Beyond the Page with Rick Steves
Virtual Event on Thursday, October 8, 2026
WNIN presents a national virtual event honoring travel expert, Rick Steves.
Rick sits down for a wide-ranging discussion with Samantha Brown, television travel host of PBS’s Samantha Brown’s Places to Love. Rick will share reflections on his career, his decades-long connection to public media, and share a few tips on some of the best places to visit and explore around the globe. There will also be time during the event where a few guests can ask Rick Steves their own travel questions.
Join us to celebrate all things Rick Steves! RSVP by Friday, September 25.
Tickets are $100 and include:
- Link to join the 60-minute Zoom Webinar event on October 8, 2026
- A signed copy of Rick Steves's soft cover book, On The Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer, mailed to the ticket purchaser’s address
Any of Rick Steves soft cover books ordered after September 25 are not guaranteed delivery before the event on October 8. Books ordered after September 25 will arrive before December 24.
How it works: This virtual event will take place via Zoom Webinar. Zoom is free to the public but requires a computer download.
On The Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer Book description:
Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.
In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail” from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year-old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way: jumping off a moving train, making friends in Tehran, getting lost in Lahore, getting high for the first time in Herat, battling leeches in Pokhara, and much more. The experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.
This book contains edited selections from Rick’s journal and travel photos with a 45-years-later preface and postscript reflecting on how the journey through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal changed his life.
You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure of a lifetime that made him the travel writer he is today.
More about Rick Steves
Rick Steves, America's most respected authority on European travel, empowers Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves' Europe also runs a successful small-group tour program taking 30,000 travelers to Europe annually.
More about event host Samantha Brown
Over the last 20+ years, Samantha Brown has traveled around the world visiting over 250 cities in 62 countries and 40 of the 50 U.S. states, creating hundreds of hours of programming content. Samantha’s career began in 1999 when she began hosting Travel Channel’s Great Vacation Homes. She’s since also hosted Girl Meets Hawaii, Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America, Great Weekends, Green Getaways, Passport to China, and Samantha Brown’s Asia. Then, in January 2018, she began hosting and producing the Emmy award winning show, Samantha Brown’s Places to Love on PBS.
More about PBS Books
PBS Books is a multi-platform initiative celebrating the love of reading. PBS Books is dedicated to connecting books with audiences by engaging them in unique experiences to spark their curiosity and encourage a life-long love of reading and learning. Through social and digital engagement and live coverage of important literary events across the country, PBS Books celebrates books and writers and works to foster a passion for reading among public media viewers and listeners.
Coverage is produced nationally for PBS Books by Detroit PBS.