I'd been watching his videos for nearly 10 years. After attending the NY Times Travel Show the year earlier, I decided my next trip to California should be when one of the big travel shows was going on. I saw that Lisa Ling would be there (I was actually looking at the list for 2012) and was thrilled that I would be able to meet her & Rick Steves at the same show. Well, it turned out that LL was a 2012 guest, but Rick was there every year. I watched his speech, some of which I've heard before and got in line to meet him afterwards. I didn't need to buy books to get autographed because I brought them from home. I'm wearing a SOUNDGARDEN (Seattle band......Rick is from Edmonds) shirt...I'm not sure if Rick noticed. Like with Jimmy Carter 3 years earlier, our conversation was brief, but it was great to meet someone who seems to think the way I do and has been an influence on my travels.
