How Rick Steves Changed American Travel

If you have watched a public television broadcast in the past 20 years, you've almost certainly seen the travelogues of Rick Steves. Steves has not only been a delightfully geeky fixture on TV for years, his approach to travel and leisure has been revolutionary. But who exactly is Rick Steves and how did he land what may be the best job in the world?

Rick Steves was born in 1955 in Edmonds, Washington, a suburb north of Seattle. His father owned a piano store, which resulted in Rick's early career as a piano teacher. He attended the University of Washington where he earned his BA in Business Administration and, just as importantly, European History. After receiving his degree in the late 1970's, Steves started teaching travel classes at UW and endeavored to write his first travel guide, Europe Through The Back Door. Throughout his adult life, Rick Steves has regularly spent a third of every year in Europe, learning all the nooks and crannies of the continent off the beaten path the only way to really do it.

In between writing his travel guides, Rick Steves converted half of his piano school into a partial travel agency. He didn't sell tickets or other booking services, but he did help intrepid travelers plan self-guided vacations that were more unique than the usual landmark-obsessed tours provided by traditional agencies. Steves conducted special travel classes at his storefront and soon started organizing his own group tours.

Steves's approach to getting the word out about his travel products was risky but ultimately ingenious. He self-funded the first version of his now-famous show Rick Steves' Europe and opted to give PBS rights to the show for free, practically guaranteeing that it would air regularly. The shows served as the perfect advertisement for Rick's growing travel consultancy. His business, which had expanded to include rail pass sales and travel gear, boomed around 1992 after his self-produced series became a hit.

The most unique aspect of Rick Steves's travel shows is how people-centered they are. He doesn't so much encourage American globetrotters to be tourists as he supports a philosophy of open-mindedness and cultural exchange. Wherever he goes, Steves has a connection to a local who knows how to find the best a city has to offer beyond the attractions designed for casual foreign travelers. Some of the best modern travel shows have adopted a similar style. Take for instance the food-centered series No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. As Bourdain explores various international locales, many of which are far more intimidating to American tourists than the gentle European destinations Rick Steves has made his forte, he always has an adventurous local introducing him to the "real" version of the city.

These days, Rick Steves has started to venture outside of his European comfort zone. Some of his more recent shows have featured such locations as Iran and Turkey. He has also maintained a popular radio show Travel with Rick Steves that airs on various stations around America.