Hi from Rick: Join the Party Jan 16th
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| Reconnect with tour guides you've had...and check out some stars you haven't traveled with (yet) on Jan 16th. |
Dear Traveler,
A favorite part of my work is when I open the mail to find a homemade DVD from someone who's enjoyed traveling with us. In their own words and images, they share the highlights and fun they had with their guides and fellow tour members. I feel like I'm right there on the bus with them. And it's rewarding to see how, across 35 itineraries and more than 300 departures a year, the original values of our tour program — which I'm so passionate about — are thriving with a new generation of guides.
Last night I enjoyed one such "DVD tour" that let me stow away for 90 minutes with a riotously happy Best of Eastern Europe tour group. My dear Czech friend, Honza, was their guide. As if directing an orchestral travel dream, he played the Slovakian shepherd, masterfully presented picnics, gave powerful meaning to an Auschwitz pilgrimage, taught the language, arranged for the accordionist to meet the traditional boat on Lake Bled, and valiantly made the case for Polish cuisine. As he brought the struggles of that region to life and made each of its many cultures shine, I was reminded of (1) what a wonderful team of guides we've assembled, and (2) how many travelers' lives we touch each year.
Join me on Saturday, January 16th as I host a day filled with 20 "Test Drive a Tour Guide" presentations covering our 2010 European tour itineraries — free and open to all — and rollicking reunion parties for alums of our 2009 tours. We're flying in dozens of our favorite European guides for the festivities (and a week of itinerary-polishing roundtables with me), so it's a unique opportunity to reconnect with tour guides you've traveled with...and perhaps meet your next guide.
I'll be there, too, as your host and fellow traveler. Watching all those homemade tour DVDs has me tempted to take a 2010 tour myself, and a good place to start is this month's edition of Tour News.
I hope to see you in 2010...in Europe, or right here in Edmonds.
Rick Steves