Seattlest: Rick Steves Blows Up Town Hall

guest

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:52:55 -0800

Most Americans say they can't afford to travel because it is not a priority. I am an only parent of two children and grossed $24,000 last year, just below poverty level in Washington State. But we have managed some pretty worthwhile, eye-opening, educational trips in the last few years. I don't follow the recommendations for accomodations or dining that Rick prints, because I want to discover my own favorites, but I do enjoy his stories about what he learns when he observes and participates in another culture. It is exciting to discover other peoples' ideas about what is a successful, fulfilled life and to submit to the expectations of the people who are your hosts.

guest

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:03:50 -0800

Did he mention what the "real cost" of a dramatic decrease of American air travel and tourism to the world? By all means, restrict ugly, energy-hogging americans to traveling no further than their bicycle will take them. Sounds like a new and interesting form of isolationism that would bite us, and the globe, on its ass.

Dan

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:08:40 -0800

Velo, he got asked about that last night and I think he did really well with it. His company bought enough carbon credits last year to cover all of their flights. He talked about how he's not sure if that's a feel-good fix or an actual fix, but until he knows for sure he's going to continue on the carbon credit route. He talked about paying the "real cost" of things, like the real cost of a flight includes the carbon credits to offset it, and the real cost of a barrel of oil includes the cost of the military intervention necessary to procure it. He even indicated that we might have to end travel as we currently know it someday due to this issue.

velo

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:58:31 -0800

Air travel and tourism are an environmental disaster. How does Rick Steves justify his carbon footprint?

Katelyn

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:00:53 -0800

Most Americans can't afford to travel to the coast of their own country, let alone the coast of a country on a different continent. Is Rick Steves setting up some sort of plan to fund these diplomatic tours of duty? ...Not saying his guides aren't useful. Because they are. Really, really useful, to my parents who travel for work and need to know where they might find a decent cup of coffee and some pastries while they wait for their next meeting in Helsinki.

sciencevsromance

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:51:54 -0800

a specific style of travel that requires maximum interaction with the people and customs of a place I don't disagree, but it's a funny sort of "maximum interaction" when the person encouraging it is a proud monoglot.

guest

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:45:23 -0800

that through travel--a specific style of travel that requires maximum interaction with the people and customs of a place--Americans can be exposed to creative solutions to various American problems, expand their world views to encompass that potential and implement them where needed at home. I can't help but think of how harder it has become to take an airline flight these days. Though you really don't need to fly to Europe to find creative, progressive solutions; you can get a decent, similar exposure by going to much-closer Canada. Which is still easy to... oh, wait.

Michael van Baker

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:42:40 -0800

So far as feasibility goes, I think it depends on the motivation to travel: some people are naturally drawn to bump up against different ways of thinking and will pay for it with their vacation time. Some people need a more specific motivation -- I'm always impressed by pallid, glazed-eye bureaucrats who come back from exploratory fact-finding junkets all energized by the "new ways of thinking" they've come across. I think plenty of Americans have a better chance of getting their travel quota in through work than vacation.

Seth

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:29:52 -0800

This seems like such a chicken/egg problem. Are some Americans provincial because they don't travel? Or do they not travel because they're provincial?

guest

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:17:31 -0800

Question: if "redneck rubes" don't have passports, how can they also be ugly American tourists overseas? One of these elitisms cannot be true.

guest

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:15:03 -0800

Rick Steves is better than any American. He is so good he is practically Canadian! Also, he is a fresh vagina.