SWAC Teachers and SWAC student members, please contact [email protected] for more information about registration.

About the event

What is the true value of travel? Why do we love to travel and why is it important to continue people-to-people travel opportunities? Join Rick Steves for an invigorating, engaging and fun conversation about connecting with the world and broadening your perspective through travel. Rick will share his favorite travel memories, his thoughts on how COVID-19 has changed the travel industry, what to expect in 2021, and more. What is your most memorable travel moment?

We’re excited to announce that our special partner United Airlines will provide a gift to every VIP registered guest. All other participants will be entered into a raffle to win wonderful United travel prizes. Amenities will include the following:

• Two (2) United Club annual memberships (valid for one year from the date of issuance and valued at $650 per membership)
• United Mileage Plus status upgrades (1-2 levels above current status, excluding Global Services)
• United Club one-time passes – must present a boarding pass for same-day travel (valued at $59)
• United MileagePlus Bonus Miles – ranging from a minimum of 500 miles up to 5,000 miles.

About the speaker

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.

Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves’ Europe, a travel business with a tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. He also works closely with several advocacy groups and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the US.

Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.