Interview with Tina
Tina's world has always been shaped by travel — and those lucky to have their travel shaped by her never forget it. Her enthusiasm is contagious, her smile will make you smile, and her razor-sharp sense of humor will have you snorting (in a good way). She's been leading tours for Rick Steves' Europe since 2002, always with the uncanny ability to turn any group of strangers into a group of friends. You might recognize her (and her partner, Sašo, who also guides for Rick Steves) from the Slovenia episode of Rick's TV show, and plenty of Rick's radio shows as well.
Your exposure to travel began with…hockey?
My dad was a hockey player for Yugoslavia and later a coach, so he traveled a lot. And my mom was a teacher, so they both had summers off — meaning we traveled as a family all the time. This led me to travel a lot during my student years, mostly backpacking, while I also studied tourism. Then I worked many, many jobs in the tourism industry: I was a hotel receptionist, a travel agent, a ski representative… I coordinated travel conferences and events, and for almost 15 years I even lectured at the Tourism Management College in Bled and Ljubljana. But not one of those fulfilled me as much as guiding. There is just something about this job: Once it grabs you, it doesn't let go. And I love it as much today as I did decades ago, when I started.
How did you start guiding for Rick Steves' Europe?
In the early 2000s, after I had been working a few years taking European travelers around Slovenia — and Slovenians around Europe — I was attending a conference when a guest recognized my passion for teaching on tour and encouraged me to look into Rick Steves. At the time I had no clue who he was, but I looked him up and really liked his philosophy. So I wrote a letter — a letter! — and was invited to an interview at the Rick Steves office in Edmonds. My mom was not thrilled — she was skeptical that such a job would be offered to a 26-year-old Slovene. But I convinced her I'd be OK…and now I've been happily working here for most of my guiding career.
What about Rick's philosophy caught your eye?
The first was how Rick marketed his tours, especially two policies I loved: "No grumps" and "We run our tours on time." These are still upheld, and they make all the difference. Travel pushes you out of your normal routine, so being grumpy is normal…but Rick Steves travelers try to solve problems on the go and understand that sometimes, things just happen without us having any control over it. They embrace it! And the timeliness part shows that we are respectful of people — fellow travelers and locals alike. Everything runs like a well-oiled machine, and mistakes are rare. I have total trust in how the tour is set up. Time is precious, and running tours on time has been one of the most rewarding things to experience as a guide…even if it sometimes means leaving somebody behind.
Have you really done that?
Yep! I'm true to the policy. It definitely wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it certainly was a lesson learned — and afterward, a rule respected.
Where do you enjoy guiding the most?
I guide in many places, and love them all...but two stick out to me. The first is Slovenia, my homeland — and where can you shine the most if not at home? Slovenia is such an underrated destination. I always get a thrill out of how our tour members are taken by my country: from the amazing food to friendly locals, to great wines, schnapps, and beer, to the most incredible variety of landscape for such a small territory — even the country's relationship to bees, and care for the environment in general. But second would have to be Italy. Every time I set foot there, I feel like I've returned home in a way. The people, the dolce vita way of life, the cities, the food, the history…it all echoes within me, makes me happy, and is something I love sharing with tour members.
Give us a glimpse of a tour with you.
I love when my group bonds. It's something work on from day one, through finding gentle ways to help everyone learn each other's names, to mixing them in with locals, to teaching little cultural lessons through things like local candy (or brandy!) samplings. Music also helps a lot. Not me singing — that wouldn't help at all — but talking about local musicians who made an impact, playing songs that represent the places we go, and then letting the group embrace it (or not). It's a way to introduce a culture and helps my groups find things to connect with and bond around.
Is there a moment from a past tour that stands out to you?
On a Best of the Adriatic tour we were visiting a town in Bosnia that had experienced a huge earthquake the day prior — a very sad time for this little town, especially as a girl had lost her life when a rock fell into her bedroom. While taking us on a stroll, our local guide talked about how the town had feared a tragedy like this. After some trees nearby had burned down a few years prior, the community had been asking their city council to plant new ones to prevent a rockfall. Some locals had started planting some on their own, but the effort had been too small and too late to prevent a death. At the end of our walk, one of my tour members handed the guide an envelope with money the group had collected — unbeknownst to me — to fund the planting of more trees. I go back to that town often as a guide, and have watched the new trees grow over the years. It's still my favorite example of how people can change lives with genuine, simple acts of kindness.
"Genuine." You use that word a lot when describing travel. Can you tell us more?
People love things and places that are real. There is no fake news in travel, no misleading advertisements or lies. Cities and places are right there in front of us, totally exposed, waiting for people to visit and fall in love with them. And I'm lucky, because as a guide I can help transform travelers' well-earned money and travel dreams into genuine reality. It's great…but also, a big responsibility.
Is that why you often say that this is, in fact, a "real job"?
Ugh — it's true that friends and family often ask me when I'm going to get a "real job," Of course it's more than a real job: It's an intense job. Guiding is both amazing and really hard, too. Every time we leave home, we set off to meet 28 complete strangers and then spend weeks with them on the road — away from our own families, missing the beautiful things of home life. But while we're on the road we get to help 28 strangers become friends, focus on what's positive beyond the constant bad news, understand the world better, and create memories that last a lifetime. So yes, I think this is a pretty real job!
If you could go back in time and chat with a younger version of yourself, what would you say?
I think I'd say: "You're right!" Because somehow, I always knew I wanted to be a guide. When I was eight years old, I had to write an essay about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, guess which girl wrote that she wanted to become a tour guide…and now, guess which girl has been happy in her work for decades — and hoping for many more!
Here's what Tina won't tell you…but her tour members will:
"Tina is a phenomenal guide. She possesses not only extensive technical skills, but also superior people skills. She is among our favorite guides of all time."
— Best of the Adriatic tour member