two week trek to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
In 2008, I finally accomplished my life's dream of moving to Europe. My wife got a job in Switzerland for one of the big pharmaceuticals companies and we now live in gorgeous Luzern. Still umemployed (and only half-looking), I now spend nearly everyday discovering different parts of Switzerland.
In conclusion, I am 27 years old, have seen 51 countries, have a lovely wife, and live in the perfection that is Switzerland. I owe it all to traveling and quite a bit also to Rick Steves who inspired me from a young age.
Andy Tedrick <email>
Luzern, Switzerland (from Akron, Ohio), USA 03/27/2009
Inspired by Europe
I grew up in a small rural town and I knew there was such a huge world out there left to explore I could not wait to leave my hometown. I got a degree in Travel & Tourism and Hospitality, I'm working on a degree in History & Anthropology and also a degree in Film & Video Communications. I finally, in the Summer of 2008, got the chance to go to Europe for the first time in my life and I could not have been more excited. Now I cannot wait to be back there and explore some more and am trying to figure out how to make this my life and career.
Europe has inspired me in beautiful and varied ways.
Chris H. <email>
Seattle, WA USA 03/27/2009
Common ground
Rick's books guided my wife and I through five trips. We've never recovered. Beyond the beauty and culture, we discovered what should have been an obvious truth. Stability and love for the family drives the soul. They love their country and human compassion knows all languages. Our wonderful hotel clerk in Paris left his desk, ran out in the middle of the street and stopped a cab for us. If that is Parisian rudeness, then count me in. Thanks Rick, you have truly inspired these journeys.
Jeremey <email>
Frisco, Texas USA 03/06/2009
Travel Philosophy
My experience does not actually fit with the premise of this site, as I had traveled extensively before becoming aware of Rick Steves some years ago. However, I have traveled quite a bit since then, and would divide my total traveling experience into BR and AR (that's Before Rick and After Rick) Travels BR were primarily to see the famous sights; travels AR have been more involved with taking in the local culture and interacting with the people. It has been a much richer and rewarding experience. "It's not the destination, it's the journey" has become my creed. I carry the appropriate Rick Steve's guidebook whenever possible, and when traveling somewhere his books don't cover I still carry the philosophy.
Thanks, Rick, for helping so many people on their way to becoming 'citizens of the world'.
Ash Morris <email>
Tulsa, OK USA 02/15/2009
How Travel has changed Me
I had travelled to Europe 4 times before having even heard of Rick Steves. When my wife and I travelled together for the first time in 2001, we relied on Rick's books for the Germany and Austria legs of the trip and they proved o be invaluable. The value I derived from the book was not just in locating things to do and see and the like, but to appreciate Rick's philosophy of traveling like a local. Traveling like a local has changed my outlook on travel in general and has made me understand that the US is not the center of the universe after all. Finally, it has changed my teaching (I teach world history at the HS level). I try to pass on to my students the idea that there is more out there than we might realize at first and that we can truly become citizens of the world through travel.
Pete K <email>
Beacon, NY USA 01/18/2009
Travel and personal growth
Through travel I have learned a few important lessons for lifethat I may not have learned otherwise: that people are far more alike than they are different, to name just one. These lessons can be applied to many of life's situations. For example, when I read the Graffiti Wall I often read how a simple trip to Italy is capable of effecting people to adjust their lifestyle and personal expectations to gain greater personal satisfaction from their lives. This is what travel has done for me. It has been a process. At first I was a tourist taking photos to document my presence at historic/noteworthy sites, from there I focused on attempting to understand the historic events that took place and the meaning that these events may still have for people today. Now I realize that while I travel I have the opportunity to enjoy life in all of it's elements in a place that allows me to view my life from a fresh perspective. It is the changes that takes place in my thinking during these times that allows me to return to my daily life eager to make changes that will enhance my experience of life. Few events in life have this power. Travel is one and Rick Steves offers a map to some of the places where this process can occur.
N
USA 01/14/2009
Joy of Travel
Greetings, The Rick Steves guide books gave me the courage to take on European travel... solo style! I didn't have anyone to go with. But I decided life was too short to wait. I considered myself an open minded person and traveling around just confirmed to me that people are the same the world over. We all have the same needs and problems. We just try different ways to solve them. Even relationships are the same. My Mom and myself had a delighful evening enjoying dinner in Paris beside another Mother and daughter. Anyone on the street would have thought that we were old friends. In fact, I loved Paris so much I decided to move my photography business over there. Thank you Rick for spreading the joy of travel.
Tricia Keffer <email>
Destin, FL USA 01/07/2009
How Travel Changes Some
I am not the stereotypical first time traveler or the typical jaded pleasure traveler. My comments about my 2 week May 2008 Rick Steves Tour of Spain and Portugal are focused not so much on sights or food or even culture. Having traveled around the world from Australia to Austria independently on business trips, it was a revelation to be "on a tour" with 25 other people. I enjoyed these folks as much or more than the tour itself but did find myself working hard simply because I was in proximity to these nice people (just as if I were on a business trip). Tours, I feel, are for those who: want companionship; want the security that comes with numbers of other people; want guaranteed transportation and lodging accommodations; want to know about (almost) every museum and church and cork tree; and like to socialize frequently. I think Rick Steves delivers on those things. In fact our guide, Helen Inman, will probably go down in my history book as the personification of a travel guide muse. I have hosted demanding business people for many years which is very hard work. But Helen is "on" and "up" 24/7 - when yours truly would sometimes rather be reading a book and having a drink in a hammock on a beach. So be prepared for an informative, exciting, challenging trip if you take an RS Tour (you may want to adopt your guide just to help you get through it.) But one of the more enjoyable parts of the trip for me was getting to know our fellow travelers and talking to local guides and residents about how they feel about their countries and visitors and lifestyles. Now that you have plowed through all my rhetoric, I will tell you that I only have one regret and that is that I did not thoroughly research the RS web site including Graffiti Wall before I took the trip. It's very well done, insightful and provides realistic assessments of the pluses and minuses of travel with Rick Steves' company. And if you are lucky enough to get Helen Inman as a guide, take a stimulant before you set off on your tour.
Bill Kester
Pendleton, SC USA 01/02/2009