A request, during COVID

I am a lucky man. I have my health, a home, family and friends I love, and I have a great job.

Okay, so I don’t have a job right now (the search for employment at the moment could be its own site, but I’ll save those stories for my therapist) but I have a great employer, ready to hire me back whenever group travel can begin again. Rick Steves, in addition to founding an empire dedicated to purpose over profit, to “inspire, inform, and equip Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening”, is loyal to his employees.

That’s why he’s paying the entire office staff out of his own pocket despite COVID’s erasure of 100% of our revenue. That’s incredible. Estimated $14 million.

But I’m not office staff. I’m sure Rick would pay all of the guides too if he could, but the fact is, he can’t. If he tried, none of us would have a company anymore. I am impressed with his choice to pay the office staff, and do not begrudge him one bit for his inability to pay me right now.

But just because he can’t pay us, doesn’t mean he’s not trying to support us.

Starting with the next couple weeks, Rick hopes to offer a “Guide’s Marketplace” of the services his guides are offering during this time when our profession is blocked. If you’re looking for a local guide in Europe for when things start to loosen, this is an incredible resource.

But I’m not a local guide in Europe. Luckily for me, Rick is trying to include as many of us as he can. So I’m creating a blog on patreon to share travel stories about the places I love to bring my groups, and will be showing it to Rick at the end of this week.

Here’s my request. If you have a minute to click over and check it out, he’ll be able to see that it’s getting at least a little traffic even prior to its formal launch. I would deeply appreciate that.

I’ve put the first couple posts up for free, and if you are so inclined, you can check it out at:

https://www.patreon.com/TimTheGuide

Thank you, either way.

I’ll try to be back on here with more free posts soon, though of course trying to pay rent has to come first.

Best wishes from California, my friends. Stay sane and healthy.