Renowned Travel Expert Rick Steves Celebrates TV Santa Barbara with Special Appearance
Support Nonprofit TVSB’s 50 Years of Broadcasting with a Benefit Evening at the Arlington
By Ella Bailey, Published by the Santa Barbara Independent
Television and radio personality Rick Steves — who came to fame as a travel expert and educator known for his open-minded approach to travel and learning about different cultures — makes a special appearance in Santa Barbara this month to honor the 50th anniversary of TV Santa Barbara (TVSB), the nonprofit operator of two community access television channels, 17 and 71.
“I am so happy to be in the public media family,” said Steves in a recent interview ahead of his appearance in Santa Barbara. He believes it is essential to “make programs that are driven not by a passion for keeping advertisers happy, but that are just driven by a passion for inspiring and equipping people to reach out and embrace the world in all its beautiful diversity.”
Guests at “An Evening with Rick Steves” should expect to learn from his lessons traveling in Europe and be encouraged to explore countries outside of Europe as well. “Europe is just the wading pool for world exploration. My mission with my 100 colleagues here in Seattle is to equip and inspire Americans to venture beyond Orlando. … What we want you to do is get out there and get to know our world,” said Steves.
He stressed the importance that in this current American sociopolitical atmosphere, we as American citizens need the government to advocate for complexity. He also said that there is a lot of fearmongering and “othering” of people by our society, and the best way to learn the truth is to experience different ways of life.
