Rick Steves
As the creative force behind “Rick Steves’ Europe” on PBS, and the best-selling author of more than 30 European travel books, Rick Steves encourages Americans to delve deep into Europe and become “temporary locals” in an effort to connect more intimately and authentically with Europe — and Europeans — for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.
Steves has hosted numerous travel shows for public television, including “Travels in Europe with Rick Steves” and “Rick Steves’ Europe.” Steves also hosts a weekly public radio program, “Travel with Rick Steves,” which focuses on world travel.
Steves has also written country guidebooks, city and regional guides, phrase books, European history guides and travel memoirs, and is a regular on the op-ed page of USA Today.
Steves took his first trip to Europe in 1969 before traveling there on his own. In 1976, he started a business called Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD), which has since grown from a one-man operation to a company with a well-traveled staff of 70 full-time employees.
Steves is outspoken on the need for Americans to fit better into the planet by broadening their perspectives through travel. He is also committed to his own neighborhood, providing his local YWCA with a 24-unit apartment building for homeless mothers, and is an active member of the Lutheran church.
