On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer
Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.

In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.

This book contains edited selections from Rick's journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey changed his life. Stow away with Rick Steves on the adventure of a lifetime through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.
1145948726
On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer
Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.

In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.

This book contains edited selections from Rick's journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey changed his life. Stow away with Rick Steves on the adventure of a lifetime through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.
18.04 In Stock
On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer

by Rick Steves

Narrated by Rick Steves

Unabridged — 4 hours, 16 minutes

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer

by Rick Steves

Narrated by Rick Steves

Unabridged — 4 hours, 16 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$18.04
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

$18.99 Save 5% Current price is $18.04, Original price is $18.99. You Save 5%.
START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $18.04 $18.99

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

If you've ever trusted the work of Rick Steves to guide you in unfamiliar cities and countries, then saddle up alongside him for his first journey. This is the origin story of travel writing superhero.

Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.

In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.

This book contains edited selections from Rick's journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey changed his life. Stow away with Rick Steves on the adventure of a lifetime through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"[On the Hippie Trail] is an inspiring read, full of the joy of adventure and discovery."—Lulu Garcia-Navarro, The New York Times

"The travel guru with an empire that includes loads of bestselling guide books and a small-group tour company was once a scruffy young man with a thirst for adventure, no money and no clue what he was doing when he set off in 1978 with a friend to complete the legendary Hippie Trail, a trek through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. This is his journal from that heady, rough trip — full of mishaps and excitement."—AARP

“Known for decades for amiable PBS travelogues, Steves shows that the young longhair is the father of the man: All of his evenhandedness, generosity, and curiosity are in evidence from the minute he jumps his first train from Frankfurt to Yugoslavia… A pleasure for travel buffs, especially those who once plied the Hippie Trail—or wish they had.”

Kirkus Reviews

“If On the Hippie Trail has a lesson, it’s as simple as this: Rick Steves had the time of his life… The guy can really write… Perhaps On the Hippie Trail will prove to more readers that Steves has always possessed that talent for observation and description, even when he was writing only for himself.”—Slate

Library Journal

01/01/2025

Popular and prolific travel guide author Steves resurrects his travel journal from 1978, when he and his friend Gene Openshaw decide to backpack along an overland trek called the Hippie Trail that became a well-worn route during the 1960s. It traces the Silk Road from Europe to Istanbul, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal and ends in Kathmandu. Steves's journal is condensed and finessed. The author was 23 at the time of writing and displays some of the cultural insensitivity of his age. He writes, for example, about a time he photographed a cremation ritual in India, which upset local people. Readers may see some of Steves's assumptions throughout the book as examples of white male entitlement, whereas others may admire his candor. A highlight of the book is his raw, sensory impressions. VERDICT Steves's journal offers a window into time, before travel through the greater Middle East became vastly more complicated. Recommended for Steves's fans and armchair travelers.—Barrie Olmstead

JANUARY 2025 - AudioFile

In 1978, Rick Steves left his job teaching piano lessons to set out on the legendary Hippie Trail. Starting in Europe, Steves and his friend Gene left the "wading pool of European travel" (as he puts it) to visit old friends in Bulgaria and then embark on an epic journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu. Steves's trademark enthusiasm and joie de vivre are on full display as he recounts his 23-year-old self's awe at seeing Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. Steves notes that shortly after this trip, and to the present day, several of these countries became regarded as unsafe for travel due to political upheaval. Nevertheless, he advocates continuing to travel where possible to quash ethnocentrism and make friends. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940191987651
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication date: 02/04/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
Sales rank: 312,307
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews