Podcast
How I Built This with Guy Raz
It was initially self-published in 1980, based on his lectures, and had a simple design. Rick later secured a publisher and expanded the book to include more country-specific details.
And then I, but then I thought, well, wait a minute, I've already written the book by giving this talk over and over and over. And I just sat down and gave my lecture to the paper.
— Episode: Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves
Episode: Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves
It was initially self-published in 1980, based on his lectures, and had a simple design. Rick later secured a publisher and expanded the book to include more country-specific details.
And then I, but then I thought, well, wait a minute, I've already written the book by giving this talk over and over and over. And I just sat down and gave my lecture to the paper.
And there it was the first edition of Europe Through the Back Door.
I think I even hand wrote it or something, but it was just my lecture.
It was a very simple thing.
And it was a lovingly put together pile of 180 pages.
Episode: Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves (2021)
Rick Steves explained that he turned his repeated classroom lectures into his first selfpublished guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, which he sold for under five dollars out of his car.
I've already written the book by giving this talk over and over and over. And I just sat down and gave my lecture to the paper. And there it was, the first edition of Europe Through the Back Door.
In the beginning, the book was two halves. The first half was all the skills, packing, hotels, eating, transportation, communication, you name it. And then the last half were individual chapters on my 20 favorite discoveries.
It was selfpublished, I didn't know what an ISBN was, so it didn't have an ISBN, which was stupid. I Xeroxed the pages and stapled them together.
I think it was $4.95.
I would have the books in the back of my car. I'd say, if you want to buy the book, I'll be out in my car. And it's just $5, you know? And then it's just bam, bam, bam, selling like hotcakes.
