Another post from the past, one that featured a fascinating interview with one Rick Steves.  If you are at all familiar with him, he appears on the show to be someone in the Mister Rogers mold.  My comments are quite brief and the link to the interview is presented at the end:

This is why I like websites like Salon and Slate.  The link below leads to an interview with PBS traveller/showhost Rick Steves, who offers some interesting comments on the world, terrorism, and marijuana!  Fascinating stuff, whether you agree or disagree with his views (and interesting to note that such an apparently laid back and pleasant host could have such strong views on a host of issues!).  The interview appears in Salon.com and was conducted by Kevin Berger.

http://www.salon.com/2009/03/20/rick_steves/singleton/

Re-reading the interview today, now almost three years old, it is fascinating how much/little we’ve progressed in that time.  I can’t say I agree with everything Mr. Steves says, but this question and answer from the article, in particular, I found very enlightening.  Your mileage, as they say, may vary:

What’s the most important thing people can learn from traveling?

A broader perspective. They can see themselves as part of a family of humankind. It’s just quite an adjustment to find out that the people who sit on toilets on this planet are the odd ones. Most people squat. You’re raised thinking this is the civilized way to go to the bathroom. But it’s not. It’s the Western way to go to the bathroom. But it’s not more civilized than somebody who squats. A man in Afghanistan once told me that a third of this planet eats with spoons and forks, and a third of the planet eats with chopsticks, and a third eats with their fingers. And they’re all just as civilized as one another.