March Travel News
Hi from Rick: Happy 40th Europe Through the Back Door
In 1979, a little battle was waging in my mind: Should I build a log cabin or write a travel book? I had the wooded lot in the Cascade Mountains, had picked the spot for the cabin, and took a log-cabin building class. I even had a line on the trailer I'd live in while constructing the cabin. But when the reality of peeling and aging logs set in, the competing big project — writing a travel book — won out.
All these years later, that book — Europe Through the Back Door, a travel skills handbook for independent travelers — just came out in its 40th edition. All of us here at Rick Steves' Europe are feeling mighty nostalgic. And all month long, we'll be celebrating our heritage.
I wrote that first book by simply writing out my lectures longhand. I sweet-talked my girlfriend into typing it on a rented IBM Selectric, and my college roommate sketched the illustrations with a ballpoint pen… Read more