1. Steves has a public radio travel show called Travel with Rick Steves and has authored numerous travel guides, the first of which was the popular Europe Through the Back Door.
34 Facts About Rick Steves
1. 2.
Rick Steves's mother was born to Norwegian immigrants Harold and Erna Fremmerlid.
3.
When Rick Steves was 14, along with his parents, he took a trip to Europe to see piano manufacturers and their factories.
4.
Rick Steves documented what he saw and experienced while in Europe on the backs of postcards which he numbered sequentially.
5.
Rick Steves still has the cards stored in a wooden box.
6.
Rick Steves kept journals of all of those experiences, as well.
7.
Rick Steves attended the University of Washington, majoring in European history and business administration, graduating in 1978.
8.
Rick Steves self-published the first edition of his travel skills book ETBD in 1980.
9.
Rick Steves held travel classes and slide show presentations, did travel consulting, organized a few group tours per year, and updated his books.
10.
Rick Steves did not provide ticket booking or other standard travel agency services.
11.
Rick Steves incorporated his business as "Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door".
12.
Steves's first television show, Travels in Europe with Rick Steves, debuted on public television in April 1991 and ended production in 1998.
13.
Rick Steves's second show, Rick Steves' Europe, debuted in September 2000, and has aired episodes through 2023, though because he does not produce a season every year, this accounts for 11 seasons.
14.
Rick Steves maintains hands-on control of all areas of his business.
15.
Since self-publishing his first book in 1980, Rick Steves has written country guidebooks, city and regional guides, phrasebooks, and co-authored Europe 101: History and Art for Travelers.
16.
Rick Steves's books are published by Avalon Travel Publishing, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
17.
In 2009, Rick Steves published the book Travel as a Political Act, a guide on traveling more thoughtfully.
18.
In 2006, Rick Steves became a syndicated newspaper columnist with his Tribune Content Agency column.
19.
Politically, Rick Steves has identified himself as a member of the Democratic Party, and publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden's presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, respectively.
20.
Rick Steves endorsed Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 presidential election.
21.
Rick Steves serves on the Advisory Board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, becoming its chairman of the board of directors in 2021.
22.
Rick Steves was a major supporter of Initiative 502 to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis in the state of Washington.
23.
Rick Steves hosted an ACLU-sponsored educational program called Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation, which was nominated for an Emmy.
24.
In 2017, Rick Steves donated that $4 million apartment complex for homeless women and kids to the YWCA.
25.
Rick Steves donates royalties from one of his books to the group Bread for the World, a movement to end hunger.
26.
On January 20,2017, the date of Donald Trump's inauguration, Rick Steves matched the sum total of every purchase made on his website that day and donated it to the American Civil Liberties Union.
27.
Rick Steves is an active Lutheran, and has written and hosted educational videos on subjects such as Martin Luther and the European Reformation.
28.
Rick Steves spends about a third of every year in Europe researching guidebooks and filming TV shows.
29.
Rick Steves's home is still in Edmonds, Washington, where he has lived since 1967.
30.
Rick Steves was married to Anne Rick Steves until they divorced in 2010.
31.
Rick Steves began dating Reverend Shelley Bryan Wee, Bishop of the Northwest Washington Synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in December 2019.
32.
Rick Steves has been awarded silver and gold Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation for his audio, video, and book content.
33.
The Rick Steves Service Above Self award is given annually by the Edmonds Rotary Club to an employee working in the Edmonds city limits who "is an exemplary citizen, making valuable contributions to their work, home, and community".
34.
The idea for the award came first, and the Club agreed that it should be named for Rick Steves, citing his commitment to keep his employees paid and working during COVID by having them perform volunteer work for the community, as well as other beneficial actions for the town.