Rick Steves

Look around you: Our communities are filled with people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s, doing things that would have been unthinkable at their age a generation ago. By 2030, the entire Baby Boomer generation will be 65 and older. But what does it mean to be old in an era of much longer life? Welcome to Century Lives: The New Old, from the Stanford Center on Longevity. In this season, we interview six extraordinary people who are challenging the way we think about aging. Today: Rick Steves. In 1978, he was a piano teacher with a touch of wanderlust. Two months traveling overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu changed that. The trip ultimately made him what he is today: a storyteller, a critical source of information about travel in Europe, and our country’s foremost cheerleader for the value of travel. For the past half century, Rick Steves has taught his fellow Americans how to travel better, through his guidebooks, radio program, app, TV series, and bus tours. He recently turned 70, and many of his globetrotting followers are now older adults, too. We’re here to talk with Rick Steves about how he has reinvented himself—and his industry—as he ages.