We hope our pictures inspire others to experience the joy of travel as much as we have and to cherish each moment.
John and I retired about seven years ago. Before retirement, our lives were focused on enjoying our two children as they grew up, completed college, and began careers. In 2007, we were invited to go to Europe with my husband's cousin and his wife. They had traveled many times out of the U.S. and wanted to share that experience with us. She bought a Europe Through the Backdoor guide to help make plans for our trip.
Little did we know how opening that door would impact our lives. We borrowed their ETBD guide to learn how to pack, how to handle money, how to travel by train, and much more. We even loaded our backpacks and walked around to be sure we were strong enough to carry our own loads! Thank you, Rick, for your tried and true travel tips and for your very detailed descriptions.
We bought Eurail passes and spent two weeks exploring. We were more spontaneous than rigid in choosing our stops. My husband and I were like children excited to take in as much as possible. We could hardly nap because we did not want to miss anything. He made beautiful pictures and organized them into slide shows which continue to bring us joy.
After experiencing the wonders of European travel, we were motivated to learn more about world history, religion, art history, and music. As an educator, I came to the realization that my "knowledge" was only "trivia" - names, dates, and places but with no substance. We bought and read books, ordered courses on dvd, and watched every Rick Steves broadcast we could. We found his website and signed up for the newsletters. It wasn't long before we owned the perfect book for us - Rick Steves' Europe 101, History and Art for the Traveler. Rick's timelines were exactly the visual organizer we needed and a perfect reference. History was coming alive to us simply because we had experienced the ultimate field trip - travel.
My husband took the lead in convincing me that we should take a Rick Steves tour. We ordered a brochure and dvd. That's all it took. We began trying to decide which tour would be our first. I was still a little hesitant because of changes in the world. My hesitation was replaced with confidence as I learned more from Rick's perspective about travel.
*Our Earth is home to six and one-half billion equally precious people.
*Thoughtful travel engages us with the world.
*Travel teaches new ways to measure quality of life.
*Rather than fear the diversity on this planet, celebrate it.
*Be fanatically positive.
Our first Rick Steves tour was to the Heart of Italy for 9 days. Everything about it was wonderful. Our guide was professional, very organized, fun, and patient - especially when trying to teach us Italian. The tour was enhanced by the addition of local guides in several cities.
When we decided to join the Paris tour, we read Rick's guide to Paris and made a "must see" list of places not included in the tour. We made arrangements with the hotel to arrive a day early and immediately began exploring.
There are still a few places on our Paris list we were not able to fit in during our busy week. So...we have already signed up for the 2012 My Way Tour - Europe in 14 days which begins...in Paris.
Merci beaucoup, Rick and your wonderful team
Merci beaucoup, Rick and your wonderful team