Thoughts on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

 

Now is a profoundly unfortunate day. Russia’s intense action is heartbreaking for the demise, suffering, and financial turmoil it will bring about in Ukraine and, indirectly at the very least, beyond. In this article at Rick Steves’ Europe, we hope that a diplomatic solution can be uncovered and peace will return to that fragile and extended-struggling element of our globe.

Our mission at RSE is to help Us residents much better know and comprehend our neighbors via vacation. But when we bring travelers to yet another country, we also carry their dollars — dollars that would guidance Putin’s aggression. Consequently, as of these days, we have canceled all 2022 tours that include a halt in Russia.

Of program, we will retain a near eye on unfolding situations and keep track of any journey impacts through the relaxation of Europe. But it is essential to maintain geographic realities in mind and recall that a war in Ukraine is as much from our European holiday vacation dreams as a war in Guatemala would be from Texas or Florida. For 40 yrs now, we have lived, worked, and traveled by means of quite a few intervals of tragic warfare in lands much from where by we guide our tours (and some nearer). And at this time, we see no cause to alter the rest of our journey and touring plans.

The tragic reality unfolding in Ukraine only reminds me how vital it is for Us residents to keep on traveling and to do so in a way that would make us greater and a lot more engaged citizens of our planet. I’m flying to Europe upcoming thirty day period for a 40-day excursion as a result of a dozen good towns from London to Athens — and I’m proud that thousands of my fellow vacationers will knowledge the European vacation of their dreams although obtaining rich learning encounters much from dwelling on a 2022 Rick Steves tour.

In the meantime, let’s be grateful for our blessings, support our nation’s leaders as they do their finest to navigate this disaster, and hold the troubled corners of our world (Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, and more) in our ideas and prayers.

—Rick