Review: Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves

The more you travel, the more you appreciate how much we have in common with the rest of the world.  While superficially our differences might seem great, when you look beneath the surface, what most people want is to enjoy the love of family and friends,  and to feel that their presence in this life has made a difference.  In between those two ends, it’s about getting through day to day in a way that gives life meaning.

Learning about people and cultures that are not like our own, often helps us find a new world view – one in which we find an interconnectedness with others rather than a separateness.  When that happens, travel is more about experiences and memories, than about great hotels and restaurants.  Not that those latter things aren’t important, but when we travel with a larger picture in mind, things sort into sense a little differently.

Travel as a Political Act, by Seattle-area travel writer and producer Rick Steves, is totally different from anything else that you may have read by him.  This isn’t a guide book, and you won’t find hotel or restaurant information.  What this book contains is a series of field reports from around the world, and how his experiences with the people in various parts of the world have shaped his political views and perspective.

Steves made his start with Europe Through the Back Door, both as a guidebook and classes, encouraging his readers to travel close to the ground and spend less money by doing what locals do.  While that is still good advice, those first readers are now Baby Boomers with a bit more time and money, and are now demanding travel with a slightly different focus.  Those Boomer travelers will enjoy this book, as it forces the reader to look at world events through different eyes, and not just through our US-centric lens.

Having recently returned from Croatia, I enjoyed the segment about the impact of war in Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  After being there, seeing areas that had been bombed out, and getting to know residents, that part of the world has come alive for me.  No longer will it remain a mere spot on a map or inches of news reporting.

But I was unclear about how we can really empower ourselves in making travel a political act.  Is it a mind thing, where it’s about expanding our personal viewpoint?  Is it talking with people and sharing out experiences?  Is it about visiting places that are less touristy?  Is it about disdaining creature comforts and traveling to third world countries?  Is it about voting our expanded consciousness, and supporting leaders and political causes that are in line with our new world view?

I can’t answer those questions.  The title of this book really seems to implore a call to action, but I was sadly left without one.

I enjoyed the book, the stories, the people, and a chance to look at things differently.  Maybe that needs to be enough for now.

You can find Travel as a Political Act at your local book store or through Amazon.com ($11.53).

Photo credit: Amazon