Rick in Europe 1973

Original Edition 1980

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first edition of Rick Steves’ budget travel bible, Europe Through the Backdoor. Based on his early backpacking trips through Europe during the 1970s, Rick wrote the first version in 1980 on a rented IBM Selectric and cajoled his roommate into doing the book’s simple illustrations in ballpoint pen. Today, ETBD has become mainstream and has grown to more than 800 pages in the 28th edition. And it has more than fifty companion titles that are perennial bestsellers.

When Rick first wrote ETBD, his “backdoor” style of low budget travel was seen as youthful counter- culture stuff and anathema to the travel industry establishment. Now Rick’s independent, frugal travel style is mainstream and Rick is a beloved American media icon. But Rick still measures each trip by his first European adventure in 1973, when he spent all of $111 on food and $114 on accommodations over a seventy day visit.

I first met Rick twenty years ago in the little Italian village of Varenna. I was on vacation and Rick was diligently updating his Italy guidebook and making sure that standards hadn’t slipped at his recommended hotels and restaurants. We spent the morning hanging-out at a lakeside café sharing travel tips, road stories and espressos. At that time I was still writing my travel guide series and publishing the old-fashioned paper newsletter The European Traveler. Rick graciously plugged the publication in his next newsletter.

Over the years, the hipper-than-thou crowd has often parodied Rick’s PBS shows and his ingenuous style. But Rick is the real deal, who has opened the minds of millions of Americans and encouraged them to get out of their comforts zone and get out and meet the world. So, thanks Rick, and Happy Anniversary.