During my younger years, Rick Steves PBS program inspired my desire to travel. I'm still a fan, and would say I identify with him more than the others. Yet, a dash of Samantha Brown here and there is a welcome treat.

Love to watch all the travel shows mentioned including Burt Wolf.
http://www.burttravels.com/ We used to use Rick's books to travel but now we follow the info on Rick, Foders, Frommers and tripadvisor and make our own decisions. I didn't like standing on a Paris streetcorner reading Rick Steves book with other people reading the same book. :)

Out of the four, probably most like Rick Steves.

Paul

<i>I didn't like standing on a Paris streetcorner reading Rick Steves book with other people reading the same book. </i>

Good point, but if it weren't for one of Rick's books, I wouldn't have known that you could take a lift up and walk from one town to another in the Alps! I also wouldn't have known how to do a super-short visit to the Sistine Chapel (long story). He really has some excellent suggestions, even if hotels aren't among them!

dmlove You are right about Rick he gives some good info that has helped us many times. But I don't go by his hotels or b&amp;b selections anymore. Some of his info is outdated by the time it comes into print. He has helped more Americans travel in Europe independently than any other person.

I wish to sleep like Samantha Brown, see as much of Europe as Rick Steves, be as confident as Anthony Bourdain, and have nothing to do with Andrew Zimmerman.

Aw, thanks to LJ for mentioning Ian Wright. I also like the response about who you'd like to travel WITH. Bourdain is irreverently hunky, but I'd pick Ian Wright any day! (And I think the Geico gecko must have been modeled after him -- this may only make sense to US posters.)

Samantha Brown - not that I could afford 5* hotels - love her series on China. I want to hug a panda even if it costs $250. Have been to China - Beijing, Xian, etc. but now want to return because of the information on the series.

<i>He really has some excellent suggestions, even if hotels aren't among them!</i>

I'm not really a fan of Rick Steves, but I would say his coverage of the major museums is the best of any of the big guidebooks.

<i>I don't understand this fascination with eating weird/different food. How many people go on vacation wanting to eat wood worm (Phlippines) or strange meat?</i>

But you might like it. And weird is such a relative term. Does grilled octopus count? Escargot? Raw (which are actually still alive) Oysters? Objectively, I would think these are pretty odd foods. It is only that they are common in the west that we think them weird.

I don't go that far out of my way to eat obscure foods like wood worm, but if a food is highly regarded in a region, I don't see a reason to not give it a try.

Sometimes Samantha Brown, sometimes Anthony Bourdain, depends on my mood and the destination.

Bourdain, btw, is S*x on a Stick (to me, at least)

macinpy:
If you go to Asia you will be surprised you might just be able to afford 5 star hotels and the service you receive is outstanding!
To get the same in Europe you would have to spend maybe 3 or 4 times that much!

Well I'd only heard of two of the four until some kind poster enlightened.

As I don't travel to eat, (3) is out. As I think spending mega amounts on somewhere to sleep is idiotic (1) is out.

I don't need Rick Steves to tell me where to go, and would probably avoid anywhere he suggested.

In other words - none of the above, but I appreciate the inventiveness of the question.

To be honest I find them all annoying except for Bourdain, but I second the nomination of Ian Wright and the Globe Trekker crew.

More like Steves in terms of the places we stay and eat most of the time. But we tend to stay in one place longer.

Non of above.

BillT - We did stay in 5* hotels for our tour in China about 8 years ago. Accommodations were wonderful! Although part of a prepaid tour we were able to figure the cost of the hotels and they were low by comparison with Europe and the US. China is on our list for a return visit...after we do a few more &quot;must see&quot; and &quot;first time&quot; places.

Ditto bratsandbeer -- Our style is our own, forged from many travel sources, especially this one!

I'm probably like Rick Steves but I'm not a Rick Steves zombie - the people who travel with his book, go exactly where he suggests, stay where he suggests and eat what he suggests.

I do one carry-on only, stay at a variety from hostels to pensions and budget hotels (unlike Samantha), eat local food only (but don't go out of my way to make it wierd like Zimmern) and I like to try the local beer and wine (but don't exist between a hangover and stupor like Bourdain). I also don't spend a lot of time shopping like Samantha Brown. I'd rather spend the time seeing things that are of historic, artistic or architechtural significance.

Probably my travel style is more Steves/Samantha as I go mostly to tame destinations and don't eat bugs.

That said my drinking style is more Bourdain ;-)

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