I’m listening to Travel with Rick Steves on NPR and he’s interviewing Arthur Frommer– the originator of the Europe on $5 a day. It’s no secret that I would sell a kidney or a sliver of my liver to travel. As soon as the Kid heads off to college, I plan on giving up a permanent address to live out of a suitcase. Thanks to Rick Steves packing light tips, I think I can successfully manage that life with little more than my pink convertible carry-on backpack (they don’t make it in pink anymore- haha).

But why do I have a crush on Frommer? Comments made by Frommer in his guide to Branson, Missouri about the racism and lack of minority employees in his travel guide got attention from local newspapers. Because of that, all the places Frommer wrote about now have at least one token African American employee.

Damn- I wish they had a transcript online- I am not good at doing dictation quotes from broadcasts and I am way too lazy to keep re-playing the podcast. Forgive me if quotes are horribly paraphrased.

Frommer said that he believes in pushing to fully implement Jefferson’s idea that “All men are created equal”. He unabashedly declared himself a liberal. And then he went on to talk about how a free society should have no limits on where they are allowed to travel during peacetime- specifically pointing out the ban on travel to Cuba.

It’s really a good interview- go download the podcast .