Get these lessons from a lifelong traveler

It’s fun to check in with other travel experts who keep their fingers on the pulse.

A friend always appears: Rick Steves. I pay particular attention to his European advice for several reasons. But one reason is that we are the same age.

It’s my birthday this week, while Steves will be 70 in May. We both hit the road right after high school, with sleeping bags and backpacks.

Along the way, I made many, many mistakes along the way. But in the meantime, there was some inspiration and important lessons that can help future travelers.

My first cross-country plane trip was from Portland to New York. I remember my parents telling me the story of our United Airlines flight on a DC-6. Back then, airplanes flew through weather instead of clouds. And it was tough. We dressed up in Fly the Friendly Skies, with Mom in a dress and Dad in a suit and tie.

I’m sure my parents dressed me in a great outfit. But it was hard – and I got sick.

When we stopped in Billings, Montana, the captain saw me putting on my dinner and took pity. He went into the luggage compartment and pulled out my mum’s suitcase so I could proceed across the country in style.

The lesson I learned was that it’s always good to have a few extra clothes in your luggage. Just in case.

Alaskan children often take their first ride in a small plane at an early age. I was about 8 years old. After church one Sunday, my dad took me to the local airport in Beaverton, Oregon and hired a pilot to fly us around.

Knowing what I know now, I can recall that it was probably a Cessna 180, with room for four. My father sat in the front with the pilot and I in the back seat. We were only in the air for about 20 minutes.

Lesson: Small planes can go almost anywhere and the views are spectacular.

Our family did not go by plane. It wasn’t in our budget. But my grandparents traveled all the time. My grandfather was a newspaper executive for William Randolph Hearst’s media empire. He was a million-miler with TWA in the 1950s. My grandmother was a writer and editor for Sunset magazine and for Pacific Travel News.

While they couldn’t take me on their extensive travels, they sent letters and saved stamps from all the places they visited. I got to know my grandmother’s office manager who stored stamps from correspondence around the Pacific coast. My grandfather’s stamps were mostly from Europe.

Lesson: My stamp collection sparked curiosity about the places where letters were posted. This began a lifelong fascination with maps and geography – and later, traveling to those places.

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Because my family didn’t travel much, I looked for an outlet for my greed. In the 1970s, I hitchhiked all over the West Coast and as far east as Texas. This drove my parents crazy, but I was anxious to see my friends and relatives across the country. I would not recommend that method now. But that was then.

Lesson: Wear comfortable shoes, stay hydrated, and don’t pack anything you don’t want to carry for a long time.

As a senior in college, I made the snap decision to come to Alaska for the summer. Although I knew little about ticketing and flying, I had a classmate who was a travel agent. So I went to visit Amy at University Travel in Eugene. We chatted and flirted a bit. In about 15 minutes she booked me on a nonstop Western Airlines flight between Portland and Anchorage.

Lesson: There are tricks to every trade. Until that moment, I didn’t even know what a travel agent did. Things have changed since then, but a good travel agent is still worth its weight in gold.

We flew to many remote places in Alaska to go fishing, hiking, rafting and hunting. Having just arrived from the Lower 48, I was struck by the natural beauty of the country, but also by the stark differences between the Bush communities and urban Alaska. We flew to Dillingham, Nome, Dutch Harbor, Prince of Wales Island and many places in between.

Lesson: Although many destinations in Alaska are less than two hours from Anchorage by air, much of the state has the qualities of a foreign country.

I flew to Europe in 1981 on SAS Scandinavian Airlines from Anchorage to Copenhagen. My friend George and I were on a month-long sales trip for several adventure companies that offered fishing, rafting, skiing, and scuba diving. Between the two of us, we had about five or six bags.

Lesson: We were lost in a fog of foreign currency, foreign languages ​​and local customs. We lost two bags almost immediately so it was easier to carry our stuff. We were both very curious about the people and their lives in Germany, France, Austria and Italy. They, in turn, were fascinated with Alaska. That mutual curiosity, plus a bit of high school French, helped us a lot.

A friend and I packed up our bikes and flew to New Zealand. My boss at the travel agency asked me if I wanted to book any hotels in advance. It never dawned on me. Instead, we asked the flight attendants on our Pan Am 747 where to stay in Auckland. She recommended an excellent B&B, near the Intercontinental Hotel. We had planned to camp all along, but the B&B was a welcome alternative – especially in the middle of town.

Lesson: After three days on the bikes, we met some other travelers and decided to rent a sailboat. Be flexible – your plans can change at a moment’s notice. For the better.

A few years ago I traveled around the world for a month. I called it the “Round the World Tour in a Hurry.” The whole concept was almost a dare – just to prove it could be done on the cheap. The itinerary changed several times due to wars, visa requirements and the schedules of my friends and relatives. Stops included London, Barcelona, ​​Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur, Makassar (Indonesia) and Hong Kong.

Lesson: Use your points wisely. On this trip, I bought a bunch of one-way tickets on Alaska, Norwegian, Emirates, Air Asia, Garuda, and Delta. I was traveling in January so the total bill was less than $2000. Hotels were more expensive so used credit card points to stay at Hyatt Regency Hotels. The hotel points formula is still a winning strategy.

(What awaits air travelers in 2025? Flights, fares, locations and loyalty plans keep changing)

In between these remarkable trips, we visited the far reaches of Europe, a bit of Africa, a bit of Hawaii, many places in Mexico – and many destinations throughout the US and Canada.

Is it worth the trip? I think so. When you travel, you are likely to meet people who speak a different language and eat different foods. People may not look like you – and they may worship differently than you. Maybe they have different customs and celebrate different holidays.

Over the years, as I’ve navigated all these changes and differences, it’s hard not to see the striking similarities we all have: a smile and a warm greeting. A genuine interest and curiosity about where the other person is from. What about their family? Maybe you’ll be sharing a meal with people you just met (be careful with that hot sauce).

I know that Rick Steves is still traveling in Europe – and he has volumes of great tips and tricks for almost every country.

I, too, am looking forward to more traveling to faraway places, to see family members and friends across the miles. I hope travelers learn some successful strategies from the mistakes I made. I also hope that you are able to inspire other travelers with your stories of friends and experiences around the world.