Rick Steves Strikes Again

Although I've long admired Rick Steves' travel advice, his 2009 book of essays entitled Travel as a Political Act is also well worth looking it. Various chapters cover diverse parts of the world, but I was sold on the introduction alone. He describes the experience of watching a whirling dervish and realizing that even though the two men entertain totally different points of view, they each are loyal to their own set of values. Steves writes that he came away with a new sense of the breadth and beauty of humanity. As he concludes, "Experiences like this one can be any trip's most treasured sourvenir. When we return home, we can put what we've learned--our newly acquired broader persepctive--to work as citizens of a great nation confronted with unprecedented challenges. And when we do that, we make travel a political act."

Throughout the book Steves talks about the importance of considering new viewpoints and taking them into consideration when trying to find solutions to new problems. He celebreates the healthy act of politely disagreeing as a step towards achieving new understandings. I couldn't agree more.

When It Comes to Travel, No Excuse Is Too Small

I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that traveled. So that my dad could work on his German and Spanish, we spent summers in Europe, Mexico, and even South America. I can still remember when we flew to London. It was my first big trip, and I was excited to see Big Ben from the airplane. When we finally reached our hotel, I was quite disappointed when Mom wanted to take a nap instead of exploring the city right away! This is me outside Buckingham Palace quite a few years later.




To this day I spend most of my free time traveling. (Being a teacher helps a lot.) When I'm not actually on the road, I'm usually planning a trip or preparing for one. For my blog I'll add any useful advice or tidbits that I come across.





My most useful advice for this month is to pay attention to Rick Steves and his website, ricksteves.com. Rick has spent lots of summers traveling through Europe and has really good advice about it. His guide books offer updated information, his shows air on PBS, and he even has a splendid line of luggage. I just ordered the tote bag and backpack in "merlot." They're strong bags that are lightweight--perfect for someone who doesn't want to be weighted down.

For lots of travel pictures as well as information on my other projects, please visit my regular website at http://www.dr-ransdell.com/.