MILLIONS OF AMERICANS EXPECTED TO GO ON A EUROPEAN VACATION THIS SUMMER, AND MANY OF THOSE GOING FOR THE FIRST TIME OUR LIKELY TO BE FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF TRAVEL WRITER RICK STEVES ON PBS STATIONS.

I TRAVELED TO WASHINGTON STATE TO SIT DOWN WITH HIM FOR OUR WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT.

YOU'VE GOT GARGOYLES.

RICK: THESE I THINK ARE THE ONLY FUNCTIONING GARGOYLES THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

[LAUGHTER] JOHN: THESE STONE CARVINGS WOULD FIT RIGHT IN ON NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL IN PARIS, BUT THIS IS RICK STEVES MULTIMILLION DOLLAR TRAVEL COMPANY IN A SEATTLE SUBURB.

RICK: GARGOYLES DO TWO THINGS.

THEY SCARE AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS OF COURSE, AND ALSO PROVIDE A STORM DRAIN FOR WHEN IT RAINS HARD.

ON A GOOD RAINY DAY, SPLOOSH.

AT RICK STEVES.

JOHN: STEVES SPENDS THREE MONTHS EVERY YEAR IN EUROPE, FILLING NOTEBOOKS WITH HIS OBSERVATIONS.

WHAT TO SEE, WHERE TO EAT, WHERE TO STAY.

RICK: THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN 2016.

I DID FLORENCE, PARIS, BARCELONA, MADRID, VENICE.

MY RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO VISIT THE PLACES IN THE BOOK WITH OTHER PEOPLE HELPING, AND I WOULD ALWAYS HAVE MY MOLESKINE.

I WOULD JOT ALL MY NOTES.

I STILL CANNOT BEGIN TO READ THAT.

I COULD READ MY WRITING FOR 24 HOURS AND THEN IT EXPIRES.

[LAUGHTER] I COULD READ THAT SHORTHAND.

JOHN: HERE, A STAFF OF ABOUT 100 WORKS ON HIS BEST-SELLING GUIDEBOOKS AIMED AT FIRST-TIME TRAVELERS.

RICK: UP NEXT, WE ARE GOING TO THE ITALIAN RIVIERA.

JOHN: ON HIS PODCASTS -- RICK: THIS IS TRAVEL WITH RICK STEVES.

JOHN: AND ON HIS LONG-RUNNING TV SERIES ON PBS STATIONS WORLDWIDE.

RICK: HERE IN ICELAND WE EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF NATURE AND NATURE.

JOHN: IN EUROPE, ABOUT 240 GUIDES LEAD DOZENS OF BUS TOURS EACH YEAR.

STEVES SAID HE DISCOVERED THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF TRAVEL IN 1978 WHEN HE WAS 23.

THAT SUMMER, HE AND A FRIEND SPENT SIX WEEKS GOING FROM TURKEY TO NEPAL.

THE STORIED HIPPIE TRAIL.

RICK: IT WAS THE EPIC ROAD TRIP.

THIS TEMPLE TO KATHMANDU -- ISTANBUL TO KATHMANDU.

IT WAS A PERFECT TIME IN MY LIFE.

I REMEMBER THIS IS THE LAST YEAR PEOPLE COULD DO THE HIPPIE TRAIL, 1978.

THE NEXT YEAR THE SHAH WELL AND AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI TURNED INTO -- TURNED IRAN INTO A THEOCRACY.

SO THERE IS NO MORE HIPPIE TRAIL.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT AT THE TIME.

I WAS CLUELESS ABOUT EVERYTHING POLITICAL AT THE TIME.

I WAS JUST A 23-YEAR-OLD LOOKING FOR ADVENTURE IN THE WORLD.

IT WAS MY COMING-OF-AGE TRIP.

JOHN: HE KEPT A JOURNAL ON THAT TRIP AND PUT IT AWAY YEARS AGO, BUT HE DUG IT OUT DURING THE PANDEMIC.

RICK: I READ IT, AND IT WAS VIVID.

IT WAS CANDID.

IT WAS RAW.

IT WAS BEFORE I WAS A TRAVEL WRITER.

AND EVERY MOMENT I WOULD BE CAPTURING VIVID DETAILS.

TO ME IT WAS LIKE SOMEBODY NETS BUTTERFLIES.

WHEN YOU'RE TRAVELING FAR FROM HOME AND SOMETHING COOL HAPPENS, THIS IS WHAT MAKES MY TRIP SPARKLE, BUT IT IS GONE.

THERE IS ANOTHER ONE.

I FELT THIS NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN SO I COULD SAVE IT.

JOHN: IT WAS PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY.

ON THE HIPPIE TRIP, THE MAKING OF A TRAVEL WRITER, MADE IT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER LIST.

RICK: I HAVE STRONG MISSION IN MY TEACHING.

I HAVE STRONG IDEAS OF WHAT C ARVES A TRAVEL EXPERIENCE, HOW AND AMERICAN CAN BEST BROADEN THEMSELVES THE TRAVEL.

IN THIS JOURNAL I CAN SEE THE ROOTS OF THAT PASSION.

IT IS A FASCINATING EXPERIENCE TO HAVE WRITTEN A JOURNAL LIKE THAT AND DISCOVERED IT 45 YEARS LATER.

THIS HAS BEEN MAIN STREET FOR ME SINCE SEVENTH GRADE.

WHEN YOU TRAVEL, IT IS EASY TO TRAVEL WHEN YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR HOME IS.

JOHN: HIS FAMILY MOVED TO THIS QUIET CITY ON PUGET SOUND WHEN HE WAS 12.

IT IS WHERE HE PRACTICES HIS OWN BRAND OF PHILANTHROPY AND ACTIVISM.

>> WE WILL GO THERE UNTIL THE POLICE TELL US WE CANNOT DO IT ANYMORE.

[LAUGHTER] YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SIT HERE?

RICK: WE WILL BE ALLOWED TO SIT HERE WHEN THIS IS A TRAFFIC FREE P OUTSET IN THE CENTER OF -- PIAZA IN THE CENTER OF OUR BEAUTIFUL TOWN.

JOHN: YOU ARE DOING AS LITTLE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.

[LAUGHTER] RICK: HELLO!

I LIKE TO SIT AND IMAGINE IT WAS TRAFFIC FREE.

I CALL IT THE PIAZA.

IN AMERICA, WE NEED THE PIAZA.

WHY IS ITALY MY FAVORITE COUNTRY?

COMMUNITIES COMING TOGETHER.

JOHN: FOR STEVES, THAT IS THE POWER OF TRAVEL.

AND HIS MESSAGE TO ENCOURAGE IT.

RICK: WHEN YOU TRAVEL, YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH WE HAVE IN COMMON WITH PEOPLE.

PEOPLE ACROSS THIS GLOBE LOVE THEIR GELATO.

JOHN: HE MAKES NUMEROUS PUBLIC APPEARANCES LIKE THIS ONE IN BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON.

>> WE HAVE THE AMERICAN DREAM.

NOT EVERYBODY HAS OUR DREAM.

I USED TO THINK THAT WOULD BE INSULTING TO US, BUT IT IS NOT.

SRI LANKANS HAVE THE SRI LANKAN DREAM.

CANADIANS HAVE THE CANADIAN DREAM.

AND IT IS NOT JOINING US.

[LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE] JOHN: YOU ALSO TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TOURIST AND A TRAVELER.

RICK: A TOURIST TO ME, I GOT A BUCKET LIST, YOU ARE GETTING NICE SELFIES, HAVING A GREAT TIME ON THE BEACH.

YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH YOUR OWN FRIENDS.

YOU ARE CHANGING THE WEATHER BUT NOT YOUR CULTURE.

THAT IS A LEGITIMATE KIND OF TRAVEL, BUT YOU HAVE A PRETTY LOW BAR IF THAT IS WHY YOU ARE TRAVELING.

AS A TEACHER, I WANT TO EMBRACE CULTURE SHOCK HAS A GOOD AND CONSTRUCTIVE THING, NOT SOME THING TO AVOID, BUT SOMETHING THAT IS A VALUABLE PRODUCT OF THOUGHTFUL TRAVEL.

IT IS THE GROWING PAINS OF A BROADENING PERSPECTIVE.

I LOVE THIS NOTION THAT YOU CAN LEARN A LOT ABOUT YOUR HOME BY LEAVING IT AND LOOKING AT IT FROM A DISTANCE.

JOHN: THERE IS A MOMENT IN THE JOURNAL WHERE YOU DESCRIBE A SERENDIPITOUS EVENT IN INDIA, AND YOU SAY THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT MAKES YOU CHOOSE TRAVEL.

RICK: THIS IS REALLY A MOMENT.

ON THE ROAD OUT OF TOWN, WE CAME UPON FOUR BEAUTIFUL WOMEN CARRYING HUGE BASKETS OF GRASS ON THEIR HEADS.

I GOOFED AROUND WITH THEM A BIT, DISCOVERING THEY HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR, AND THEN I MADE MY MOVE.

CROUCHING UNDER THE GIANT HAT OF HAY, I LOOKED A WOMAN RIGHT IN THE EYE, SHARING THE SHADE OF ALL THAT HAY, SO SUDDENLY SO CLOSE TOGETHER, FROM OPPOSITE WORLDS, YET SHARING THE SAME PLANET WITH OUR NOSES JUST INCHES APART, IT WAS THE KIND OF MOMENT THAT MAKES ME CHOOSE TRAVEL.

JOHN: CHOOSE TRAVEL.

RICK: YEAH.

CHOOSE TRAVEL.

THAT IS THE KIND OF MOMENT THAT TRAVEL SHOULD BE.

GETTING UP AND CLOSE.

JOHN: EVEN THEN, HIS BREEZY WRITING AND KEEN OBSERVATIONS WERE EVIDENT.

THERE WERE OTHER DUSTY JOURNALS HE HAD NOT LOOKED AT IN YEARS.

WE ASKED HIM TO READ A PAGE FROM ONE OF THEM.

RICK: THIS IS MY JOURNAL FROM THE YEAR BEFORE THE HIPPIE TRAIL, JULY 27, CAIRO.

WE SPENT TWO HOURS POKING IN AND OUT OF MARKETS, STEALING PHOTOGRAPHS, IGNORING WHAT TIME IS IT NOW, AND CONSTANT HELLOS.

AFTER A WHILE WE TENDED TO FORGET THAT WE HAD EVERYONE'S ATTENTION AND EVEN DISTANT HONKS AND HELLOS WERE DIRECTED AT US.

IF BEING FAMOUS IS LIKE THIS, I'M GLAD I'M OF SECURE.

- - I'M OBSCURE.

[LAUGHTER] THAT IS A GOOD LINE.

THIS IS GOOD.

[LAUGHTER] I'VE NEVER LOOKED AT THIS EITHER.

HONESTLY.

WOW.

SO MAYBE THERE IS ANOTHER BOOK THERE.

JOHN: IN AUGUST 2024, STEVES SET OUT ON AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER.

IT IS SOMETHING HE TALKS ABOUT OPENLY.

RICK: MY PERSONALITY IS TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS.

I THOUGHT I DON'T KNOW THE LANGUAGE, THIS IS ALL NEW TO ME, I'M GOING TO BE OK. AND IF I'M NOT, I'VE HAD A GOOD LIFE.

JOHN: HE WAS DECLARED CANCER FREE IN, FEBRUARY JUST AS HIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED.

RICK: THE SHIPS GOT HERE.

NEXT STOP, TOKYO.

IT IS A REMINDER OF A BIG WORLD.

JOHN: FROM HIS HOME OVERLOOKING PUGET SOUND, STEVES SAYS HE WILL CONTINUE TO PREACH HIS MESSAGE THAT TRAVEL IS MORE THAN JUST BUCKET LIST'S AND SELFIES.

RICK: YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE, CREATE A SITUATION WHERE SERENDIPITY IS CONSTANTLY KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR.

AND YOU HAVE TO SAY, YES, COME ON IN.

THAT IS WHERE YOU GET THOSE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES.

THAT IS THE BEST SOUVENIR.

STAYS WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

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