guidebook research

guidebook research 2020

atención, coronavirus, Sevilla

Oh, what could have been. After the Rick Steves reunion in January, the book department & I began working on my research schedule for this year. I’d expressed a desire to do more book work in 2020… although not as well paid as guiding tours, I love the flexibility + the opportunity to add my own text (when approved!). Rick has the final say in all his guidebooks, but the collaborative publishing effort every year is great fun. COVID-19 put an end to those plans. However, I’m not one to break tradition, so I thought I’d share what might have been an incredible research year.

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buenos aires: domes

Buenos Aires, domes, cúpulas

Back to Buenos Aires! Well, not literally… I’m still in Spain & don’t plan on returning to Argentina any time soon. But I realized that I’ve neglected to compile & place in this blog one very popular series of posts from the past. From 2007 to be exact. In the day when my only internet presence was line of sight, I wrote one of the most widely read English-language blogs about Buenos Aires. At the same time as I researched early housing projects in the city, I also began looking up & paying attention. I began to see more domes than I’d ever noticed before, regardless of where those rambling walks took me.

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italy: guidebook research 2019

Italia, Italy, 2019 guidebook research, Rick Steves

The ongoing book research saga continues, but this time with an all-new destination: Italia! That’s right… a country where I don’t speak much of the language & to places I’d never visited before. Uh-oh. My mood often ran between excited & apprehensive, so to laugh about the day’s events I tweeted once daily as I tend to do. Really anything to maintain a bit of connection with the real world. Come along as I relive those crazy two & a half weeks.

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portugal: guidebook research 2018

Rick Steves Europe, Portugal, guidebook, research

Last time I updated the entire Rick Steves’ Portugal book, I posted daily comments on Facebook —each one beginning with “Wow, do I love Portugal” & describing fun moments + the ups & downs of being a guidebook researcher. Four years on, I no longer have a Facebook account, but I took a few moments before going to bed each night during this trip to jot down some notes about the day. Here we go again!

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