Rick Steves has such a big, soft bear persona it's a bit jarring to hear him talk world affairs and high-charged politics.
His soft-spoken and conversational manner make many viewers of his public television travel shows and readers of his more than 50 guidebooks feel like they know this guy who also is hip to all the off-the-beaten path places to go in Europe. The thought that it might be fun to go to Europe with him is on the mind of more than one of the 10,000 people who went on his European tours last year. However, at last weekend's Chicago Travel & Adventure Show, Steves showed he isn't just a celebrity travel writer, he is a savvy entrepreneur and he has strong opinions on many 'third rail' topics in American political discourse.
Using his 2010 Lowell Thomas Award winning book "Travel as a Political Act" as a starting point for his lectures, he touched on the U.S. legalization of marijuana; 9/11 terrorist attacks; the murder of El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero; the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; Iran; globalization; infrastructure reinvestment; housing prices; health care reform; U.S. "torture" of prisoners; the growing gap between rich and poor; gun control; 'racist' incarceration policies; legalized prostitution; the "hysterical" U.S. media; and even the "American Dream," which he maintains much of the world does not aspire to. His views can be described as being a mix of liberal, libertarian, progressive and strongly influenced by European sensibilities.
"I'm trying to get America to travel and better understand our planet," Steves said in an interview. "I want America to smarten-up and not fear the rest of the planet."
He defended his 2009 TV special on Iran which aired during heightened tensions with the U.S., saying, "I think you should know people before you bomb them."
"I'm happy public TV had the balls to show it," he told the crowd. "It would never have seen the light of day without channels like WTTW (in Chicago)." The intensity of his advocacy surprised some in the audience as he switched hats from affable travel writer to a self-described "provocateur."
"He was really on the edge," said David Gotaas, of Northbrook, who has traveled extensively abroad and attended Steves' politcal lecture in Rosemont. "I think it is interesting that he's been to Iran once and he's already an expert. It goes with my theory that the shorter a person has been someplace the more he feels like an expert."
If someone says they won't travel with his tours because of his political activism or his public acknowledgement that he smokes marijuana, Steves has a ready answer."Europe will be more fun without you," he says.
Dressed in an open collared purple shirt, charcoal-grey sport jacket, blue-jeans and comfortable black shoes, the grey-haired 55-year-old suburban Seattle Steves strolled around the convention center with a green backpack over his shoulder with bottled water. His easy-going appearance and smile are now part of his brand but behind this inviting charm, Steves is an intense man hustling travel and ideas. He started his lectures in Rosemont early and stayed late. He signed hundreds of autographs. He sold book after book and plugged tour after tour. The son of a piano importer, he started his working career as a piano teacher who broadened out into giving tours and travel classes. When he wrote his first book, "Europe Through the Back Door," he self-published the book in 1980.
His company, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door," has come a long way since those days, when just in his 20s, he started a fledgling business. He now sells books, brochures, newsletters, a Web site http://www.ricksteves.com and items such as luggage, DVDs and maps.
Steves' empire by the numbers
- Headquarters: Edmond, Wash.
- Employees: 80
- Revenues: Between $30 million and $40 million
- Guide books: More than 50
- Annual guide book sales: More than 500,000, Italy guidebook is perennial best seller
- Phrase books: Outsell Berlitz
- 2010 tour groups: 10,000 tourists
- Services: Tour operators and promoters, sightseeing tours, travel agencies & bureaus
- Venues: Guide books, public television shows, syndicated radio, syndicated Tribune Co. columns, consultancy and iPhone mobile apps
Source: Ricksteves.com and reporting sources
He has managed to build a circular, inter-dependent business so his TV appearances build him a national audience and viewers then buys books and tours. Fans, called 'Rickniks, also show up in force at lectures where more books and tours are sold. Most of his books are sold through Avalon Travel Publishing, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
Organizers of the Chicago travel show said Saturday was a record day for them and they credited Steves for much of that draw. He writes and co-produces his shows through his company Back Door Productions, the shows regularly appear on public television, which in turn often uses him to help raise millions of dollars during pledge drive weeks.
However, there have been growing pains through the years, he says. Steves says he has found it difficult to delegate responsibility within the company and he often collaborates on his guidebooks.
Although he spends about a third of every year at European vacation spots, he calls himself a "workaholic" with "the best job in the world." Far from hurting his travel brand, his controversial opinions seem to work in concert with his unconventional style of budget-conscious travel. Salon.com writer Kevin Berger called him the "apotheosis of the anti-Carnival cruise crowd." It's a formula that works and shows no sign of getting old for what his books tout as "America's favorite guide book writer."
His tours and guidebooks continue to sell like hot crepes in Paris even as his travel message comes filled with even hotter politics.
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