If you’ve heard of Rick Steves at all, you probably think of him as a stodgy, old white guy who tells stodgy, old white people how to explore Europe. And I’m so excited to change your mind. Rick is a modern, open-minded explorer who only publicly focuses on Europe as a gateway to get Americans “to explore beyond Orlando.”
He was promoting a new book a couple years ago and if you read the previous post, you can guess that I love author talks, so I went to see him speak. Tickets went on sale for the Ohio Theatre which seats 2,800 people and sold out within hours. And yes, my boss did tease me when I had to interrupt a meeting to go buy my ticket when they went on sale.
I have to admit that while I was one of the youngest audience members, I was utterly enthralled.
An Outsider’s Perspective Of The United States
While Rick is from Washington, his career has taken him all over the globe, well beyond just Europe. His favorite places aren’t the thriving metropolitan cities of London, Paris or Rome, but the small communities that make up the developing world in South America, Africa and South Asia.
If travel does one thing, it changes perspectives. Often for the better, often making the world seem smaller and less scary, and often understanding that while it’s okay to have pride in your own culture, our differences around the world are worth exploring, learning and celebrating. That there is value beyond our own borders.
With the significant threat of nationalism around the planet in 2021, this concept should be considered often.
“The only thing exceptional about us is our ability to think only we are exceptional,” according to Rick.
And I think that’s true. Even from a cursory browse through apps not predominantly American, I find myself watching videos of Canadians, Germans, and Indians who are not only aware of the challenges and triumphs of their own countries, but of those around the world. Many non-Americans seem to have an understanding of how interconnected everything is and how delicate. I would argue many Americans can’t name even all of our own state capitals, let alone know where the local politicians stand on issues that matter to them.
Every Country Has Baggage
You can still have pride while recognizing imperfections. But blind narcissism is dangerous.
I hear Germans addressing their sordid past. I hear Canadians recognizing indigenous lands they currently reside on. None of the individuals are responsible for the heinous acts, but all take accountability for their own education and actions moving forward. I hear people from many other countries point out problems and work together to find solutions. But if we simply think we are the best and there is no racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and bigotry, we are want to either stand still, or worse, regress. Awareness of weakness is the only path to innovation, equality, and peace.
National failures are a heavy burden for a society to bear. We often try to forget about it, or we make excuses. The healthy approach would be to address it, learn from it, apologize. Can’t we do the same for the baggage beyond our own? Wouldn’t the least apology be to return sacred lands to indigenous peoples? To offer reparations to slave descendants around the globe? To return ancient Egyptian artifacts to their home country? To offer refugees a soft bed and a warm meal when other leaders lose sight of peace? To offer forgiveness when someone who has done wrong has paid the price of their crime? To attempt to understand that people who are different than us may be acting out of fear or love, and not evil or ill intentions?
Rick reminds us that “a third of people around the world eat with spoons and forks, a third eat with chopsticks and a third eat with their hands. And we’re all civilized equally.” In baggage and in value.
Peace Comes From Understanding Nuance
Rick went on to detail a story about his time traveling in Tehran. He was sitting in a cab in traffic and looked out the window to see “Death to USA” signs everywhere. But then his taxi driver yelled “death to traffic,” and it dawned on him: “Death to the USA” may not mean physical death. The driver just used “death to” like we use “damn.” For example in the same way we would say “those damn teenagers!” Iranians might say “death to traffic.”
While I don’t mean to minimize or assume anything about the conflict between the United States and extremist terrorist groups, perhaps there are cultural things we must learn to understand before jumping to conclusions. And by the way, I fully expect that our State Department capably navigates this; I mean that as a culture, Americans could use some of that context rather than generalize everyone to be good guys or bad guys.
As Rick said “It’s in good style to get to know people before you go off and bomb them.” Rick didn’t feel scared seeing those signs, he used it as an opportunity to learn, not get defensive. The power in that is tremendous and brave.
The Danger Of Walls Between Us
We can talk of course about physical walls like in Imperial China, Berlin after World War II, and even the United States during the last four years.
During his talk, Rick shared about the wall that divides Israel and Palestine even today. “There are 12 million people with incredibly diverse demographics. God sure had a great sense of humor to put the sacred holy spots of Jews, Muslims, and Christians all on the same rock.”
He spoke of the stark differences on each side of the barrier, and how it keeps younger generations from learning about each other, from each other. This baggage of hate is passed along to them and just like American children play cowboys and indians, these children play fight with guns against the other.
We can agree that the physical walls are unhealthy, but the economic, cultural, and social walls can be just as dangerous. The less of a thing our children are exposed to, the more scary it seems. Demonstrating that happiness, love and peace can thrive in poor, developing countries, countries where people look differently than us, dress differently than us, eat differently than us, pee differently than us, read differently than us, is the only way to explore, learn and celebrate the value we all bring. And teach our children to do the same.
Supporting Developing Countries
As I mentioned earlier, the developing countries have a soft spot in Rick’s heart and is where he spends much of his time when he’s not filming Rick Steves’ Europe. The solutions he presents to improve the lives of our global neighbors are modern and refreshing.
Rick said that women are the hope of the developing world. Empowering them with education, entrepreneurship training, and the tools to support their families can double any family’s income, and help a whole community thrive.
No longer would they rely on wealthy countries to send food one meal at a time. If we empowered them to become part of the global economy they could thrive on their own. Help them build roasters to sell roasted coffee beans instead of green coffee, and grinders so they can sell peanut butter instead of peanuts. Advocate for local leadership instead of foreign intervention.
Even if you’re selfish, development aide leads to a more stable global economy and geopolitical situation, which is good for the American bottom line.
Tips To Be A Better Traveler From Rick Steves
Travel is hard, especially when you are only passing through a place and won’t have time to get comfortable. It’s okay to ask for flexibility, as long as you make an effort to embrace their culture. But you must return that flexibility when you return home and encounter others who may be visiting. Offer directions, speak slowly, recommend a restaurant.
Climate change is real and global travel is not helping. Slower travel helps, spending months or longer in a place and then only moving by train or bus rather than fly to your next destination. But not everyone has that luxury. Perhaps we will in the coming years with remote work becoming more acceptable after COVID-19. But for now, buy carbon offsets.
There is certainly more good than bad to travel, but Rick thinks the government should impose a climate tax to ensure we’re all doing what we need to maintain a healthy planet. He personally invests in offsets for his own travel and of course that of his film crews, but he also includes carbon offsets in the cost of the tour groups he leads as well. All of that in addition to donating more than $1 million to organizations that research and implement climate change solutions and smart agriculture.
Have an open mind. Try things you don’t normally eat or drink. You may find a new favorite.
I stand by it, I still want Rick Steve’s to be my dad. You can watch all of his shows, listen to audio tours, and even explore tools for starting conversations with children for free on ricksteves.com. And I hope you do. What a gem of a human.
