Rick Steves' Clever Tip To 'Take A Break' From Europe During Longer Trips

Traveling abroad can be an exciting, heady thing to do, filled with amazing sights, new experiences, and unfamiliar sounds, smells, and tastes. It's a sensory overload at the best of times, and this tidal wave of exotic adventures, enjoyable though they are, can also be overwhelming. Rick Steves, author of some of the most popular travel guides to Europe, recognizes this and highlights how important it is to occasionally give yourself a break when you are on vacation.

Traveling in Europe can be particularly intense, according to Steves. He says that "Europe can do to certain travelers what southern France did to Vincent van Gogh. Romantics can get the sensory bends, patriots can get their flags burned, and anyone can suffer from culture shock." There's so much to see and do in Europe, and so much of it can seem strange or different from the American way, so it's easy to find yourself homesick or flustered while on the road, particularly on longer trips. This is why, when creating your Europe itinerary, it is worth making sure you have some space to take time off from being immersed in European culture and enjoy a few home comforts as well.

Steves says that "Europe is not particularly impressed by America or Americans, and it will challenge many things you always assumed were above the test of reason." This doesn't necessarily mean that travelers will encounter rudeness or hostility, but rather that the things they take for granted at home will be different in Europe. Whether it's no free water in restaurants or free public bathrooms anywhere, unusual attitudes to personal space or public nudity on beaches, or simply the lack of AC, it is inevitable that, as a tourist, you'll find certain things strange in Europe.

Steves' advice is "to take a break from Europe every so often." He suggests "a long, dark, air-conditioned trip back to California in a movie theater," or finding spaces where the culture shock isn't as pronounced, like familiar global hotel chains that retain the same aesthetic seen back in the States. Even having a coffee at Starbucks, omnipresent in most European countries, offers respite for travelers feeling the overload of what feels like an entirely different world.

Rick Steves has plenty of other tips for staying happy and healthy while traveling in Europe. Alongside treating yourself to some occasional R&R from the day-to-day of vacationing, he says that getting enough sleep is a crucial part of keeping yourself on the straight and narrow while on the road. He says it is important to "know how much sleep you need to stay healthy (generally 7-8 hours per night)" and to maintain your regular sleeping pattern, or at least catch up if you fall short for a couple of nights!

Steves recommends staying active while on vacation, and there are plenty of activities to do in Europe for tourists looking to break a sweat. Rick Steves particularly recommends taking long walks where you can, and enjoying the fresh air and lovely landscapes – something he does by enjoying multi-day hikes like the Tour du Mont Blanc. Tourists are often worried about getting food poisoning while on vacation, and Steves has advice on this front, too. He highlights the importance of eating nutritiously while listening to the little voice that warns when an establishment looks unsavory.