1973 was a pivotal year for Rick Steves. He graduated from Edmonds High School (now Edmonds-Woodway) in 1973, and it immediately set off the adventure that would define his life. On June 20, 1973, the day after his high school graduation, he packed the biggest backpack he could find with what he later admitted was needless stuff, and flew to Europe for his first trip without any parents. He would later call it, in retrospect, the best European trip of his life.
On a $3/day budget, the future PBS fixture traversed Europe through the gutter. He remembers most vividly “the fear and thrill of being over there with no safety net,” nobody even knew where he was.
“Here I am, heading off to Europe the day after high school graduation in 1973 — with a budget of $3 a day, a ten-week Eurail pass in my pocket, and the biggest backpack I could find, jam-packed. I came home with no money, a malnourished body, and an enduring love of Europe.”
Since that 1973 trip, he has spent roughly 120 days a year in Europe, about a third of his adult life living out of a suitcase. That first solo journey essentially launched everything: the guidebooks, the PBS series, the tour company, and his lifelong philosophy of immersive, budget-conscious travel.
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