A Journey of Discovery: A Guest Post by Rick Steves
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. Read on for an exclusive essay from Rick on writing On the Hippie Trail.
Hardcover
$27.00
$30.00
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
In Stock Online
Hardcover
$27.00
$30.00
Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.
Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.
I typically spend about three months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning my company’s tour program, filming my public television show, and making new discoveries for travelers. But during the pandemic, all that came to a standstill—and while I was stuck at home, I stumbled across a 60,000-word journal I wrote in 1978, when I took a life-changing trip on the fabled “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu.
I was a piano teacher back then, newly graduated from the University of Washington with a history degree, and traveling whenever I could. But Europe is the wading pool for world exploration, and I was aching to dive into the deep end. With my best friend Gene, I planned a trip: starting in Istanbul, traversing the arid expanses of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan, and then crossing the Khyber Pass into Pakistan, ultimately arriving at our goal: India and Nepal, including the ultimate mecca of freakdom, Kathmandu.
I didn’t have a guidebook, and in a way, it was like going to the dark side of the moon. It was a journey of discovery, to question our Western values and help us better understand the world. We were free and earnest, but the trip helped us build empathy for other cultures—and humility after seeing what a small speck we are in the world.
Rereading the journal more than 40 years later felt like an anthropological dig into my own past as I entered the world of 23-year-old me and relived my coming-of-age trip. I was transported back into the humid, buggy reality of India, taking snapshots on my camera, bargaining with merchants, and zig-zagging through crowded city streets on bicycle rickshaws.
After I flew home from that trip, I dove into adulthood and made a decision that changed the trajectory of my life: I let my piano students go, turned my recital hall into a lecture hall, and began a small travel business.
My 1978 journal is now the text of my newest book, On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer. And while the Hippie Trail experience is now gone, the same world and 23-year-olds are still out there— and I believe that if more people could have such a transformative experience, especially in their youth, our world would be a more just and stable place. Young or old, rich or poor, backpack or rolling suitcase, the best way to know the world is to experience it firsthand.
