Travel guru Rick Steves is getting candid about his experience with prostate cancer.
Steves, 69, reflected on the disease, sharing that it has imbued him with “an awareness of what you might regret when you’re wrapping up your life,” during the Dec. 14 episode of The New York Times’ podcast The Interview, hosted by David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
“There’s regrets,” admitted the Rick Steves’ Europe star, who was diagnosed with cancer in August. “[A career in travel] has not been good for my family. I got divorced. It’s not been great for relationships with loved ones.”
“I would love to be the person I was before I was a travel writer,” he continued. “I would have had a very, very beautiful life being a piano teacher, coming home every night for dinner and mowing the lawn, and joining clubs, and, you know, being regular and reliable. But I’ve chosen a different path, and this is a path that is — it’s a mission for me.”
“I’ve calculated it,” he explained. “And I’ve got an opportunity to be what I consider extremely productive … helping people travel in a constructive way. And I choose that knowing it’s not gonna be without a cost. Yeah, I’m aware of that. And I’m in a way, I’m sad about it. But, again, you have to make a choice.”
Rick Steves in October 2024.
Derek Davis/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty
Steves also admitted that while his diagnosis is “scary” at times, he’s attempting to approach it with a “traveler’s mindset.”
“You know, a month ago, I said goodbye to my prostate, and I see it as a journey. I don’t speak the language. I don’t know exactly where it’s going. I’m not in control of the itinerary,” he said.
“And it’s interesting to me. It hasn’t gotten me down. I’m kind of having — not fun — but I’m having a learning experience,” he added. “I didn’t really wanna be an expert on incontinence, but I’m gonna get through it.”
The travel writer shared that he strives to stay open and honest about what he’s going through, revealing that his August social media post in which he revealed his diagnoses was the “most commented on and shared posts I’ve ever had on Facebook.”
“And it was a very, very positive thing,” he added. “I’ve always thought it’s important not to keep these things secret, to be embarrassed about anything.”
Steves also revealed that growing up with a mother who had depression motivated him to share personal health updates with fans.
“When I was … a teenager — that was a long time ago — my mom had some kind of depression, and [the doctors] were fiddling around trying to find the right kind of antidepressant medicine for her and so on. And I know that there’s a lot of depression in our society, and even as a teenager, I felt like I can’t keep this a secret. We’ve gotta share it with people so that when they have depression in their family, they will be more open about it … and not be alone and afraid, but be in community.”
He also noted that the outpouring of support he has received since announcing his diagnosis has “almost has a tangible value. It fills the sails that motor me through this journey, and, I’m really thankful for it.”
In terms of a prognosis, Steves said he’s optimistic and is “doing as well as you can be,” adding, “My my prognosis is very good. If you’re gonna get cancer, prostate’s a good kind of cancer to get.”
