I need to vent

[LHR02]

Like many of you I know, I have been a 'fan' of Rick Steves for many years. While Lonely Planet remains my travel bible I have nearly every one of Steves European guides and use them regularly. I have admired both his travel style and philosophy and enjoy his books and TV productions. I have likewise been a subscriber to his newsletter for several years and up until today have found so much useful info in them and anticipated the next one's arrival in my mailbox.

Today his latest 'newsletter (and I use that term in the very loosest sense) arrived. I spent a good 20 minutes or more reading every single article, every letter, every word....to be sure I was not making a mistake, what he sent was indeed what it seemed. I then spent several minutes composing a reply to him.

I am still angry as hell. As I said in my note to him, I don't recall asking for his political opinion. I subscribe to his mailings for travel news/views/info. Much as I do not come here to debate politics....this is a travel site and I go elsewhere for my political fixes...neither do I want Mr. Steves to lecture to me about HIS views on the current race. How presumptious, how biased, how out of line!

I am just steaming over this. A cheap political stunt, delivered with days to go in hopes of influencing his readers. I am certain he has a huge mailing list and a built in readership. This reader however saw red.

Again, as I said in my reply, will I never look at his books, watch another of his shows? Of course I will. Have I lost all respect for him....assuredly. Travel info Rick...that's your job. Stay the hell out of my mailbox with your personal political views. They are unwanted and unprofessional.

Ooohhh! I am so damn angry over this! It is not the fact that he chose to 'share' his political leanings...he has every right. But the mailings should clearly identify them as such...personal political opinions. To send this drivel out in the aegis of his monthly 'travel newsletter' is what has me so damn incensed!

ging

[WillTravel]

Yes, he could have said - if you're interested in my political views, please subscribe to my political newsletter.

A somewhat-related story: on my son's first day of university a few weeks ago, he was offered some free lemonade as he walked through the square. He asked again if it was free, and they said it was. The university had just had a session where they offered students free pizza, so this didn't seem ridiculous. But as soon as he took the lemonade, they started on their religious pitch.

Anyway, I do understand how you feel about this, and it has nothing to do with who is the right candidate or not to win.

[me]

dustoffmom said:

This reader however saw red.

or blue, as the case may be. ;D

actually, Ging, i've long been offended by RS assuming that ALL with an interest in the world are Dem's. whereas, i've met folks from across the spectrum who enjoy learning, in general, as well as about the rest of the world, specifically.

had you not pick up on RS's arrogance in the past? i sure have! when his political agenda first became apparent to me, it made me question the rest of his opinions. but, i realized i should just use his info, and ignore his political crap.

it falls into the egotistical idea "hey, if this is the way i believe, anyone who thinks must feel the same way" which is so common among Dem's. it makes some Dem's feel better to denigrate Republicans as mindless dittoheads.

[Libby]

""it falls into the egotistical idea "hey, if this is the way i believe, anyone who thinks must feel the same way" which is so common among Dem's. it makes Dem's feel better to denigrate Republicans as mindless dittoheads.
""

I know where you are coming from, but how about saying it makes "some" Dem's feel better?

Sweeping generalizations are no good no matter what your political leanings are.

[me]

Touché

[LHR02]

Actually David, RS political 'leanings' have been all too apparant for years. That's no problem, wouldn't take anyone meeting me for the first few times to quickly figure out mine. He's entitled to his left leaning ways and as long as he kept them in check I just overlooked them. It was this blatant assault that drove me right over the edge.....the ENTIRE newsletter was one dem article after another, one Bush bash after another in a long line. That's what I objected to. Hell, he lives and works in Oregon.....could there be any doubt? (Sorry Libby for yet another generalization! ;D

[WillTravel]

dustoffmom said:

Hell, he lives and works in Oregon.....could there be any doubt? (Sorry Libby for yet another generalization! ;D

Actually in Edmonds, Washington - a half-hour or so away from Seattle. His TV shows are through Oregon PBS, though. But anyways, his views are typical for Seattle - not really a generalization, just a known political reality .

[Eagle]

I haven't received my copy of the latest Rick Steves Travel News yet, however I had a look at the web version to get some idea what all the fuss was about. Based on my somewhat fast perusal of this, I hope you don't mind a slightly different opinion.

First of all, to clarify one point -- Rick's offices are located in Edmonds, Washington which is one of the "suburbs" slightly north west of Seattle (nice location, right on the ocean).

My first exposure to Rick's unique philosophy occurred a few years ago when I attended an all-day travel festival (which he usually holds twice yearly). I had assumed there would be a subtle sales pitch during the lectures for his tours, Guidebooks and travel gear (which there was), but I knew this "up front". My intent was to get as much knowledge and information about travelling in Europe as possible, and ignore the rest. I learned a lot that day, and enjoyed the opportunity to "network" with other travellers and the "travel experts" from Rick's staff.

However, I hadn't anticipated the "social commentary" at the end of his two-hour travel skills lecture. I was a bit surprised by this at first, but thought about this a bit further over lunch and came to the conclusion that it was refreshing to hear his point-of-view on this. He "went out on a limb" to some extent, possibly with the knowledge that he would offend some of his present or future customers. I spoke with some of the other attendees about this, and some were definitely "squirming" and a bit uncomfortable about this, but others didn't seem to mind the comments. One thing that most of us agreed on, was that he's a very entertaining speaker!

I suspect his attitude and philosophy have evolved as a result of his 30+ years of travel, and the different cultures and peoples he's been exposed to (some of whom are probably close friends now). In a way, I perceive this sort of thing as being somewhat related to travel. He seems to be encouraging his readers to give some thought to the differences between those in the affluent western cultures (not just the U.S.?), and those of other cultures and economic circumstances. Perhaps "pre-conditioning" them for the differences in attitude and cultures they will likely encounter in their travels? For those who have never travelled, this is often quite a culture shock, so giving some thought to this prior to departure is probably a good idea.

I have no idea whether the timing of the prolific "political content" in this particular Travel News was intentional in light of the U.S. election, or whether this was partially by coincidence? I've never heard any indication in either the lectures or the TV shows of which party (if any) R.S. belongs to, but I suspect it would a safe guess to place bets on this. I don't know enough about U.S. politics to comment on this with any degree of knowledge, so won't offer any opinons (as a Canadian, my opinions probably wouldn't be welcome anyway?).

On a somewhat related topic, I don't know for sure but suspect R.S. has some connection to the "Bread For The World" organization that often advertises just prior to Travels in Europe. If so, I'm impressed that he's doing something tangible to help those less fortunate.

I should stress and emphasize that I'm not defending the political / social commentary in the latest R.S. travel newsletter. I always enjoy receiving the newsletters, and usually read them from cover-to-cover several times. As with the "sales pitch" at the travel festivals, I try to absorb the information that is most useful to me, and ignore the rest. In many ways I enjoy the social commentary, as the ideas are somewhat thought provoking and sometimes prompt me to consider things I haven't previously thought of. Perhaps my ideas concerning this latest content will be slightly different when I've had a chance to read the newsletter thorougly, and give this some serious thought? None of the commentary upsets me in the least, nor does it affect my view towards R.S.

Anyway, I hope you don't mind a slightly different point-of-view on this.

Happy travels!!!

[WillTravel]

Eagle said:

I have no idea whether the timing of the prolific "political content" in this particular Travel News was intentional in light of the U.S. election, or whether this was partially by coincidence?

I don't think it's a coincidence. You can read his special Election Newsletter on his home page, and I think it's pretty clear that he timed it for right now.

I think RS has, in a mostly good way, a lot of nerve, brashness, and willingness to just plunge in. This is what made him successful as a businessman. On the negative side, these traits can seem a little much under some circumstances.

[LHR02]

The expected generic reply I recieved:

Hello,

We appreciate hearing from you.

I have forwarded your message to Rick and I am sure he will read it with interest. He is receptive to constructive feedback, especially from fellow travelers.

We hope you are able to enjoy exploring the cultures of the world and have some wonderful adventures in your future.

Happy Travels,

ETBD Travel Team and Ann

[jennifer]

How would you have guessed you'd get such a reply!

It will take years to actually get a real reply, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyways i'm sure you're not the only one who wrote to him!

I find it bad when two themes collide! Look, we sometimes talk a little politics here, but it's in the Living Room posts, not while we're giving advice on an itinerary!

AHHHHH Where is the world headed!

xoxo
Jen