Travel as a Political Act

by Rick Steves

Overview

Change the world one trip at a time. In this fully revised collection of stories and lessons from the road, the New York Times-bestselling author and travel writer Rick Steves shares a powerful message that resonates now more than ever.

With the world facing divisive and often frightening events, from climate change, to rising nativism and populism, there's never been a more important time to travel.

Rick believes the risks of travel are widely exaggerated, and that fear is for people who don't get out much. After years of living out of a suitcase, he still marvels at how different cultures find different truths to be self-evident, how the people he meets wallop his ethnocentricity, and how we can learn more about our own country by viewing it from afar.

With gripping stories from Europe, Central America, Asia, and the Middle East, including a new chapter based on Rick's travels in Ethiopia and Guatemala, Travel as a Political Act is an antidote to the current climate of xenophobia. When we travel thoughtfully, we bring back the most beautiful souvenir of all: a broader perspective on the world that we all call home.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631217630
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	02/06/2018
Series:	Rick Steves' Travel Guides Series
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about 100 days a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves’ Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy, daughter Jackie, grandsons Atlas and Dashel, and favorite travel partner Shelley. Find out more about Rick at RickSteves.com and on Facebook.

Connect with Rick:
facebook.com/RickSteves
Twitter: @RickSteves
Instagram: ricksteveseurope

Table of Contents

Introduction iv

1 How to Travel as a Political Act 1

2 Lessons from the Former Yugoslavia: War and Peace in Modern Times 29

3 Europe Unites: Successes and Struggles 53

4 Resurrection in El Salvador 99

5 Denmark: Highly Taxed and Highly Content 127

6 Turkey and Morocco: Sampling Secular Islam 145

7 Europe: Not "Hard on Drugs" or "Soft on Drugs," but Smart on Drugs 169

8 Mission: Understand Iran 189

9 The Holy Land: Israelis and Palestinians Today 223

10 Homecoming 273

Editorial Reviews

Travel writer and television host Steves (you can catch him on PBS and also on radio) departs from the usual where-to-go and what-to-see of travel books and here concentrates on why people, especially Americans, should travel. Drawing on his years of experience as traveler and tour guide, Steves provides many examples of how travel can broaden one's mind, whether challenging or confirming preset ideas. For example, visiting Morocco and Turkey can show how a Muslim country can be vibrant and hospitable. Even in familiar Europe, American travelers can learn that issues such as sex and drugs are treated much more pragmatically than they are Stateside. In Central America, the traveler can see firsthand the results of the Monroe Doctrine and globalization. VERDICT As a nation, Americans don't much travel abroad, and Steves challenges them, arguing for the importance of seeing things for oneself. The corollary is that citizens of other countries (such as Iran) then get to meet face-to-face with Americans, a counterbalance to the rhetoric of our leaders. The author only mildly injects his own opinions into the larger argument, and then more as an example than a prescription. Excellent for those who read deeply in travel or are considering an international trip.—Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green

—Dan Forrest

Library Journal

This edition of a previously published work by veteran travel enthusiast and guidebook author Rick Steves has been updated to reflect current events weighing heavily upon the global political landscape. Steves’s pleasant, down-to-earth delivery will be familiar to listeners who have watched his travel shows on PBS. He argues for travel’s importance in building relationships with people in places that are demonized or misrepresented by our media, and overcoming fears fostered by these media messages. Steves says that getting off the beaten track and talking to people in widely varying locales can inform how we conduct our own lives and politics at home. While certainly skewing toward Steves’s own political beliefs, the message remains valuable and timely in today’s contentious political climate. S.E.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile