"I've been to paradise," a line from an '80s pop song goes, "but I've never been to me." In a strange way, travel guru Rick Steves has been to a paradise, too, but he's found the best places to visit, the ones where you learn the most about yourself, are those where you connect with the locals.
Steves should know. For decades, he's been bopping around the globe -- Spain, Italy, France, Turkey -- having adventures that have led him outside the bubble of resort hotels and into a deeper understanding of the world we inhabit. And while most people know him through his PBS show, "Rick Steves: Europe through the Back Door," his globetrotting isn't merely Euro-centric. He's not afraid to step foot in non-touristy, non-Western locales, such as El Salvador or Nicaragua. He ventures to these destinations -- the ones travel companies rarely recommend -- because he believes that within the travel experience, there exists a chance to become politically engaged with the world. It's a notion reflected on his blog, "Travel as a Political Act."
His political side extends past the borders of international travel. An unrepentant social activist, Steves, who was born in Edmonds, Wash., has worked to bring attention to homelessness and is an outspoken proponent of marijuana reform. All of which means he's a busy man with a lot of opinions, some of which you'll be able to hear on Sat., Oct. 10, when he speaks at Town Hall on behalf of the Voices Education Project, and on Tues., Oct. 20, when he serves as keynote speaker for Real Change's Annual Breakfast at Seattle Center.
As a prelude to these events, Steves, in between travels, spoke about what travel can offer, his observations of some Iranian girls, the rise of the megalopolis, his very first trip and the first time he got high.
First question, really basic: Why do people travel?
Well, the famous quote is: "Living on this planet and not traveling is like having a great book and never turning the page." Travel carbonates your life; it challenges truths you were raised thinking were God-given; it lets you empathize better with people's struggles; and it lets you know there are other ways of thinking, so you're less self-assured in the way you look at life. And I find that humbling and exciting.
Do you think it's the same to travel across town or across the state, as opposed to going to another country?
Well, in a sense, traveling is meeting people. So you can travel around the world and not meet people and you haven't done much traveling. Or you can travel across town and talk to people you wouldn't otherwise, and you could argue that that's valuable travel. I just really like the people aspect of travel.
I guess it's a Western perception that you think, "Well, you need money to travel." So, do you?
Well, you need money to go far away. And you need time. Time is often something that's underestimated. Americans tend to have more money than time, so I think it's real important that Americans find a way to get more time and use their time smartly, as well as their money. But yeah, to travel to Europe, to Mexico: Unfortunately it's quite expensive. You can travel domestically pretty cheaply. You can hitchhike to California and travel for the cost of your hamburgers and fries.
There's your new book and blog of the same name, "Travel as a Political Act." What does that mean?
Travel as a political act means choosing to travel in a way that broadens your perspective. You can travel in a way that's just relaxing, recreational, hedonistic -- and that's fine. It doesn't change you. I like to travel in a way that makes me a better citizen of the planet. And that means rather than going to Mazatl