Exploring Uncharted Territory with Rick Steves

Exploring Uncharted Territory with Rick Steves

From Traveling with AAA by Auto Club Enterprises

April 30, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

Rick Steves discusses his early travels and insights on modern travel in this episode.

Before the guidebooks, the PBS show, and 60 published titles, there was a 23-year-old piano teacher with a hard-bound journal, a Pentax camera, and a one-way ticket to Istanbul. In 1978, Rick Steves traveled the old overland route from Istanbul to Kathmandu. The notes and photos he brought home became the seed of a career spent showing Americans a smarter way to see the world. In this episode, host Angie Orth sits down with legendary travel writer and TV host Rick Steves to discuss his newest book, On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer. Rick shares the stories and lessons from that trip, and what they still have to offer travelers today. You'll hear Rick's take on the difference between a tourist, a traveler, and a pilgrim; why culture shock is something to seek out rather than avoid; and how the world has changed since the days of money belts and bus tickets from bucket shops. He'll also point you toward the destinations where that original spirit of adventure is still very much intact. What You’ll Learn: 1:24 Rick's life before the guidebooks, and the trip that set everything in motion 7:26 Tourist, traveler, or pilgrim: how to raise the…

People in this episode

Host: Angie Orth

Guest: Rick Steves

Topics covered

  • travel writing
  • cultural exploration
  • Istanbul
  • adventure travel
  • travel lessons

Keywords

  • Rick Steves
  • travel writer
  • Istanbul
  • Hippie Trail
  • cultural shock
  • adventure

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu

Places: Istanbul, Kathmandu

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