rick steves travel as a political act

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Rick steves gets uncomfortable in 'travel as a political act'.

Genevieve Valentine

Travel As a Political Act

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In any given episode of Rick Steves' Europe, the world's most unassuming man smiles his way through stunning cities. It's a deeply comforting formula. We admire skylines and busy streets; Steves putters around historical monuments; he nods along as locals explain sausage or glassblowing; he signs off with a folksy "Keep on travelin'!"

The Rick Steves empire, including two TV shows, a tour company and a series of travel guides, has been nearly 30 years in the making. He has become a trusted symbol for the 21st-century traveler who wants to — very briefly — live like a local. (Success has made him no less low-key and approachable; even his bloopers are part of his brand .)

Part of that brand, by his own admission, is how easily he can move in the world as a straight white guy. He acknowledges the safe remove of privilege, and he has touched on politics in the past on his show. Still, some of his casual viewers might be surprised by Travel as a Political Act , where even the introduction talks about empire, explains that "one of the ugliest things one nation can do is write another nation's textbooks" and finishes with, "I think most Americans would be appalled if we knew how many textbooks we've written in the developing world."

This is the third edition of Travel as a Political Act (the first was published in 2009), but there is no lack of new — and newly relevant — material. Previous editions already discussed hard and soft political power, hard and soft drug policies, and the effects of past (and perhaps future) civil war. His website lists updates for this year: "the impacts of Donald Trump in the U.S., Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, the refugee crisis, fascism and nativism, 'fake news,' and Brexit."

It's still the Rick Steves style — optimistic, peppered with slightly cheesy personal anecdotes and easing you into the fact that traveling makes you an outsider without making it scary. He is still the affable second cousin at a wedding who sits down with your parents to trade travel stories and gentle warnings. It's just that this time he is gently suggesting that Trump endangers the nation and colonialism created Europe's refugee crisis. (Tough wedding.)

In an attempt to make downer history lessons more palatable (this is, nominally, a travel book), Steves can come off as determinedly upbeat, and occasionally condescending. At a Serbian market in the chapter on "the former Yugoslavia," he describes "salt-of-the-earth couples as rustic as the dirty potatoes they pulled out of the ground that morning." In speaking of El Salvador, "the Salvadorans I met, who have so little, embrace life with a mindset of abundance." And some of his observations on particularly volatile topics verge on facile. (Iranians are just regular people, after all! His dad was afraid of Islam ... until a trip to Turkey changed his mind!)

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Rick Steves' Travel as a Political Act

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Rick Steves Reveals The Best Way To Challenge Yourself While Traveling

F or many, traveling is about vacationing and taking a break from day-to-day life. Others have to travel for work. Educational travel, on the other hand, is typically associated with students, but in reality, traveling for educational purposes can be for everyone. Regardless of the purpose, travel often means encountering things out of your comfort zone, whether using public transportation or learning a few phrases in a foreign language. 

Travel Guru Rick Steves  believes that travel should bring people out of their comfort zones. More specifically, he feels that travel should be used as a way to challenge yourself. This relates back to the educational aspect of tourism. "When we travel, we enrich our lives and better understand our place on this planet," Steves explained to Booktrib  in 2018. "Our travels can better equip us to address and help resolve the many challenges facing our world." So, how do we make our travels more challenging in a positive way?

Read more: It's Time To Ditch These 10 Outdated Travel Tips

Beachside Resorts Often Don't Show A Country's Reality

When traveling, a simple way to challenge yourself and learn more about a different part of the world is to set foot outside of the vacation resort. Such resorts usually don't reflect the country or region as a whole. Immigration from Mexico and neighboring countries is a common topic in the United States. Yet, places in Mexico like Cozumel and Cabo San Lucas are covered in gorgeous all-inclusive resorts . "Think all Mexicans want to come to America? Visit Mexico beyond the resorts," Steves stated to BookTrib. A trip to Mexico could help you see ordinary life in Mexico or why some choose to move away.

A rebuttal to Steves urging travelers to leave the confines of a resort is the possible dangers of doing so, given that even if a country has a high crime rate, its resorts tend to remain safe. However, people's fears about other countries could be due to news outlets blowing their topics out of proportion to gain more viewers or online engagements. "News has become entertainment masquerading as news. As the news becomes more sensationalized, viewers become more fearful— of different people, different faiths, different countries," says Steves.

Talk To The People You Meet During Your Travels

When Rick Steves talks about challenging yourself by learning about the world when you travel, it relates to his phrase "travel as a political act." This is also the title of one of his books. This idea could mean visiting a country which is slightly out of your comfort zone. Then the challenge becomes taking your broadened perspectives home with you. "Use what you've learned to help bring about positive change," Steves told BookTrib.

The overarching theme that drives the idea of "travel as a political act" is human connection. Steves believes that talking to people you meet while traveling can help you understand issues being faced in a particular region of the world. There are countless "us vs. them" situations all over the world, but Steves finds that traveling can bridge such gaps. "[When] traveling, we realize the challenges of our future will be blind to borders and best overcome not by conflict and walls, but by community," Steves states on his website . So, challenge yourself by connecting with the people on your journeys. Maybe ask someone in Mexico what they like and dislike about living there. Perhaps the person's answer will give you a new perspective.

Read the original article on Explore .

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Travel as a Political Act (Rick Steves) Audio CD – Unabridged, February 6, 2018

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Part of series Rick Steves
• Language English
• Publisher Rick Steves
• Publication date February 6, 2018
• Dimensions 5.25 x 0.75 x 5.75 inches
• ISBN-10 154919755X
• ISBN-13 978-1549197550
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Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rick Steves; 3rd edition (February 6, 2018)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 154919755X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1549197550
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 5.75 inches
• #5,994 in Political Commentary & Opinion
• #12,848 in Travelogues & Travel Essays
• #16,946 in History & Theory of Politics

About the author

Rick steves.

Guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves is America's most respected authority on European travel. Rick took his first trip to Europe in 1969, visiting piano factories with his father, a piano importer. As an 18-year-old, Rick began traveling on his own, funding his trips by teaching piano lessons. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe, which has grown from a one-man operation to a company with a staff of 100 full-time, well-travelled employees at his headquarters in Washington state. There he produces more than 50 guidebooks on European travel, America's most popular travel series on public television, a weekly hour-long national public radio show, a weekly syndicated column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves' Europe also runs a successful European tour program. Rick Steves lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington. His office window overlooks his old junior high school.

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