Should you stalk your future boss?
I did. I am not proud of it.
One day I stalked a famous person. His name is Rick Steves. In the last few decades Rick has built a successful travel and publishing business out of a small town located near Seattle (his hometown as it turns out) where he still lives today.
Rick has excellent taste. During my Seattle years I often drove to Edmonds, WA for a change of pace, a slice of American-style small town life. A bonus: breathtaking views of the mighty Puget Sound and if you are lucky the Olympic Peninsula in the distance. The crème de la crème in the Pacific Northwest.
Years ago I became acquainted with Rick Steves Europe. I missed France and didn’t visit as often as I would have liked. Not only could I immerse myself in European travel vibes at Rick’s Travel Center in Edmonds I also became a regular at the annual Travel Festival a free event featuring travel presentations, workshops and networking opportunities for travelers, tour alumni and the company’s European tour guides and staff.
Each year I dragged some of my (most understanding) friends to the Travel Festival. We sat together through presentations, some of them about la Belle France as Rick Steves and tour guides took the stage.
Loin des yeux, près du coeur. Out of sight, on my mind.
Back then I was busy raising a child and running a small business teaching French language and travel workshops locally. I wasn’t thinking about becoming a professional tour guide, not seriously at least.
The day I stalked Rick Steves
In my corner of American suburbia there is a popular winery offering outdoor summer concert series. Over the years I’ve enjoyed artists like the Gypsy Kings, Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis, Chris Isaak and one particular year, Garrison Keillor (I once wrote a lengthy paper in college about Keillor’s best selling novel Lake Wobegon Days - obsessed with small town life already!)
Those were fun times best shared with friends: Wine, bites to eat, music and beautiful summer nights enjoyed on a grassy area in front of a large stage. What could be better?
It was June 2011. Lovely weather.
The show was about to start when I noticed a tall, familiar silhouette standing up a couple of rows ahead of us. I immediately recognized Rick. He, too, was there with friends. I announced the news animatedly to my group. Rick is a TV and a local celebrity. They knew who he was. Two of us at least were star-struck.
I considered walking up and introducing myself. Other people in the audience beat me to it. Rick was gracious but I could tell these folks had interrupted a private evening.
Où sont vos manières messieurs - dames ? Manners, people, manners.
My star-stuck friend and I did what every (hesitant? respectful?) fan would have done. We came up with a plan: I would not move or get closer to Rick but if my friend took a photo at a certain angle, Rick still standing a couple of rows ahead of me, unaware of our shenanigans as he chatted with his group, it might just look like he and I were standing “next” to each other.
That was a silly plan and it failed.
In the end someone in our group took pity on me and offered to walk up to Rick so I could say… what exactly? I disregarded what my mom had taught me about proper public behavior and went with it.
Rick was approachable and courteous to this Seattle-based French stranger (and fan.) We chitchatted about his upcoming plans (a new edition of the France guidebook perhaps?) for a few minutes. Then we parted ways and he joined his friends once again.
Quelle aventure!
(In the above photo you can see my star-struck friend, the guy in the green shirt, immortalizing the special encounter. Good times.)
And then I became a Rick Steves tour guide
It didn’t happen right away, not for many years in fact. Along the way, my life changed and I caught a few curve balls the best I could. A divorce. A new corporate career in global education after a 20-year hiatus as an entrepreneur. The decision to relocate to France permanently. I was in my 50’s and I needed a job when I hit Paris.
In 2018 I reconnected with contacts I had made over the years during ALL those Rick Steves Travel Festivals in Edmonds, WA. By the summer I had interviewed for a France-based tour guide position and had been invited to join the annual Guide Workshop (and Travel Festival!) scheduled in January of 2019.
The rest is history. This is my 4th season touring around France with Rick Steves groups.
There’s more. By Sunday, guide friends and I will be heading out to Edmonds, WA for the first Rick Steves Guide Workshop since January 2020. Fun and productive times ahead.
I am grateful for one thing: Rick doesn’t remember I once interrupted a pleasant spring evening he was enjoying with Garrison Keillor and his friends in Woodinville, WA.
Don’t count on me to point out to him I once stalked my future boss!
Véro
Rick is a local treasure in Seattle. It was years before I learned that he was an accomplished pianist. He did a video in his home pairing classical music with classical paintings. It was wonderful. You are working with a great company. Enjoy your stay in Seattle.
I loved your story about meeting Rick. The group picture is lovely. I hope you post another this year.