Alright so just who is this Rick Steves geezer and how come I've never heard of him?
Aug 24th, 2004, 06:19 AM
#181
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One of Rick Steves' crew members went on the Paris Walks Montmartre tour that we took. He was very nice, and people asked him about Rick Steves. He said, "What you see is what you get." He said he's very down to earth and just as he appears on his videos.
Sandy
Sandy
Aug 27th, 2004, 02:05 PM
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I am an American who is also well-travelled and well-educated (I have a Ph.D in English as well as a law degree), and I make enough money not to have to travel on a shoestring budget. Still, I use and appreciate Rick Steves' guides, not as my exclusive source of information, but as a valuable resource. His are more useful than most travel guides in that they give you subjective evaluations of available options and allow you to prioritize. I have always found his comments about attractions right on point, and his descriptions of available accomodations (which include higher, as well as lower, end choices, and usually emphasize old world charm) very accurate. I have found some great hotel choices through his guides (which I always compare to what other guides have to say). Where I think his guide books need supplementation, which is not difficult to do, is in terms of restaurant choices. His own tastes in food seem to be more influenced by quantity than mine (I'm willing to pay for high quality); although he always identifies some very good restaurants. I have relied on Rick Steves' guides and webpage (in conjunction with other guides) for my travel in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Gibralter, Morroco, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and South America. I wish he had a guide for Greece and Turkey, where I'm heading next.
Aug 27th, 2004, 02:22 PM
#186
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Whether or not you like someone's "style" is, of course, a personal matter. The fact that he is "popular"-- well there is no accounting for tastes, whether it is in movies, literature, political candidates or travel clothing. But I do wonder if some of the strong reactions against Steves has to do with the fact that we spend our time writing posts on Fodors, paying for our own vacations, while Rick Steves has managed to turn his hobby into a small but very profitable business and that he obviously has a really really fun job? Is there some resentment about the fact that he carved out this market and we didn't?
(I'll answer for myself: yes! I know more than Rick and I should have my own travel empire! I missed my chance! The real difference is that he decided to go for it and we didn't! He shows us how very easy it would have been to succeed...there is a lesson there, and it is not only about travel and guidebooks.)
(I'll answer for myself: yes! I know more than Rick and I should have my own travel empire! I missed my chance! The real difference is that he decided to go for it and we didn't! He shows us how very easy it would have been to succeed...there is a lesson there, and it is not only about travel and guidebooks.)
