Rick's Racket

Somehow today, the topic came up of what a great job Rick Steves has. He travels around the world, writes books and does a TV show - and gets paid for it. I guess my high school guidance counselor failed to recognize that job on the list of possible occupations I might pursue, but I suppose I could forgive him, since I would probably want to keep that Rolodex card for myself.

What a sweet gig! Wander around, find interesting little quirks about places all over the world and write them down, so that they are exposed as interesting little quirks, thus spoiling the quirkiness for everyone. This annoys some travelers, since, generally speaking, once something is popular, it's time to find something else. So, Rick works at crossed purposes. He has to find strange things for travelers to do, but as soon a he finds them, they become too popular for people to do. But, I suppose that's what keeps our economy going, and it's certainly what keeps Rick going. Although there may be another quirk worth examining...

As it turns out, Rick has an interesting sideline. He's on the board of NORML. If you don't know what NORML is, well ... Anyway, Rick is offering free copies of his book to High Times magazine readers who join NORML. So, go ahead, hit the web site and sign up. There's a free book waiting for ya.

Coincidentially, Rick has published a nice guidebook all about Amsterdam. I'm sure he has found several quirky and interesting things about the city. If you don't know about Amsterdam, well ...