Rick Steves
| Rick Steves | |
|---|---|
Steves in 2013
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| Born |
May 10, 1955 Barstow, California, U.S. |
| Residence | Edmonds, Washington, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Travel guides |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Steves (div. 2010) |
| Children | 2 |
Richard "Rick" Steves (born May 10, 1955) is an American author and television personality focusing on European travel. He is the host of the American Public Television series Rick Steves' Europe, has a public radio travel show called Travel with Rick Steves and has authored numerous travel guides.
Steves started his career by teaching travel classes through The Experimental College, a student-run program of non-credit classes at his alma mater, the University of Washington, and working as a tour guide in the summer. At the time, he also worked as a piano teacher (his father had owned a piano store). In 1979, based on his travel classes, he wrote the first edition of Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD), a general guide on how to travel in Europe. Steves self-published the first edition of his travel skills book ETBD in 1980. Unlike most guidebook entrepreneurs, he opened a storefront business. Initially, this was both a travel center and a piano teaching studio. He held travel classes and slide show presentations, did travel consulting, organized a few group tours per year, and updated his books. He did not provide ticket booking or other standard travel agency services. He incorporated his business as "Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door." The store was in Steves's hometown of Edmonds, Washington, north of Seattle. The company's headquarters are still in Edmonds. Steves' first television show, Travels in Europe with Rick Steves, debuted on public television in April 1991 and ended production in 1998. His second show, Rick Steves' Europe, debuted in September 2000, and has produced episodes through 2014, though because he does not produce a season every year, this accounts for eight seasons.
Steves advocates independent travel. His books and media deal with travel mainly in Europe and are directed at an American audience. As host, writer, and producer of the popular and long-running Oregon Public Broadcasting television series Rick Steves' Europe, and through his travel books, he encourages Americans to become what he calls "temporary locals." He encourages his readers and viewers to visit not just major cities but also cozy villages away from popular tourist routes. Steves's television series, guidebooks, radio shows, mobile applications, and his company's European escorted bus tours attract fans known as "Rickniks".
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