In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But what else happened before the settlers landed at Plymouth Rock more than a century later?

Hi, I'm Rick Steeves. Today, we're taking a closer look at some of the earliest travelers from Europe to the Americas.

Travel writer Tony Horowich retraced the roots of these earliest explorers to help us better understand

our own American heritage.

This is living breathing history that's still

fought over quite ferociously. What is the appropriate way to remember these

European pioneers who by our lights were often quite brutal.

Later, sailing expert Anthony Sandbird tells us what it's like to take an excursion to today's

continent of discovery, Antarctica.

This is perhaps one of the last places on Earth where it's still vibrant,

lush and powerful and so accepting of your presence.

We're getting to know the earliest Europeans to visit America and embarking on our own journey to Antarctica.

It's just ahead on Travel with Rick Steeves.

Travel with Rick Steeves is made possible in part by American Airlines.

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Today on Travel with Rick Steeves, we're exploring strange and unknown American lands

before the developers got there and changed everything.

And later in the hour, we'll find out how to take a tour to a new favorite for today's

adventures, The Shores of Antarctica.

Right now, we're joined by author Tony Horwitz.

He retraced the roots of some of the 16th century European explorers to America, who came from Spain, France, and England, and whose stories we've almost forgotten.

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