Hi from Rick: Calling all tour alums!
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| It's time for a buddy check! |
Dear Traveler,
Ever since we first began taking tour groups through Europe, we've noticed a very happy side-effect. The travelers who were thrown together on our tours ended up bonding like they'd been best buddies for years, not weeks. Before long, we began hosting annual potluck reunion parties to give everyone a fun chance to reconnect and pass around their scrapbooks. Over the next 20 years, our annual reunion parties became so overwhelmingly popular (attracting hundreds of alums) that we finally decided...to give ourselves a rest.
Okay, time's up. We are eagerly looking forward to our first tour alum potluck reunion party in three years. If you've ever been on a Rick Steves' tour, you are invited to join us — and your old tour buddies — here in Edmonds on Saturday, January 17th for our happiest event of the year.
Even if you haven't traveled with us yet, all day on the 17th you can enjoy a bunch of Test Drive a Tour Guide slideshow presentations by our guides, giving you previews of their favorite European destinations (and you'll get a taste of why I think they are such wonderful tour guides).
To cap things off, on the 17th we'll also announce three exciting, all-new itineraries for 2009.
Rick Steves' tours attract free-spirited people who share the notion that not knowing exactly what's around the next corner — is fun. It's an attitude that certainly makes it a kick to travel together as a gang of friends, and keep in touch long after that ‘farewell' dinner.
Speaking of the joy of surprises, no place in Europe embodies this more than the cities of Italy, which we're featuring in this month's Tour News.
I look forward to seeing you on the 17th (and if you don't show up, we'll enjoy telling funny stories about you).
Happy Travels — and Happy New Year,
Rick Steves