Travel is the family business for Rick and Andy Steves

Like father, like son.

Renowned travel guru Rick Steves didn’t know it, but while he was exploring Europe and building his travel business, he also was inspiring his son, Andy, to follow in his footsteps.

Father and son now share the same passion: encouraging Americans to venture beyond the U.S. border.

Rick Steves, 63, is best known for his television series “Rick Steves’ Europe,” which airs on PBS. He owns and operates a travel business in Edmonds, hosts a radio show called “Travel with Rick Steves” and has authored numerous travel guidebooks. His European travel column runs Sundays in The Daily Herald.

Andy Steves, 31, studied industrial design and Italian at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In college, he found a niche helping students plan weekend trips while studying abroad. In 2010, he launched his own travel business, WSA Europe, which specializes in weekend student adventures.

The younger Steves also has authored a couple of travel guidebooks, including “Andy Steves’ Europe: City-Hopping on a Budget.”

Here, Rick and Andy Steves talk about summer travel in Europe, including pitfalls to avoid and sights to see.

Why go to Europe?

Rick: Europe is the wading pool for world exploration for Americans. That’s the first place to go. I love it. I’ve loved it since the first edition of my book “Europe Through the Back Door” in 1980.

Is summer a good time to visit Europe?

Andy: Europe is a very popular summer travel destination, so planning ahead is the name of the game. It’s a huge market. Mass tourism is really changing the face of certain cities. That’s not to say you can’t find hidden corners. However, if you’re going through cities like Barcelona, Venice, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, those cities really fill up. What you gain in great weather, and a perfect time to be there, and lots of festivals and events, you’re sacrificing the flexibility of the “fly by the seat of your pants” style of travel.

What’s your No. 1 tip for first-time travelers?

Rick: Assume you will return. Otherwise you try to see everything. You shouldn’t try to see everything — it’s a blessing not to see everything. You have a lifetime of travel ahead of you. Equip yourself with good information and expect yourself to travel smart.

Is there a trick to finding authentic experiences?

Andy: Say “yes.” Europe is your chance to not continue your routine as you do wherever you’re coming from. It’s your chance to do something unusual, do something unique, whether that’s going on hikes in the opposite direction of where everybody else is going, or trying food you’re not necessarily used to. The list goes on. It’s really about bringing that right mentality that can make a huge difference in your travel experience. Your attitude and the way you adapt to unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable experiences is your way to grow and have a better time.

Can talking with locals improve your experience?

Rick: It can make it bad if you talk with the wrong people. My goal is to be a temporary local. The inclination is to talk to other tourists, which is really fun, and you can get to know people from around the world. But if you can actually connect with locals in a bar, in a restaurant or at a museum or park, that’s golden. Andy is really good at that. It’s the whole young way of traveling.

Andy: It shows you a whole different human face to the city. No matter how good the information guidebooks can provide, when you meet somebody who is living there, I love making those interpersonal connections.

How do you get over language barriers?

Andy: There is no easy remedy to that. It takes effort, but I always say it’s worth the effort. Even knowing just the basics: “hello,” “how are you?” “goodbye,” “please.” When you show that you’ve put in the effort to understand the local culture, people and their language, it really opens people up, I find. They recognize that immediately. And there are apps. Google Translate is great.

Rick: I met an old man in Tuscany. His daughter ran an agriturismo bed and breakfast on a farm, and he would hang out and flirt with the older ladies (tourists staying there who don’t speak Italian) with his app.

Andy: You just have to be mindful that phones are a double-edged sword in the sense that they can be a barrier between you and your experience. You have to use it specifically and deliberately as a tool, and know when to put it away.

Where do you go to escape the hubbub of tourism?

Andy: I love southern Spain or the lake district in Italy away from Lake Como or Krakow in Poland. There are going to be thousands of people there for sure, but not quite the flood of others.

Rick: You’re going to go to the famous places, but you can go to the famous places in an off-the-beaten-path kind of way. Andy was just in Venice, frustrated by the cost of hotels. So he realized for the cost of hotel, he could rent a sailboat and sail on the lagoon. That’s an experience.

How can travelers save money?

Andy: You’ve got to watch out for the small, incremental costs that permeate websites now. Opting to fly to the cheaper airport, but then realizing the bus into town costs 40 Euros — which is more than the original ticket. Bring that big-picture approach for just about any transaction that you’re thinking about, whether it’s a tour, flights or lodging.

Rick: So, “big picture” meaning more smartly assess the cost. There are a lot of budget tricks. Also, related to that, your time is money. Our most limited resource is time.

Andy: A lot of students will opt for a 14-hour bus from London to Amsterdam to get there. But it takes 14 hours en route. When you only have a couple of days to experience a city, that’s real value and very expensive, relative to the cost of your trip.

Your childhood experiences traveling abroad with your dad must have stuck with you.

Andy: I couldn’t imagine a better teacher. There were plenty of lessons to be had.

Rick: I didn’t know he was paying attention.

Andy: My sister and I grew up going to Europe every summer of our lives. By the time I studied abroad my junior year at Notre Dame — I was in Rome — all of my friends started coming to me asking how they could go to Switzerland to ski or to Prague, or to Amsterdam. I had been to these places, so I knew which way to point them and say, “Hey, you’ve got to look up this bar” or “Stay at this great hostel.” The niche market for travel on the weekends while you’re studying abroad essentially fell in my lap.

What was it like to see your son follow in your footsteps?

Rick: My dad had a piano store here on the same street, and he wanted so badly for me to work in the same piano store as him. I was pressured by that. I wanted to, but it just wasn’t right. I’m sensitive to the fact that fathers would love their sons to do what they do. I never wanted to pressure Andy. Andy’s education just kind of all contributed to his bag of personal skills that helps him run his business and his writing. It’s just an exciting thing. There’s a new generation and there’s a new style of travel.

Rick Steves’ Europe

The older Steves’ business, at 130 Fourth Ave. N., Edmonds, involves his European travel guidebooks, television series and radio show. It offers tours throughout Europe, operates a travel store and teaches free travel seminars. It is not a travel agency, so the business doesn’t book flights, hotels or rental cars. Founded in 1976 as a one-man operation, it now employs 100 experienced travelers.

More at ricksteves.com.

Andy Steves Travel

The younger Steves’ business was founded in 2010 as Weekend Student Adventures. Headquartered in Seattle, it has since expanded to include his European travel guidebooks, podcasts and blogs about travel, entrepreneurship and the nomad lifestyle, and a travel store. The business also offers Europe tours and travel tips geared toward young adults.

More at andysteves.com and wsaeurope.com.

Washington North Coast Magazine

This article is featured in the fall issue of Washington North Coast Magazine, a supplement of The Daily Herald. Explore Snohomish and Island counties with each quarterly magazine. Each issue is $3.99. Subscribe to receive all four editions for $14 per year. Call 425-339-3200 or go to www.washingtonnorthcoast.com for more information.