EU to honor travel guru Steves for opening doors

First it was about traveling on a shoestring. In the 1980s, early in Rick Steves’ career, he shared tips for seeing Europe on a budget.

In the ’90s, his focus evolved into helping travelers appreciate European history, art and culture.

And now?

“In the last decade, I’ve been teaching people to broaden their perspectives, to gain empathy for other people,” Steves said Thursday. “I want to help Americans understand we’re all in this together.”

Now, the 58-year-old Edmonds resident is about to be the first recipient of the European Union’s Outstanding Friend of Europe Award.

He is scheduled to accept the award from Joao Vale de Almeida, the European Union’s ambassador to the United States, at a public event Monday night at the University of Washington.

Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door, his Edmonds-based business, is now a travel empire. With his engaging manner as a foundation, the business includes tours, books, TV productions and more. He has as much zeal for discovery as he did in the 1970s when he started with a UW Experimental College course and a self-published book.

“We want to reward people who are not politicians, who are active in the civil society in Europe,” Vale de Almeida said by phone Friday.

A native of Portugal, Vale de Almeida first met Steves when the American visited the ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. He describes Steves as “very funny,” and said he was struck by how Steves goes “beyond the traditional concept of tourism.”

“I was very impressed by him, the emotional relationship he has with Europe,” Vale de Almeida said. “I have seen him on TV many times. He is very genuine in his understanding and tolerance.”

The ambassador will tour Seattle this week before traveling to Hawaii. He has been in Washington, D.C., three years, but this is his first visit to the Northwest. He will visit several companies while here, Amazon and Starbucks among them.

The 28-nation European Union has created a single market, promoting free trade and common policies among its members. Negotiations are pending between the EU and the United States on a possible free-trade deal.

Steves spoke by phone from Atlanta on Thursday before flying back to Seattle. He had been on a tour of American cities for more than a week. “It’s fun to get out and see the impact our teaching has had, everywhere I go,” said Steves, who has no idea how many people have used him as their guide to Europe. “For 30 years my passion has been teaching people to learn from my mistakes.”

Although the 21st century has been described as the Pacific century, with an economic emphasis on Asia, Steves sticks with what he knows best.

“Europe, from my point of view, we’re sort of sister societies,” he said. Many Americans share ancestry with Europeans, along with faith, traditions, democracy and capitalism. “That’s our heritage. We learn from each other and celebrate our partnership. That’s my passion, and what the European Union is recognizing,” he said.

“I focus on Europe not because it’s the future, but because it’s our past,” he said, noting that 2017 will be the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Steves’ attention is back on travel after his 2012 push for the passage of Initiative 502, which made possession of less than an ounce of marijuana legal in Washington. He joked that while he doesn’t know what the EU award will look like, as a winner of the High Times “Cannabis Cup” he was given “a cheap little plastic thing.”

The marijuana victory, though, is no joke to Steves. He is proud of Washington voters. Although he said “we all believe marijuana is a drug that can be abused,” Steves will be glad to see the curbing of what he called “pot prohibition profiteers,” those who make fortunes on illegal marijuana.

“The people in our state who spearheaded this law were mainstream, unscary people. We really care about our community,” said Steves, who believes pot use will not increase with legalizaton.

Steves has a message meant to push travelers outside their comfort zones.

“Especially in an age when a lot of people are pushing fear, the worst thing is to stay home. Building bridges is much more constructive,” he said. “If you have a good European trip, you will want to explore more of the world. To me, Europe is the wading pool for world exploration.”

His topic at Monday’s event, at 7 p.m. in Kane Hall on the UW campus, is “Travel as a Political Act.”

“I’m challenging Americans to take the opportunity, if they are going traveling, to go to Managua as well as Mazatlan. If you go to Mazatlan, you’ll have a wonderful time — and protect yourself from the world,” he said. “If you went to Managua, you would have empathy for the half of humanity trying to live on $2 a day. You would come home literally changed.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

See Rick Steves

Rick Steves will be presented the European Union’s Outstanding Friend of Europe Award by Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s Ambassador to the United States, at an event 7-9 p.m. Monday in Kane Hall 130 on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Steves will talk about “Travel as a Political Act.” Event free, but register at www.ricksteves.com/eu.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.