rick steves travel jobs

What Working for Rick Steves is Really Like

• January 27, 2016

“What’s working for Rick Steves like?” I’ve heard that question many times since I worked as one of his tour guides in Europe. Rick Steves and his partner, Trish, joined me on the Loop Interior Architecture Walking Tour back in 2016. So I thought I’d answer a few of those common questions for our tour guests who use his books for their trip to Europe or religiously watch his PBS show .

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I know Rick Steves because I worked for his company for over a decade. Before that, I had traveled in Italy and spoke the language. During college, I also held a job as an assistant tour guide in Italy for a different company. Rick’s tour company , which is how his travel empire began, was then called “Europe Through the Back Door.” ETBD hired me as a guide to lead multi-day tours around the country. My background as a freelance journalist led me on a job to work on updating his tour guidebooks about Italy.

The tours are a huge operation managed by an impressive team, but the books are an aspect of the business that Rick personally manages. Rick and I traveled together for four days of training so that I could update his best-selling Italy guidebooks. The tour guides also flew to the Rick Steves headquarters in Edmonds, Washington for an annual week of meetings and social events with Rick and his staff.

So here’s what working for Rick Steves is really like.

Working for Rick Steves is Hard Work

As Rick and I walked around Florence, which is swarming with Americans, people seemed to expect Rick to be waiting around any corner. At the end of interactions with him, they would often say, “Have a great vacation!” Rick Steves is not on vacation. While his television show may suggest otherwise, the man is not sipping wine and nibbling on Spanish churros all day long. He is working really, really hard.

When I worked on the book updates with him, we were practically sprinting around town to see every hotel, restaurant, laundromat, museum, church and train station in the city. We worked from dawn until well past dusk. The day was also long when I worked as a tour guide, since it was full of activities. Being a leader for groups of up to 28 different personalities also had its challenges. To explain that in full would require much more than a blog post.

Rick’s tour company employs 80 full-time employees in the office. They manage the books, television and radio shows, tours and store. On top of that, the European tours employ more than 100 guides, who live around the world. You don’t build a company from the ground up by being on vacation. The man works. All the time.

Rick Steves is Efficient as All Hell

I speak fluent Italian. While training with Rick, he asked me to interpret something for him to a restaurant owner. Rick wanted the restaurant owner to offer a special deal for readers of his book. While Rick said about five words, my interpretation took about five times as long to say. To communicate the phrase as an Italian would, I had to explain the idea and say the same thing in a couple different ways. He flatly expressed to me that he was not at all into the length of my communications.

Rick acquires and checks an enormous mass of information for his books. From working with him, I learned how when you have 50 things to do in a day, if each thing can take half as long, you can accomplish twice as much. As a small business owner, I have to be efficient. I am very grateful to have learned this.

He is a Fun Dude

For his PBS show, Rick has a very chill and friendly persona. Like any television personalities, his real character is not as watered down and wholesome. While he is easygoing, he is still pretty intensely hard-working, as mentioned above. Also, the guy can be pretty funny. You can get a better sense of this if you to one of his public speaking events, like his Ted Talk .

Or you can see Rick Steves dance at one of our tour guide parties a few years ago. Rick has a great sense of humor. I also know because he laughed at my jokes when he came on our private tour of Chicago’s interiors and the underground Pedway System 🙂

Rick Steves is Not a Total Stoner

Yes, Rick speaks out about the legalization of marijuana . His advocacy relates to burdens on our criminal justice system and the lost tax revenue that legalization might bring. It’s a no-brainer that the medical uses of it are vast. Rick’s ideas on drug policy reform are very politically motivated.

But no, Rick is not toking a bong every morning before going to manage his huge business. Rick certainly has some hippie roots, but he is not a total stoner.

He Treats His Employees Well

When I began working for Rick Steves’ tour company, I was really impressed how it seemed like almost everyone had been there at least a decade. After I got hired, it took me at least five years before it didn’t seem like I was a newbie. I initially trained as a tour guide with Dave Horelein, who does the awesome maps in the guidebooks, and he’s been working with Rick for 30 years.

Longevity in a company shows that Rick is doing something right. While any business owner has enormous support from his or her employees, it is the leader that establishes a company culture. I would describe the Rick Steves’ company culture as casual, friendly, open, hard-working, liberal and smart.

I may not know him on a really personal basis, but this is what I’ve gathered from working for Rick Steves over the years. It was a great honor to have him take a break from the Chicago Travel and Adventure Show to come explore Chicago with me and on our custom tour .

— Amanda Scotese, Executive Director 

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Private Tour Coordinator and Tour Guide

There is no shortage of things to discover in Chicago—I love being an urban explorer and uncovering its hidden places. I have an MA in Public History from Loyola University Chicago, and I have worked as a museum educator and kindergarten teacher. My desire to learn new things fuels my passion for educating others, which I get to experience every day as a Chicago tour guide. I live in the northern neighborhood of Rogers Park.

Whether you are a first-time visitor or a lifelong resident, the vibrant history and modern majesty of Chicago never ceases to amaze. I’m a graduate of Columbia College with an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Art. I’ve worked for many years as an educator at City Colleges of Chicago. As tour guide at Chicago Detours, I integrate my enthusiasm for culture and architecture with my passion as an educator. West Town/Noble Square area is home for me.

With our Chicago neighborhoods, vibrant cultural institutions and nearly two centuries of larger-than-life stories, there’s never a dull moment here! I’m a fifth generation Chicagoan and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to guiding tours, I’m a creative writer and amateur genealogist. I also enjoy the city’s dynamic theater scene. You can also read overlooked stories from 19th-century newspapers on my “Second Glance History” blog. I live in River North.

Chicago is unique as it always evolves into the future while holding on to the past. I’m fascinated by how people latch on to old architecture but happily pave over others. My background is in theater and performance and I’ve been a tour guide here for more than 10 years. Currently I’m finishing my Master’s in Public History at Loyola University because I love to teach the history of this scrappy city. I’m in the Edgewater neighborhood.

Operations Coordinator and Tour Guide

Chicago’s history is so fascinating, you could spend a lifetime uncovering its secrets…I’m willing to give it a try! I have an M.A. in US History from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and then pursued doctoral studies in Urban History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I love to learn new aspects of Chicago’s rich history and then share my knowledge as a tour guide with Chicago Detours. I live in Ravenswood.

Content Manager and Tour Guide

Chicago has so many neighborhoods, buildings, and by-ways that it’s hard to go long without seeing something new, or something familiar from a new angle. I studied Cinema History for my M.A. from the University of Chicago. I’ve worked as a culture writer for various publications and as an educator of the humanities at the City Colleges of Chicago. I’m thrilled to share my love of this city’s busy past and unique architectural spaces with Chicago Detours. I live in the Chicago neighborhood of Lincoln Park.

Amanda Scotese

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Travel | Rick Steves’ Europe: Athens on the rise

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I used to think of Athens as a big ugly city with obligatory ancient sights, fine museums, the Plaka (an extremely touristy old quarter), and not much else. “The joy of Greece is outside of Athens,” I wrote. “See Athens’ museums and scram.”

But while updating my guidebook one summer, I enjoyed the city more than ever before. I discovered a many-faceted city that’s getting its act together, despite Greece’s economic struggles. I had a great experience even though it was the worst time of year for a visit. It was sweltering – well over 100 degrees – and since it was mid-August, most Athenians were gone, finding relief on the beach. Still, there was an energy in Athens that made me want to come back and linger … in the spring or fall.

I discovered much of that energy in the offbeat parts of the city, thanks to Matt Barrett, who splits his time between Greece and North Carolina. He splashes through his adopted hometown like a kid in a wading pool, enthusiastically sharing his discoveries and observations on his generous website .

He took me to Exarchia, a student district just a short walk from Athens’ Omonia Square. This area has long been the heart and soul of Athens’ feisty love of freedom and its nonconformist spirit. Slathered in colorful graffiti, it’s defiant, artsy, and full of life.

From the small Exarchia Square, side streets spin off into grungy neighborhoods. Because of the cheap rent and abundance of students (three universities are nearby), the streets are lined with cafés, bars, art centers, and bookstores. Each evening, Exarchia is a thriving festival of alternative lifestyles. The juxtaposition between Exarchia and the adjacent upscale diplomatic district of Kolonaki is striking.

A more trendy Athens neighborhood is the Psyrri district north of the Acropolis. Until recently, it was a grimy area of workshops and cottage industries, famous locally as a hotbed of poets, musicians, revolutionaries, and troublemakers. But now it’s become one of central Athens’ top after-hours zones. The mix of trendy and crusty gives the area a unique charm. The options include slick, touristy tavernas with live traditional music; highly conceptual café/bars catering to cool young Athenians; and clubs with DJs or live music for partying the night away.

Just beyond Psyrri, Athens’ Central Market isn’t cute or idyllic, like a small-town French halles, and it’s not a tourist trap, like Barcelona’s La Boqueria. The Central Market – an 1886 glass and iron arcade and the surrounding lanes – is refreshingly real: a thriving marketplace where workaday Athenians stock up on ingredients. A walk through the market is a treat for all the senses – sights, smells, and sounds.

The spice sellers are the great-great-grandchildren of those ethnic-Greek refugees from the Greco-Turkish war of the 1920s, who arrived bringing a pungent whiff of exotic Istanbul bazaars.

You’ll see bushels of rice, grains, nuts, and dried fruits. Keep an eye out for bunches of partially dried flowering herbs tied up with string – this is Greek mountain tea, an herbal mixture revered for its healing properties. You’ll also see classic Greek oregano, thyme, basil, and the precious Greek red saffron.

The meat and fish hall is a vivid parade of proteins. Vegetarians might want to skip this gut of the market. Tables are piled high with beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and goat and livestock is proudly pictured on some signs above the stalls. Little delivery scooters nudge their way past pedestrians.

Around the corner displays do their best to make the “fifth quarter” or hard-to-sell meat look appetizing: hooves, tripe, liver, and other organs. You may also see barrels of snails – a cheap source of protein during times of hardship, when locals developed a taste for the little critters that persists today.

Close by, the pleasant, pedestrian-friendly Aiolou Street, quieter than the parallel Athinas drag, is emerging as one of downtown Athens’ most appealing streets. It bustles with interesting stores, designer coffee shops, occasional street musicians, and lots of lunch-focused restaurants for busy urbanites. You can take a break from the heat in the petite, gorgeously restored Kimisi Theotokou Chrisospileotissis church, with a beautiful, serene interior. Back outside, the little square of St. Irene – the epicenter of hip, young locals, day or night – used to be known as the square of the flower vendors; these days only one remains open, and it’s still loyally frequented by Athenians.

Today’s Athens has become people-friendly, an urban scene of pedestrian boulevards and squares filled with benches, shade-giving trees, and inviting cafés. While its drawing power will always be its classic ancient sights, take time to taste its spicy, mod neighborhoods.

(Rick Steves writes European guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. This column revisits some of Rick’s favorite places over the past two decades. You can email Rick at [email protected] and follow his blog on Facebook.)

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Rick Steves looks to the future after an 18-month hiatus from European travel

Since the Nixon era, Rick Steves has spent about 100 days out of each year in Europe. Between last March and this September, he logged zero minutes abroad, though Europe was always on his mind. While hunkering down in his home north of Seattle, the travel expert and multimedia personality created public television shows and hosted virtual events about a world nearly 5,000 miles away. In June, traditionally the beginning of the high tourist season, he started accepting reservations for tours departing the following year. Travelers moved fast, snapping up 95 percent of nearly 31,000 spots on about 1,100 group tours running February through December. As for Steves, he finally crossed the Atlantic 18 months after the shutdown and is quickly making up for lost time: This fall, he hiked the Alps and dropped in on Paris and then returned five weeks later to lead new guides through Italy and to film in Rome, Florence and Athens. His tally for the last quarter of 2021: 30 days.

We caught up with Steves while he was at home in Edmonds, Wash., to discuss his recent forays in Europe; his approach to keeping his staff and guests safe, especially as we face omicron, a new variant that was identified a week after our initial conversation; and whether his trademark optimism is running high for 2022. (The interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

Q: How did the pandemic affect your tour operation?

A: It’s been a challenging time for anybody in the tourism industry. We came off our best year ever in 2019. On the eve of the pandemic shutdown, we had our annual tour guide summit. I had 100 tour guides in my living room, celebrating how we were all ready to go for 2020. We broke from that annual huddle and everybody flew back to their hometowns in Europe. Two weeks later, we realized that we were going to have to cancel our entire season for 2020. But our mantra was, “The pandemic can derail our travel plans, but it cannot stop our travel dreams.”

A reluctant visitor discovers the unhurried charm of Brittany

Q: How did you occupy yourself during the shutdown?

A: I’ve been very busy during the downtime, writing and producing. I produced a TV show called “ Why We Travel ,” a love note to travel. It’s a timely topic because it talks about the value of travel as we go forward after covid.

My priorities were taking care of my staff and our community. We created the Rick Steves’ Volunteer Corps. My employees use their paid time at food banks and senior centers and to help clean up parks. During the pandemic, there is a lot of need in our community.

Q: You waited longer than many others in the industry to travel internationally. Why?

A: For a long time, “patience” was my middle name. It’s not an American forte, and it certainly isn’t Rick Steves’s forte, but for a year and a half, I was being very conservative about travel. I thought that before the vaccinations, we should not be traveling. We should be staying safe, staying healthy and looking after our loved ones and neighbors.

Q: What developments or conditions eased your concerns about traveling abroad?

A: It was still premature to start group travel, but I wanted to go over there and see what it was like. I felt that in Europe, it was an ever-smaller world for people who were not getting vaccinated. Everywhere I went, it seemed like there were safeguards keeping unvaccinated people away from [vaccinated people].

Q: Tell us about your long-awaited return to Europe.

A: The first trip was a vacation. I wanted to hike around Mont Blanc with my girlfriend. It was six days, with 10 miles of hiking each day. We had sherpa service that shuttled our bags from one mountain hotel to the next. Then we went to Paris. I wanted to see what it was like from a covid point of view and how things were surviving. Several weeks later, I went back for a 20-day work trip. I wanted to do a guides mentoring tour. [The group, led by Steves, followed his nine-day Heart of Italy itinerary.] We have 100 guides in Europe. They are all professional guides, but I wanted them to know exactly what distinguished a Rick Steves tour.

Q: Based on your experience, how has Europe fared during the pandemic?

A: I was worried that we were going to be raking away the corpses of businesses that had died during the pandemic. But I happily discovered that almost all of them have survived. The other thing I noticed is that the ambiance of Europe, the passeggiata [Italy’s traditional evening walk], the energy on the streets, the cafe scene — they are just like they were before. The love of life is vibrant in Europe.

Q: Did you see many Americans during your travels?

A: Half the people hiking around Mont Blanc were Americans, and they were filled with joy. Half the people I met while I was waiting in line to see the Pantheon [in Rome] were Americans, and they were having the time of their life. Half the people I met at the top of the Acropolis [in Athens] were Americans, and they were having a great time. The smiles on their faces didn’t say covid; they said we’re living, we’re traveling.

Q: How are the countries you visited keeping their residents and tourists safe?

A: If you go to a museum, you wear a mask. If you go to a restaurant, you show your CDC card, and you know that everybody in there has their vaccination. I was pretty impressed.

Q: In addition to proof of vaccination, what other documents do Americans need to visit Europe?

A: To get to Europe and fly home from Europe, you generally need to have a negative coronavirus test. People wonder how they get their test in Europe. It’s easy: Just ask at the hotel desk. Some countries also have a passenger locator form. I pooh-poohed it and the airline asked for my passenger locator form and I hadn’t completed it. So I had to stand aside at check-in and fill it out. I could have missed my flight. Before you leave for the airport, go online and fill it out.

Looking to dodge Amsterdam’s crowds? There are three remarkable towns a short train ride away.

Q: Will you make any adjustments to your tours to conform to local rules and to ensure the overall safety of your staff and guests?

A: We decided about a month ago that everybody on our tours — the bus drivers, the tour guides and the participants — must be vaccinated. I don’t want to take people to Europe and have them standing out in the street while we go inside and have a good dinner. You cannot function efficiently in Europe without having your vaccination.

We did the guides mentoring tour in part to see what it’s like and what’s required during the pandemic. We can’t take 25 people into a lot of the museums together. We can get their tickets and turn them loose in the museum or we can go in with two smaller groups. We will have people spread apart more at restaurants. That’s just common sense. I think 50 people in a 50-seat bus would be tough. We have 25 people on a 50-seat bus, and we will be social distancing and wearing masks if the pandemic persists. We will have the comfort of knowing that everybody in our travel bubble is vaccinated and is wearing their masks and washing their hands.

Q: Any upsides to the slowdown in travel and capacity limits?

A: You used to crowd into the Pantheon and it was a mosh pit. Now you line up, show your CDC card, get your temperature taken and see the Pantheon without the crowds. I was in the Sistine Chapel [in Vatican City]. Usually it’s put on your shoulder pads and get ready to shuffle. Now it’s not so crowded. I have not enjoyed the Sistine Chapel like that in more than a decade. You don’t have the masses of tour buses from emerging economies. That takes a lot of pressure off key sites.

Q: Many countries, such as Germany, Belgium and Austria, are experiencing a rise in cases and are implementing stricter measures. A new variant called omicron has also surfaced. Will this affect your trips next year?

A: Exactly what the situation is going to be come spring of 2022, nobody knows. It’s a long ways away in pandemic time. We will assess closer to the departure dates.

Q: Do you plan to resume your heavy travel schedule for your various projects?

A: I am scheduled to go to 10 cities over 30 days in April. I am really excited to go back and make sure all of our guidebooks are up to date, and I am really excited to continue filming over there.

Q: Any advice for travelers considering a trip to Europe?

A: I think there’s a lot of anxiety and misunderstanding about what it takes to travel in Europe and what it’s like over there. On my first trip back, I was nervous. I am so thankful that I didn’t succumb to the nervousness and bail. So often you hear about things and worry takes over, but once you get over there, you think, “I am glad that I had the gumption to make this travel dream happen.”

Q: Do you feel cautiously optimistic about group travel to Europe returning in 2022?

A: I don’t want my trademark positivity to be a mask for recklessness or impatience. I think it is a stumbling progress, but we are making progress. At this point, I am still confident that we will be traveling in Europe next spring.

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Not My Job: Travel Guru Rick Steves Gets Quizzed On Steve Ricks

Steves has single-handedly ruined some of Europe's most treasured cities with hordes of Americans following his advice. Originally broadcast Sept. 20, 2014.

BILL KURTIS: There's nobody who knows more about travel than Rick Steves, the travel guide guru who still lives in a town where he was born, north of Seattle.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

We traveled to Seattle to interview Rick Steves in September 2014, and I asked him where he got his wanderlust.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

RICK STEVES: You know, I remember a long time ago there was "Roots," and everybody was tracking their roots and wanting to see tombstones with their names on it and stuff like that.

SAGAL: Oh, "Roots," like, you know, like Alex Haley's "Roots?"

STEVES: That's right. Yeah. And that didn't do anything for me, but I wanted to find my cultural roots, which happened to be in Europe. So...

SAGAL: Right.

STEVES: ...I got over there and it was quite interesting. There was different candy, different pop. I remember statuesque women in Germany with hairy armpits.

SAGAL: You're a 14-year-old boy. You go over to Germany, like, oh, they have different candy, and then you notice the women with hairy armpits.

STEVES: It had quite an impact on me.

SAGAL: I can imagine. You made a career out of it. Now, you are - you have these very large number of fans, people who follow your books and - where you're best-selling and your TV shows and your specials on PBS - and they're called Ricknics?

STEVES: That's what I've heard, yes.

SAGAL: Yes. Why not Steveorinos?

STEVES: Maybe Steveorino doesn't rhyme with picnic.

STEVES: 'Cause my people have a lot of picnics.

SAGAL: They do.

STEVES: And I don't know. I don't actually know where that came from, but I hear it a lot. And I guess there's a lot people that are looking for somebody to sort through all the superlatives and tell them if you got limited time, do this and not that.

STEVES: Normally people are just raving about everything, but that doesn't help you. You know...

SAGAL: Really?

STEVES: ...I'm tired of hearing people...

SAGAL: So do you actually say - I mean, will you tell people, you know, everybody goes over here, don't go over there - it's terrible, it's a tourist trap, avoid it?

STEVES: Yes.

SAGAL: Like, give me an example. Tell the world...

STEVES: OK.

SAGAL: ...Some place they shouldn't go that they think they might need to go.

STEVES: Don't go to Oxford.

SAGAL: Don't go to Oxford?

LUKE BURBANK: Really?

STEVES: Now, here's the reason...

SAGAL: Please.

STEVES: Americans have the shortest vacations in the rich world. And if you've got a short vacation, which we generally do, and you're going to England, you have enough time for one great university town. So the question is not is Oxford good or bad? The question is, is Oxford or Cambridge better for your trip? And I think Cambridge is more fun as a sightseeing kind of place.

SAGAL: There you are. It is, in fact, very lovely.

MAZ JOBRANI: And Oxford is more urban.

STEVES: And then you save time for something entirely different.

SAGAL: I see. Has anybody ever mistreated you? I'm sure it happens. You travel all over the world and people have treated you rudely or ripped you off, and then you say to yourself in your best, like, Emperor Palpatine voice, I shall destroy you.

STEVES: I got in a little bit of a tiff with the tourist people in the little town of Vicenza in Italy because they wouldn't provide a place for travelers to check their bag for the day if they're side tripping in from Venice...

STEVES: ...Which is, like, less than an hour away by train. And for two or three years, I came back, and I said all of these people with my book are coming to your town and there's no place for them to leave their bag. They're not going to spend the night. They just want to check the bag for three hours. And if you don't have a place to check bags at the train station, I'm going to take you out of my book. And I finally had to take Vicenza - the entire town out of my book because...

STEVES: ...Because they wouldn't do that at the train station.

SAGAL: And did it fade into the mist like "Brigadoon?" Did it, like...

STEVES: The whole town just disappeared. That was the end of it.

SAGAL: It's destroyed. There's just - there are tumbleweeds rolling down the streets. And there are no tumbleweeds in Italy. You brought them somehow.

STEVES: Well, that's when they let...

SAGAL: That's an immense power, Mr. Steves.

STEVES: Well, it's fun to do that. And it's...

(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)

PAULA POUNDSTONE: Do you ever - when you are dealing with somebody and maybe the tourist board isn't agreeable, do you ever just say one word - Vicenza?

STEVES: No. But...

POUNDSTONE: Just want to say one word to you - Vicenza.

STEVES: You know, the problem with...

SAGAL: Have you ever heard of a town called Vicenza? Right.

BURBANK: Exactly.

SAGAL: You know why not?

SAGAL: Well, Rick Steves, it's a pleasure to talk to you. We've asked you here to play a game we're calling...

KURTIS: You're Rick Steves, What Do You Know About Steve Ricks?

SAGAL: Despite your many travels, Rick Steves, you've probably never crossed paths with many people in the world named Steve Ricks. So we're going to ask you three questions about these people who are sort of your reverse doppelgangers. Get two right, you'll win a prize for one of our listeners - Carl Kasell's voice on their voicemail. Bill, who is Rick Steves playing for?

KURTIS: Kyle Roylance Hart of Seattle, Wash.

SAGAL: There you go.

STEVES: All right.

SAGAL: So we got on Google, and we found that there is a, quote, "bespoke tailor" out their named Steve Ricks. What is Steve Ricks, tailor - what is his specialty? A, custom tailored hazmat suits for discerning emergency workers...

SAGAL: ...B, exact replicas of the outfits of each of the 11 different "Doctor Whos" - or I think we're up to 12 now, or C, custom-made and custom-fitted codpieces?

STEVES: The only one I can really envision is C.

SAGAL: You're going to go with C.

STEVES: I'm going to go with C, yeah.

SAGAL: So if you want your codpiece - you want it to be comfortable, you want it to be fit - no, actually it was B, the "Doctor Who" outfits.

POUNDSTONE: Wow.

SAGAL: If you're a "Doctor Who" fan and you...

POUNDSTONE: I am.

SAGAL: ...You want to dress like, say, the ninth Doctor, then you call him up, and he will make your suit look exactly like "Doctor Who."

POUNDSTONE: Wow. That's a great service.

SAGAL: Isn't it, though?

POUNDSTONE: Yeah.

SAGAL: All right, so you still have two more chances. There's a number of musicians out there named Steve Ricks, including one whose art form is what? A, mix tapes to listen to while you're stoned...

SAGAL: ...B, collages of found traffic noise, or C, well, he's a male Stevie Nicks impersonator.

STEVES: Well, I can't picture Steve Ricks being a male Stevie Nicks.

SAGAL: Well, you just sing all the songs, I guess, in a much lower register, but move on.

STEVES: OK, I'll go with just to keep up with the theme, A.

SAGAL: You're going to go with A - mix tapes to listen to while you're stoned.

STEVES: Yeah.

SAGAL: That's the answer.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: All right, this is exciting. You have one more. If you get this right, you win. Deep down in the Google results, we found a Steve Ricks mentioned in what book? A, "The Mammoth Book Of Killers Still At Large..."

SAGAL: ...B, "How To Make Anything Out Of Masking Tape," or C, "A Man, A Plan, Another Canal: Gowanus."

KURTIS: What?

STEVES: I love the idea of masking tape. I'll go with B.

SAGAL: Masking tape?

STEVES: Is that what it was?

SAGAL: You ever use masking tape?

POUNDSTONE: It didn't sound like a confident...

JOBRANI: Yeah, you got to...

POUNDSTONE: ...Response...

JOBRANI: Yeah.

POUNDSTONE: ...You got from Peter there.

SAGAL: They don't like that.

STEVES: Let's see, I got one winner. I'll go A then.

SAGAL: "The Mammoth Book Of Killers Still At Large."

SAGAL: That's right.

STEVES: All right, good.

POUNDSTONE: Good for you.

POUNDSTONE: I...

SAGAL: If you're sleeping too well, I recommend to you "The Mammoth Book Of Killers Still At Large."

SAGAL: No worry, Mr. Ricks is merely a witness to a victim's disappearance, not actually one of those killers. Bill, how did Rick Steves do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Two out of three, so he's going to have a happy trip next time.

POUNDSTONE: All right.

SAGAL: Well done.

SAGAL: Congratulations. Rick Steves is America's best-selling guidebook writer and host of the public television show "Rick Steves Europe." Rick Steves, thank you so much for joining us on WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME.

STEVES: What a pleasure. Thank you.

SAGAL: (Unintelligible) it at me...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE")

JOHNNY CASH: (Singing) I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere, man. Across the desert's bare, man...

SAGAL: Coming up, it's our beach books segment with "Game Of Thrones" and "Jack Reacher." He'd take the Iron Throne in five minutes flat. We'll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME from NPR.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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Stick to Your Day Job, Comrade Steves

The thought-provoking wealth distribution video I posted a few days ago stirred up more comments than anything else we’ve ever posted. Of the over 700 comments on facebook and this blog, there were many constructive suggestions, lots of questions, and — as usual — plenty of anti-government sentiment. Thanks for all of your comments.

The most common question: What can we do? There’s the obvious: Avoid needless wars. Cut back on military spending. Open up our economy for investment and growth. Go back to a more progressive tax code, as we had under Reagan and Clinton. And defend the inheritance tax (without which we encourage a future generation of idle-rich kids).

And then there’s something nobody seems willing to seriously consider: Why not institute a small but inescapable wealth tax? Imagine if just having a “net worth” here in the USA cost 1 percent of that net worth every year? If you sat on a pile of wealth (say $10 million) for 20 years, it would cost you 20 percent of that wealth ($2 million) to keep it in a country where it’s not scary to be rich. (Anywhere else on the planet, someone that rich would spend at least that much just on security.) I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t pity a person once worth $10 million now only worth “only” $8 million if it makes our country a stronger and healthier one.

Many asked why, if I care so much, don’t I just give more taxes? That’s kind of silly. We need to respond to this challenge as a society. A few caring, patriotic, wealthy people giving what all wealthy people should give would accomplish nothing. If being wealthy in the USA came with a higher tax obligation (as it did for most of the 20th  century), we could — assuming smart use of that money entrusted to the government — create a better society. Remember, not long ago our tax dollars took us to the moon and built the Interstate Highway System.

What can we do? In short, I’d say support a return to a more progressive tax code. Making it more expensive to be rich would not deter hard-driven capitalists (like me) from investing and working hard to get rich — and, assuming they’re at all patriotic, it certainly wouldn’t drive them out of the country. I believe anyone who says otherwise is either mistaken or dishonest.

For all those who say, “Why don’t you just stick to travel writing?”, “I’ve been a loyal customer for years, but with this post, you have lost me,” and “Stick to your day job, comrade Steves,” I say life is political. We have to live with the political decisions we make as a society. And so do people struggling in our country, people struggling south of our border, and people who will be struggling generations from now with the mess we leave them. Politics is like stewardship. And I believe in thoughtful stewardship.

If you missed this wonderfully intriguing little video clip, check it out below. Meanwhile, next week, I kick off my spring travels overseas — reporting from Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube .

25 Replies to “Stick to Your Day Job, Comrade Steves”

I support you Rick! We need to work together to improve this company. I work near a major university and talk to people from different countries. We are a great country, but how we handle health care and how we deal with taxes needs improvement compared to other industrialized nations.

Well said, Rick. I don’t know if we’ll ever live to see such changes but I certainly hope so. Greed is destroying our civilization.

Comrade Rick: It is a great society we live in where we can choose to disagree and remain friends (even though I don’t know you, I wish I did). I am sure we could have an interesting and frank discussion over a glass or two of fine italian red wine. However, I think you are misunderstanding the problem – it’s simply we can not tax the rich enough to fix our government spending problem. The vast sums of money are in the multitudes of the working class. There are simply many, many more of them than there are the rich. The problem with the current government is they are not being honest. If you want national healthcare tell the people what it will cost them; don’t try to hide it. Remember, the reason the budget was balanced under Clinton was the middle class paid more in tax than they do now. OK – back to travel! T.J.

An excellent response to bigoted answers to an excellent original article. Congratulations for not dipping into the same hatred vial that so many in this country are now resorting to. I would hate to think that a nice guy such as Rick Steves might get more than half negative responses to a well thought out discussion on a vital national problem, so let me quickly add my thanks, and the thanks of the other 4 in our daily coffee group, for taking the stand that more should at least think about. No wonder I have always totally enjoyed your travel videos — you’re a thinking man in a country growing less thinking every year.

TJ, if you think the middle class have overall a larger sum of money than the wealthy, then you did not view (or did not understand) the video. What part of that graph that skyrockets off the page do you not understand? The bottom 80% of Americans only have 7% of the wealth? You are just plain wrong on this. You are correct, however, that JUST increasing taxes on the wealthy will not solve the problem. We also have to cut spending. But we shouldn’t be cutting health care and educational programs for kids – we should be cutting military spending. Congress gives the military even more money than they ask for, for projects they don’t want. Getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan is a start.

quick correction – I meant to have a period, not a question mark at the end of “The bottom 80% of Americans only have 7% of the wealth.” That’s a fact presented in the video.

I would like to live in a state where you are my senator.

“Anywhere else on the planet, someone that rich would spend at least that much just on security.”

Really? Anywhere else? I do wonder if, despite publishing all the guide-books, Mr Steves has ever actually visited Western Europe. He does appear to have watched “Taken” quite a lot, though.

I saw an interesting article this morning. I don’t think I can post links here, so just search for “‘Trickle-down consumption’: How rising inequality can leave everyone worse off”. It’s at the Washington Post. Basically, it would be better for the wealthy business owners if the people below them on the economic ladder had more money to spend.

I am with you. Glad for your success in the travel business. You made travel easier and much more fun the the large group tours with stops to sell something to the tourists and lots of tips required. Also enjoy plenty of free time when on atour. Thank You Don

You could tax EVERYONE in the country at 100% and it wouldn’t make a dent in the deficit! Too many in our society are now sucking on the teat of government, that should/could otherwise be taking care of themselves. Yes, there are those who truly need help, and yes, we should do our best to provide for those who are truly in need. But unfortunately we’ve teetered over the edge of 50% of our citizens/voters, who now get SOMETHING from the government, and will therefore continue to VOTE to maintain the freebies they’re receiving! Our Founders believed strongly in the rights of individuals over the collective, but that concept has now completely been turned on its head, and as Europe is well ahead of us in this regard, we are seeing the financial and societal consequences of adopting that model. As Margaret Thatcher so rightfully said, “Sooner or later you run out of other peoples money”!

It is frequently said that citizens don’t condemn the super rich or even the simply affluent because our fellow citizens aspire to that themselves. They continue to be quiescent about insider trading, high speed trading, carrying charges at lower tax levels, bailing out banks, corporate welfare and military overrun programs like the F-35 and the Osprey not to mention aircraft carriers which are sitting ducks and gifts to demagogues like Karzai and in the past Mushareff. We are as a people divided not only as the haves and have-nots but as the know it alls and the know nothings. Much of what we don’t know is because we are so busy working or entertaining ourselves that we don’t study and analyze as critical thinkers. And many who are critical thinkers are afraid to speak out for fear of jeopardizing their own jobs. It’s not too far fetched to believe that much of what government spends is to mollify the masses because if they don’t the end game is clear.

Rick, I couldn’t agree with you more! The vocal minority may disagree, but I’m sure many, many middle and lower class Americans who are actually living this reality would strongly agree with you. There is something about the power of money and its grip on people, especially the wealthy. I know a little of which I speak, as I have family members who would be classified in the top 5% of earners. If only I ruled the world… :)

Of course we need cut backs. But the question is how much and where? Try to figure out where the waste really is. This is always protected by special interests and their groups. The larger our country and populations grows the more difficult ist will be to figure this out. It is rediculous to blame one party on this mess. Gas in the spring of 2008 under George Bush was higher than it is right now. This due to world comsumption and not Democrats or Repub. Hey we sent all our work to China and India and made their economy flourish, what would you expect to have happened. And home sales fell because a three bedroom two bath house was and is never been worth a million dollors. Again what would you expect. I don’t believe that we should just throw good money over bad, but it is more complicated than just slashing everything to the bone. These may have consequences you don’t want.

Spending in the form of:

Tax breaks Entitlements Wars Co-opted politicians Leverage (debt) Printing trillions in new dollars Propping up foreign governments Corruption

It’s Politics in the form of

The Golden Rule (those who have the gold rule).

It’s ignorance in the form of U.S. citizens who don’t know or understand or what’s going on or how to fight back.

It’s the haves who don’t want to give it up against the have nots who want it – and I know plenty of the former who don’t want to give it up because they feel the have nots have not earned it. On the other hand, there are plenty of haves who: inherited; had high falutin’ educations; were lucky; were in the right place at the right time; cheating on income taxes. And plenty of takers among the have-nots: milking SSI; Medicaid; food stamps; Medicare; mortgage interest rate deductions; double/triple dipping govt. contractors; using the ER when they can afford a doctor or nurse. It’s trite but we really are our own worst enemies.

The military has already taken huge cuts, and more is on the way. Most military spending is discretionary, which means Congress has to re-authorize the budget every year.

Although I do beleive that taxes should be higher for everyone, even that won’t help in the long run if the US doesn’t institute a major overhaul of it’s most expensive benefit programs. Look at the Congressional Budget Office’s graphs that show the projected GDP to debt ratio if nothing changes. How sustainable do you think it is if the government spends more than 100% of GDP? It’s not simply a matter of who pays more taxes or which program gets more funding. The country is going to go bankrupt unless the major drivers of long term debt accumulation (social security and medicare) get a significant overhaul. If you disagree, then look for yourself at the CBO’s own figures.

Thomas, I totally agree with your comment. For the life of me, I do not understand how anyone would want the US to model itself on such an unsustainable model as Europe. It is simply infantile to think raising taxes on the “rich” will solve problems. Even France has to backtrack on it’s 75% tax rate on the wealthy. It never brings in more money. All it does it create wealth flight.

Rick, very well put. We provide both financial security and personal safety to the wealthy members of our nation. That security and safety comes at a premium and so it must come with a premium. And given this security and safety, a more progressive tax code and higher tax obligation for the wealthier citizens of our nation will not result in their mass exodus. Individuals like Warren Buffett understand both this and the fact that a stronger, more equal society is better for all of us, including the wealthy. Keep up the good work locally, nationally, and internationally.

I am not as rich as Warren Buffett, but am wealthy enough and qualify to reply. For my response, however, I must use an analogy. Every organ in our body is well protected by a tremendous infrastructure (skin, muscles, bones, tissues, and the defense army-the white blood cells). For the body to keep healthy, on the whole, it must maintain its “homeostasis,” a balanced state. We must provide to it proper nourishment and fluids, but not to the extreme. If something shifts any one of the body’s mechanisms out of that balance, the body will move into a state of disease and its organs will be compromised. One can be greedy and not wise as to continuously reward oneself with unhealthy things that will shift his body out of the balanced state and cause him to be sick or even dead. Every country works by the same principle; instead of organs we have governments; we are protected by the military and strengthened by the people and various industries. When the country’s economy, military, health, and politics on the whole are functioning within a “normal” range (spending and taxing), that contributes to its homeostasis and the country is in its healthy state. I stand witness that the middle class is already taxed too much. Majority are hardworking people who after years of saving and living frugally cannot even afford to obtain a plane house in most states but must restrict to renting of apartments. Remember, the greediness can lead one out of the healthy balance. If the overly rich of this country are protected by flawed tax codes, not only that they will individually, over time, become unhealthy but they will draw entire society out of balance and their country into an ill state. This is not a game where the winner takes all, but a conscious and well prepared program that just like a small surgery it might heart a bit, but the pain will be well worth a national stability and reputation, and no one would see the rich as evil but as respectful employment providers and hardworking business owners. The employees will respect them for the jobs and the country will patronize and depend on them as a crucial nourishment of its healthy state, the homeostasis. Rick, if most rich individuals in this great country become wise and start sharing your view on wealth and taxes, the health and happiness of this nation would improve in no time.

Correction, meant to write a plain house not a plane house.

Rick, It is true that we need to be able to discuss politics in a civil manner without bludgeoning each other. A simple look at the voting split in recent national elections makes it very clear that there is much support for both conservative and liberal mentalities, and we cannot be filled with hatred for one another. That being said, I believe we shold be careful when we deem a course of action that we believe in to be “patriotic” (see paying taxes), thus labeling those who disagree to be unpatriotic by default.

To those who would not buy Mr. Steves’ guidebooks because of his political beliefs, remember that there are quasi-expert travelers like me who recommend Rick’s guidebooks to all my traveler friends. Thus, for every one of you who abandon Rick because of his views on pot and taxes, there is someone like me who will recruit 5 new customers for him.

The winter of 2010 I missed out on a trip to Egypt due to very bad weather our cruise ship ran into. I dream of visiting Egypt and touring the sites. Steve I really enjoy the coverage you are giving people that have an interest in what is going on in Egypt. I look forward to the coming weeks of you sharing your travels with us. Thanks, GREAT JOB!!

The comparison of Christians killed in Cairo (killed by Muslims because they were Christian) with Christians killed in Chicago (likely killed in gang-related violence unrelated to their religion) is a specious attempt to downplay the risk to an American traveling in countries rife with radical Islamists.

Nice post .. :)

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I quit my job to travel

I really really hate my job. I am 25 and don't have much responsibilty to anyone or any debt. I really don't know what to do with my life but I love to travel and I can't sit in an office anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I am leaving for Europe on Aug 9th and am staying for 2 1/2 months. I know where I want to go but I need a plan for when I get back (or how to stay there). Any tips for a girl that doesn't know what to do with herself?

Heather, I understand that you hate your job, we all do at some point! Even though i dont know you, i am sure that you are on to something good. Quitting your job and traveling abroad may seem brash, but i bet you will have the time of your life and you will have experiences and memories that will last longer then working in an office and say getting a cookie at 3pm everyday from Starbucks. I bet your friends are jealous of your travel plans and your bravery. Best wishes! It's always good to live with intent :)

Here’s an idea... Teach English abroad. Both of my roommates in college spent time in Japan after college teaching English.(one was fluent in Japanese, the other not at all) My stepbrother has lived in Thailand for about 10 years teaching English to students. There are several programs you can go through. Or, join the Peace Corp. (or even Americorp)

Have you ever thought about getting a job in the travel industry? Tour director, flight attendant, cruise director, meeting and event planning, etc.

Yes I have thought about doing something in the travel industry but I feel like I want to travel a lot so that I have the knowledge I need to really know what I'm talking about. I am really good at planning. I thought about starting my own business where I help people plan trips. Maybe some day I would like to have a B&B or a hostel some where. I don't think I'd like even planning - that is too high stress for me. I don't do well with stress - have bad problems with anxiety. Flight attendent would be another good idea - I would probably like doing the for a little while. Depends are where the flights are going. Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming!

I think Frank's advice is very good. Unless you've won the lottery (major money here), you can't really travel for an indefinite time without some plan for the future. I hate to be a "Debbie Downer," but being a parent, my thinking will obviously be for finding something you can work at that you love, and that allows you the time and money to travel.

In the meantime, go forth and have your adventure. Read lots of travel books and see if something catches your fancy for a future profession.

Best of luck!

You'd probably have to research this here before you go, to make sure you have all the right paperwork, but there's plenty of jobs for Americans in Europe. I had a friend who worked as a nanny in Paris, don't know if that's up your alley. Other people work as tour guides at different sites, but that may be seasonal. Don't know what kind of work you were doing, but there's also work to be had on the military bases in Europe.

Maybe someone on here knows where to find information on these kind of things?

I'm just thinking since this is a time when you don't have a lot of things tying you here, it may be a good time to work overseas. You may not make a lot of money, but it'd be a great experience.

Yes I certainly agree with all these things. It would be a great experience for me and would probably make me a lot happier than public accounting. Thanks for the input and if anyone has information on working overseas please let me know.

Try contacting the Department of Defense. Many US civilians work on US military bases in the UK, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. With a college degree, you may be able to work there in some capacity. Some jobs, through the MWR and USO even specialize in travel, although I have no idee what qualifications you would need. Every Department of Defense civilian I have ever spoken to seems to have ample free time to travel. Perhaps James from Ansbach may have more information?

First of all, good for you for starting down a path to finding something you truly will enjoy in life!

My husband and I are a fairly young couple without children who quit our jobs about a year and a half ago so we could do a fair amount of traveling. While we were fortunate to have had some success with our previous careers that allowed us to do this (and not having children makes a huge difference, too!), we also live by the mantra "It's not what you have, it's what you spend." So if something catches my eye in a store, I have to ask myself first if buying it is integral to our shared goals of being able to remain unemployed so we have the freedom to roam around. Usually the answer is no, and I can't tell you the last time I bought something like a new purse! This may sound naive of me, but I was really surprised at how all those little purchases ($20 here, $20 there...) added up to a big chunk of money over time.

So I'm afraid I can't help in terms of advice on where to start looking for the job of your dreams, but I can suggest you take a hard, honest look at your financial resources, determine how you can control your spending to fit within your current and long term goals (hey, we clip a lot of coupons!), and go from there.

I wish you the best of luck!

I think you need very careful of looking for jobs in Europe. I am sure that Maureen's advice about lot of jobs for Americans is accurate if you use the term LEGAL jobs. Think of the current attitude by many towards the illegals working in the country and that is want you would be if you don't a legal work permit.

I really do think that you need to resolve your career objectives first. Work in a miserable, dead end job is not any more pleasant in Europe than the US. Remember something about grass being greener over there.

Have a good trip, explore other areas, and hopefully return so that you can address the more basic problems with a different attitude.

Echoing Frank...at least in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, the current attitude towards illegal immigration is not favourable at all. Procede VERY carefully. And familiarize yourself with Schengen Zone work rules. Basically, unless you hold an advanced technical degree or qualify as a skilled health care worker, to be hired in the Schengen Zone, a potential employer (not including the department of defense, that I alluded to earlier) must justify in writing why they need to hire you over an EU national. Otherwise, they are obligated to fill the position with someone from the EU first.

Wake up, and quit your dreaming! Now get back to work and become a productive member to society!

My suggestion would be to take the 2.5 month trip and then give some further thought to your future when you return home. I suspect that your perspective and your attitudes will probably have changed, perhaps significantly.

Since you're leaving on August 9th, you don't have time to work out the details for work permits, Visas or whatever to work in Europe (those arrangements are best made before arrival in Europe). That means you'll still be limited by the three month Schengen Limit.

The other "reality" is that following your trip, you may need to return home to "replenish the travel funds".

If you have specific skills, you might also contact the cruise lines, as I know people that have taught courses on cruise lines (ie: photography) and although they're "working", they get to travel a lot and do some touring in their free time.

Good luck and happy travels!

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. In response to the person who says "quit your dreaming" I laughed when I saw that because it was so funny and blunt. However, I know that life is very short and doing something you don't like day in and day out is really not a good way to spend your time. I am definitely not benefiting society right now in this unhappy state of mind. I have to go to a pshychologist for depression/anxiety and am on anxiety meds - all of which my heath insurer has to pay for thus driving up the cost of health care more so than it already is. Now tell me, is that beneficial to society? Maybe if I travel a bit, gain knowledge about the world, and figure out something I truely like to do I won't be on these medications anymore and that ultimately benefits everyone in your terms of thinking right??? Just throwing that out there because I am sick of people always thinking they have to behave in a certain way and do what everyone else views as normal.

It's good that you are taking advantage of this opportunity now, because most likely you will get to a point in your life where this sort of thing is just not feasible.

If you have a place to live when you return (I'm thinking indulgent parents), I would go and enjoy your trip and worry about your future when you get back. You'll have a different perspective then.

Hopefully you'll talk to a lot of people while you are away and come back with a lot of ideas. But if you go with the idea that you have to find all the answers, that doesn't sound like a very fun trip to me.

I worked as a temp for a few years and saved money so I could travel. I quit my temp job and traveled to places that I had always dreamed about. Spent a year in Australia, New Zealand and many of the Survivor Islands in the Pacific. Met my husband on this trip. Again worked as a temp when I came back got married and settled down with a house, kids and cats. We still travel and I can tell you my kids love it!! Been all over the US and to Europe. I cannot tell you how cool it is to have a 5 year old ask if we can go to the Eiffel tower or if we can see Spain after watching a travel/cooking show on TV. Looking forward to our trip in a few weeks to Switzerland to see family and to Paris so my son can go up the Eiffel tower.

I am not looking for all the answers - of course I know that is not going to happen. I just can't wait to just meet other people and see some amazing places in Europe. I don't know what will happen afterwards - I am just looking for ideas! Don't know what else to do at this point :)

Sometimes "doing something you don't like day in and day out" is a "means to an end", in that it allows one the freedom to do what they enjoy.

Given the "insurance issues" that you described and the costs, hopefully you'll eventually find a position that provides health care.

Hi Heather,

Have you consdidered perhaps teaching English abroad? I don't know the specifics of getting the TESOL but it may be worth looking into. It may also give you an opportunity to travel to places that are a bit more "exotic" (at least by our definition of the word) where English may be less widely spoken. You may also want to consider splitting your time between the aforementioned teaching English and something else like tour guiding (as others have mentioned etc.).

This link may be of use to you...

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

Happy Travels, Steve

Since you mentioned you don't like stress, then perhaps the travel industry is not for you. Whenever you are dealing with paying customers, there is stress. I've worked in the travel industry and it is stressful.

Tour Guiding in Europe for Americans is not as easy as it used to be. It's the same as any other job--you need a work permit if you want to reside there. And it is a very stressful job. (If you are based in the U.S. and take tours over, there are ways around it.)

Teaching English is a good idea. You need to get ESL certification which takes 6-12 months but there is big demand for this both in schools and large businesses which hold their own training. It's something I'm looking into. The pay isn't great but usually you'll get some type of living subsidy.

My comment offers a different perspective along the lines of "delayed gratification" but something to think about. A career as a teacher can be rewarding, typically offers extended time off in the summer and holidays for travel, health insurance, retirement benefits, and usually adequate pay. If you begin accruing retirement benefits when you're young--you could potentially retire at 55 or so with benefits and all the time to travel that you want!

Enjoy your travels and best wishes as you explore your career options!

I say follow your dreams, but just make sure your basic needs are covered in the interim: food, shelter, clothing, income, health insurance, etc. You’ll need to do a lot of research, develop a plan, and find a community of like-minded people to help you along the way. Check out this article for tips, inspiration, and a little guidance:

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/how-to/how-to-travel-for-free/

In the meantime, enjoy your travels and best of luck!

As long as you currently have no debt, have enough money to fund your trip without putting yourself in debt (and this includes having a nest egg for when you return that can hold you over while looking for a new career in an unstable economy), and you don't drop your health insurance coverage in an effort to save money, I think extended travel is a good way to get a new perspective on life and what path you want to take in the future.

I took a year off to travel. Everyone had a different opinion on my decision from "why leave a profitable career?" to "I wish I was brave enough or had the freedom to do that".

Don't count on easily finding work in Europe. They have their own economic woes, so it is much harder now unless you have an in-demand skill. If you hope to extend your travels, think about potential volunteer positions in other parts of the world like Asia, Australia or South America. Some offer free room and board in exchange, but often the work is physically demanding and you'll be in rural areas or dealing with a lot of poverty. It does, however, offer you a priceless opportunity to really immerse yourself in a whole other culture.

I'd get a job with a cruise line. They are always looking for good English speakers.

Flight attendent wouldn't be bad but it's not guaranteed to get you much international travel and the industry is consolidating right now.

Travel agent - yuck.

English teacher or child care abroad - probably also yuck unless you're lucky.

Job working for the US Government abroad - another good possibility. They want US citizens. Check out USAjobs.gov and search for jobs in the overseas locations you would like to work in. They won't pay your moving expenses, but you're young and probably don't have household effects and family to tow around.

I did the public accounting route too, but I stuck with it and now am glad that I can afford to travel more and have reasonable job security.

That said, it's not for everyone (I'm actually in industry now anyway, jumped as soon as I got my designation) and realising that sooner rather than later will lead to fewer regrets.

Just go and enjoy your trip--don't worry if you don't come home with all the answers. It will at least clear your head and give you some fresh perspective. You've been given some good advice here for some options to stay overseas, but most of them will need to be sorted out from this side of the pond I think.

Happy travels!

Don't know your background/education, but my nephew has a job that entails a lot of travel to Europe (1 week out of the month). Not only does he go there for work he's stacking up the miles for free trips. Maybe there's a company out there for you.

Thanks for all the adivce! I can see I have A LOT to think about now!

You're really awesome! (first of all) i love it when people decide to forget the preconcived way of life and find what else the world has to offer. My partner and I (23/24 yrs old) have begun our lifestyle as you are just beginning yours. We havent got jobs abroad yet but have a few tips. 1. get into social networking. things like couchsurfing.com or airbnb.com are great ways to stretch your budget and meet people who in turn will introduce your to other people and give you more ideas. we are going to EU aug 25 to oct 25, then returning to the US for a winter job. 2. If you can stand the cold, apply at a ski resort. positions range from office to food and bev or on-mountain operations. try looking up intrawest ski resorts. we worked in winter park and loved it. you meet people from all around the world, you get to save up money, then when the season ends...off you go....just know that usually resorts are kind of secluded so learn an indoor hobby or something. 3. From what ive heard cruiseships can be hard work, but fun AND some apply/cover your visas if you go to different countries. You cant spend much money you make on the ship so you end up saving it, more money for your next trip 4. and last very important!!!! dont return home without knowing or havin gsomething lined up. We came back after colorado, and "got stuck" and its taken a year to get back where we need to be, to get back into the world. best of luck to you. you live once. make it worth it.

Congratulations! Not many people have the nerve to quit their job and travel. For those that are negative, well I just think they are jealous that you have the means/fewer responsibilities to do so!

After traveling to Europe last fall I started thinking about the possibility of teaching/working abroad. Securing a work visa in Europe is extremely difficult and a very time consuming process. But I am still working on it and will most likely end up teaching abroad due to my various degrees. Besides my husband has an intense year of paramedic school/fire academy coming up so that’s why I am looking to move abroad because he will never be home or will be studying all the time.

My advice, go to whatever city or country sounds exciting. Granted if you have more of a plan it could be less expensive rather than jumping on a train and going. Check out airlines such as Ryan Air (Double check their weight requirements) that is usually an inexpensive way to travel between countries. The airports can sometimes be out of the way, but well worth the savings.

If you have a chance go to Ireland it’s a very sweet, loving, country where everyone is so incredibly friendly. We loved Dingle and all its charm! Good luck and if you need particulars on England, Scotland, or Ireland send me a private message.

Heather, the first thing I would say to you is- go for it.

The next thing is, I haven't read through all the excellent answers here, so please excuse me if I repeat what someone else has already said.

Teaching English is a good suggestion. Although there are many, many people who have the same idea, if you can be flexible about where your first post is, you can do OK. My stepson took a month's intensive course here in the UK. He wants to work in Spain but has taken a year in Dubai, is making lot$$ and will (hopefully!)have good references and experience when he's finished there.

Have you travelled around North America? It's the most amazing continent. Would it satisfy you to maybe find work that involved travelling in N. America and then you might find it lead to travel overseas as well? That would keep you legal, earning and also with your healthcare benefits.

It's what I did when I was your age and felt like you do, except it was in reverse. I got a job which involved working around the UK (at shows and exhibitions) and it lead to work across Canada, the US, and South Africa.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck. Best wishes, Maggie.

A website I like to spend a lot of time on is www.bootsnall.com . the people on the Bootsnall forum are hardcore travelers who have come up with creative ways to save and fund for their trips.

They also devote a lot of space to Around The World travel; you'll love the travel stories and blogs.

Just overall it's a great site for people who are fanatical about traveling, exploring,experiencing, and for people who don't quite know which direction they want to take.

• You are not crazy.
• You will never have the time to be selfish like you are being now.
• Your gut is telling you that something is off.
• You are taking charge and addressing things.
• You'll figure out things along the way, so smile!

I'm 26 and am embarking on a very similar adventure w/ my best friend. We've both been incredibly successful @ young ages but feel physically burnt out and emotionally depleted by our professions. We're going to take a month or two and experience life and learn a few key life lessons including careful budgeting, dealing with ambiguity and getting a clearer picture of what we want.

Chin up and congrats on taking care of you.

Here's what I suggest: (1) take a leave from your job, (2) travel wherever you want for 1, 2, 3 months or more, depending on your finances and interests, (3) decide on a language to become fluent in, (4) return home to your job and take classes or do whatever it takes to become fluent in that language. After that, you are ready for living and working in Europe. Of course, you can learn that second language in Europe, but I am assuming some financial limitations. In Paris there is a publication, FUSAC, aimed at English-speaking transplants. There are always job offerings there for bilingual English-French speakers. Fusac has a website. The people I've met in the travel industry in Europe speak at least their native language and fluent English; they usually speak a couple of other languages as well.

You should be sure to check into the entry requirements, have a return ticket, and be sure to dress nicely when going through customs.

I heard of someone who had a kid around your age that tried going to Europe for an extended stay with vague travel plans. He arrived in London with a one way ticket that got cheap somewhere.

They refused to allow him into the country since he could not show how he would support himself and return home. He was held at the airport in limbo until his parents bought him a ticket back to the U.S. He never did get into Europe.

Back in the 1980’s I was traveling by backpack through Canada from Seattle to Alaska and at the boarder crossing into Canada I had to show the Canadian customs official that I had enough cash and travelers checks to make it to Alaska.

Perhaps you might want to read this book:

"Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel" by Rolf Potts. I haven't read it myself, but I've heard good things about it. I believe the author also did a podcast awhile back (possibly as a guest on a travel podcast show), so look for that as well.

I didn't make it to Europe until I was in my mid-30s, and I wish I'd gone sooner. And it wasn't until 40 that I got to spend a couple of months there really soaking up the culture. To do that, I had to take a leave of absence from work, which is not an easy thing to do, especially if you have obligations.

Life is short, so why not try to "live the dream" even for just a bit? Indeed, it sounds like you are on that path already. Good luck!

I too am going to europe for a few months with my son. It takes some planning but its good to be up in the air with your plans. Find a cheap ticket over and a good hostal and start from there. If there are specific things you want to see and do make sure you make a list of expenses and a tenitive plan for when you want to be there. This will give you a little more focus and will make the trip successful. Don't let others talk you out of it, I did that and it taken me twenty years to get back to my original dream to see europe and experience all that it has to offer.

Hi Heather. I suggest : enjoy your big trip in Europe, and do not do intense thinking about how you could be employed in Europe. If I could be in Europe for 2 and 1/2 months, I would decide on destinations there, but I would not make an itinerary. I would stay at a place until I felt rested and ready to do more travel. At some point in your trip, you might need a long rest. Good places for resting are : a Greek island, and the Cotswold region in England. Come back to the U.S.A. and get a job. Next year, perhaps you could be an assistant tour group leader in a Rick Steves Bus group tour in England. It does not pay a salary, but you would get free transportation in Europe. And it could lead to a seasonal job as a tour group leader. For people who like talking, teaching English as a second language, in Europe, can be a wonderful experience. I am really not much of a talker, but I was a teacher of conversationl English, in a country in east Asia, shortly after I received my Bachelor's degree. It was the best thing I did, up to that time. The most satisfactory plan for you may be to find a job in the U.S.A., working nine months in each year, and travel in Europe for several weeks each year.

You just made me think of the song, "Free As A Bird", by the Beatles with the late John Lennon.

OMG! To be 25 and free to travel and see the world!

That would be the most wonderful thing for this 59 year old feeb! LOL

I didn't read the whole thread, but I, for one, would be MOST interested in following a blog, if you have one, regarding your adventures in Europe and the world.

Hey guys? We talk about travel a lot on this site, so how about we talk about TIME-TRAVEL, sometime?

Just kidding, but this young lady has just touched my heart, and I wish you the best, Heather!

Please stay in touch with us here, okay?

To be free and young again!

Heather, Enjoy your opportunity and don't think twice. You may never get this chance again, so go for it.

Heather, when I was 24 I quit my job - didn't hate it, but was tired of it and always had the travel bug. Cashed out what little retirement fund I had built, added my meager savings, and headed for Europe. Spent 7 months hitchhiking and training around. Because of new rules, you can't spend that much consecutive time in Europe these days unless you are an EU citizen or are there on some other special status.

That was the best decision I ever made. I had barely sufficient funds, no itinerary, no job prospects either in Europe or upon return to the US, but I did it anyway. And loved every bit of it.

That was 30 years ago, and now it's hard for me to find 1 or 2 or 3 weeks and the necessary money for a Europe trip (though I still go). I say go for it. Don't overthink it. You won't regret it.

Heather when young like you are, I encourage3 all young and free to go,, and take the full 90 days to enjoy and explore Europe. Do it for fun, do it to give yourself time for geting to know yourself,, but don't do it because you think it will "cure" your anixety or depression issues. Those can be serious mental health issues and just running away will not work,, as a few wisely noted,, travel itself can be stressful,, so don't go with unrealistic expectations.

That all said,, I basically think you should just go for a vacatin,, not to work,, and have some fun,, then come home and figure out what you really want to do with your life( of course all the free time you will be travelling will give you lots of time to think) .

wow heather, THIS IS ME TOO!!! i'm also quitting my job, going to europe and figuring it out later. i really hope that you'll still follow this thread either you're gone or after you get back to tell your tales, lol.

it's not that i hate my job, i'm just really not happy there and i've known since taking the job nearly 2 yrs ago that i wouldn't stay there and build a career. i don't expect to ever LOVE what i do, but i'm really feeling a need to exercise my passions and find a sense of fulfillment in what i do.

i'm 24 - only real bills i have are student loans but they're not overwhelming and i've built myself a pretty decent safety net financially. still at home with my parents but expecting to move out and get engaged to my wonderful boyfriend within the next 6-8 months. but i guess this could change depending on what happens when i get back from my trip.

i have many ideas about things i might want to do yet i have absolutely no idea, lol. i just know that i've spent too long doing nothing while trying to figure it out. maybe finally doing something i've always wanted to do will actually help me figure it out. how can you not come back from a trip like this and have a new perspective?

of course i'm freaked out about the interim and running out of money but i really think i'll be okay. i'm smart and capable and i tend to work better under pressure so when the need comes i'll find the way. i feel like this might be my only time to be completely selfish and if i don't take this chance i'll kick myself in the ass forever. i don't want to be someone who always talks about what i want but instead actually does it. let this be my first step...and same for you!!!

high-five for changes and please do keep us posted if you can. best of luck :)

I know this is WAY after you have already left for your trip, but maybe you will read this while you are away. I have to agree with one of the previous posters:

When you get back, look into becoming a teacher. Maybe you'll start by teaching English abroad, or maybe you'll come back, work at your old job (or another one) and go to school at night to become a teacher. Teachers are always needed, but to be really invaluable, become a special ed. teacher. I used to teach 3rd grade, and then one year it seemed like I had a classroom full of special needs students (even though it was a regular ed. class) and at first I was very frustrated, but then I realized I really liked working with these kids, quirks and all. So I've spent 4 of my 13 years teaching special ed. students and love it. And, of course, most school districts have summers off, which gives you a chance to travel. Living in California with all of the budget cuts, I haven't been laid off because there is always a need for special ed. teachers!

I know you posted your message back in July and you are in Europe now, but I just want to tell you a few things. DO QUIT YOUR JOB and KEEP DREAMING. !!! I am older than you, but for a few years now I'm working on an idea to be able to quit my current job and travel. Well, I am lucky because I can travel for a while, I get a month vacationw where I work now, but I need more than that to travel. But at the same time you will need a source of money. I guess you got some money, but if you want to travel in the feature you will need money again. I met a guy from India about a month ago.He has been traveling around the world for about 2 years now. He worked for 8-9 years in Sillicon Valley, saved money and now travel.I met him in the US while he was traveling across US. This is something I would love to do. Sell most of my stuff and travel. Good luck!!!

Have you ever considered doing a round the world trip? I have been following lots of peoples blogs lately detailing how they prepared and following them on their adventures. Many of them are in the same boat as you. Go farther than Europe! You can live incredibly cheap and well in South Eastern Asia and it is perfectly safe for a single woman to travel there. Lonely Planet Thorntree forum has an excellent thread on gap year/RTW travel.

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