I grew up without cable television so public access TV has always been a big part of my life. I was being primed by Sesame Street, Arthur, One Saturday Morning, the Price is Right, Sally, Judge Judy, Jerry Springer and Wild Chicago while almost everyone else was flipping on their black cable boxes to watch Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and HBO. I remember the first time I went over to my best friends house across the street and realised he had cartoons on TV… at night! That blew my mind. It was ok though because I loved my Chicago public access channels and endlessly flipping through the cycle 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20, 26, 38, etc. until I found something worth watching. Also, I still had access to those cable shows across the street whenever I needed the stimulation. But, there was always one show on WTTW channel 11 that, just like their slogan, was a “Window To The World” for me. That show was Rick Steves Europe.

For those of you who don’t know, Rick Steves, as I knew him, was a middle-aged nerdy white guy from the US who travelled around Europe befriending locals while teaching you everything you needed to know about history, culture, and travel tips for every destination he went to. Other than school textbooks, stories of people travelling out of the country, and my Irish grandparents this was my first exposure to the outside world and where my fascination with travelling began. There was a real calming effect that Rick’s show had on me. The way he always had a little smile on his face and how he spoke directly to you, the viewer. All of his advice and examples would fit perfectly foreseeable problems the American tourist might have. Think, always wear a money belt, it’s better to buy a day public transit pass than single-use, and don’t get scammed. I found all of this exhilarating and comforting at the same time. I remember slowly drifting off to sleep while Rick Steve’s Europe played in the background sending me into dreams of far off places and adventures. This is when I knew I would have to one day meet the man that I now credit majorly with my get up and do it attitude.

Fast forward over a decade and many travel adventures to different parts of the world later as I found myself working for a cable television network back in Chicago. Since studying abroad in Italy and then graduating college a few years earlier, life was back to “normal.” I was going through the motions. That is until a coworker of mine got wind of my completely platonic infatuation with Rick Steves. She proceeded to surprise me a few weeks later with a post-work field trip to the PBS WTTW channel 11 studios in Albany Park near where I grew up. She had a friend working there and would later move on to work there herself. I would not only be visiting the studios where Rick Steve’s Europe was produced; I would be meeting the man himself. To think that all of those years had passed and I had no idea that Rick Steves was often so close to me… I was stunned with excitement.

The caveat was that I had to volunteer to answer phones for the telethon for a few hours before I got to meet him. You see, the Public Broadcasting Service is fully funded by private large donors and “viewers like you,” the public. After each episode, Rick would come on screen live and ask for donations to continue to support his show as well as all of the other informational and educational shows on the network. I was finally one of those volunteers answering phones in the background that I saw for so many years. The night was long and uneventful until we were finally off air. My coworker grabbed me and led me to where Rick was speaking with producers and getting ready to leave. He turned around and I froze up. I just said “hello” and let my coworker do all of the talking. Then I mustered up enough courage to ask for a picture and a coveted signature on one of his pamphlets. I then turned to him ready to share all of my memories of watching him on TV as a kid and nothing came out. He gave me a friendly “nice to meet you” and turned back around. I looked at my coworker and we began our journey to the exit.

Even though I didn’t get to have a full-blown conversation with one of my childhood idols, I did get to see him in person. That was proof that he existed and that everything that I had seen him do really happened. I truly felt like a kid again. I had a newfound sense of wonderment and motivation. That stayed with me for the next year or so as I went on wild adventures across the US, Canada, the UAE, Dominican Republic and Japan before making the decision to move to Ireland in October of 2016. And here I am now living a life that I only imagined as a kid. Not filled with riches and material goods but lasting memories and endless adventure. Nothing will stop me.

I’ll leave you with the simple but resounding words of Rick Steves, “Keep on travelin’.”