Travel as a Political Act

#447
Title: Travel as a Political Act
Author: Rick Steves
Publisher: Nation Books
Year: 2009
222 pages

This is a series of chapter-long travelogues on the themes of getting to know people of different cultures. Steves's suggestions are what you'd expect if you've watched his show--talk with people in the places you're traveling, stop and sit awhile at a little restaurant or cafe, try to learn about a country from the people who live there. Steves does a pretty good job of articulating some of his dilemmas while traveling--the difficulty of reconciling national security with an appreciate for others' autonomy, for example. The photos are plentiful and the book, printed on heavy stock, feels substantial. What it's not is a manifesto; rather, it's a set of related narratives.