Travel: A Force for Peace and Understanding
When travel expert Rick Steves was a guest in 2016 on National Public Radio’s Wait…Wait, Don’t Tell Me! host Peter Sagal introduced him as the person who has “single-handedly ruined some of Europe’s most treasured cities by encouraging hordes of visitors to follow his advice.” Indeed, with more than 50 guidebooks, a thriving tour business, public radio and TV shows, podcasts, and a syndicated column, Rick’s tips and recommendations help launch the European journeys of thousands of “Rickniks” annually. In addition to his trusted advice on the ideal time of day to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris or where to find the most charming inn in Tuscany, Rick urges his audiences to consider travel as more than a form of “recreational escapism,” and instead use it to broaden perspectives and bring people together. His personal itineraries span the globe and help to inform a robust philanthropic agenda.
Despite having lived one-third of his adult life out of a suitcase and continuing to spend four months a year on the road, Rick remains deeply connected to his roots. The one-person business he opened in 1976 now employs more than 100 people at its headquarters in Rick’s hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office overlooks his old junior high school. He actively supports his local community by funding projects such as a 24-unit apartment building for homeless moms at the Edmonds YWCA. He serves as a board member of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and contributes to 170 organizations locally and nationally. Royalties from the sale of his 2009 book, Travel as a Political Act, are donated to the charity Bread for the World.
A hallmark of Rick’s work is to challenge Americans to confront ethnocentric tendencies through travel, provocatively noting, “If the situation isn’t to your liking, change your liking.” Some of his recommended strategies for “smart, affordable, and thoughtful travel” closely mirror the advice given to Lesley students preparing for education abroad programs: Read up on your destination to learn about its history and its present. Question your traditional way of thinking. Be open to new experiences. Observe how you’re not only learning about the place and people you’re visiting, but also about yourself. Above all else, Rick advises travelers to engage in meaningful cultural exchange by getting to know the locals. This, he says, is the key to the magical moments that make travel memorable and enriching.
Traveling “thoughtfully” as Rick prescribes can certainly shatter preconceived notions about the world and our place in it, challenging our assumptions on matters ranging from social policy to cultural norms. However, Rick notes that travel becomes a political act only when we do something with our broadened perspective once we return home. For example, we might become more tolerant of ideals and norms outside of the dominant culture. We might engage in political activism or charitable giving to support causes we became passionate about after considering them from the multiple perspectives afforded us by seeing the world. Rick claims that his travels in El Salvador, Iran, Morocco, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere continue to “wallop” any remnants of his own ethnocentricity.
Rick shares the description of “outspoken advocate of the need for Americans to travel,” with greats as Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson, whose quotes he weaves into his presentations. Their message is especially important within higher education, as we seek to help our students cultivate understanding of the social, cultural, economic, political, and technological forces that shape today’s global society.