In this episode, Craig and Olivia sit down with legendary travel writer and TV host Rick Steves to celebrate the 50th episode of the Libro.fm Podcast.
Rick shares insights from his newest book, On the Hippie Trail, a travel memoir drawn from journals he kept as a 23-year-old backpacking from Istanbul to India in the late 1970s. They discuss the importance of journaling and how travel shaped Rick’s lifelong commitment to teaching, storytelling, and political awareness. He also talks about his other book, Travel as a Political Act, and how travel can challenge ethnocentrism, spark empathy, and inspire deeper civic engagement.
Listen to the full episode
There’s a lot of reasons to travel as a political act…You can travel as a tourist, as a traveler and as a pilgrim. In other words, the road can be playground, the road can be school, or the road can be church or mosque or synagogue. And I don’t think anybody wants to do completely all of one or the other, but it’s nice to design it the way you want to and give yourself a chance to raise the bar.
—Rick Steves on the Libro.fm Podcast
Use the promo code SWITCH when signing up for a new Libro.fm membership to get two additional credits to use on any audiobooks—meaning you’ll have three from the start.
About our guest
Rick Steves, America’s most respected authority on European travel, empowers Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves’ Europe, headquartered in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. There he produces a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves’ Europe also runs a successful small-group tour program taking 30,000 travelers to Europe annually.
Get Rick’s Books
On the Hippie Trail
By Rick Steves • Narrated by Rick Steves
For the Love of Europe
By Rick Steves • Narrated by Rick Steves
Travel as a Political Act
By Rick Steves • Narrated by Rick Steves
Audiobooks discussed on today’s episode
Headshot
By Rita Bullwinkel • Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
By V. E. Schwab • Narrated by Julia Whelan, Katie Leung & Marisa Calin
When Javi Dumped Mari
By Mia Sosa • Narrated by Gisela Chipe & Andre Santana