It just might douse you right out of your comfort zone. River Guide Hefe Aaronson knows how a white water rafting trip can change your outlook on life.

Here are people from all different walks of life, all over the world, who might on the street just pass each other by and within a few days they're best friends.

Today on Travel with Rick Steves, we'll find adventure on a wild and scenic river, or stick to your comfy chair and explore great travel literature with book maven Nancy Pearl.

It was those librarians who really were my first travel guides who opened up the world for me.

It often takes a few days for Americans visiting Spain to adjust to the late night dining hours the locals prefer.

So guides from Madrid will coach us on how to enjoy the early evening treats in Spain's tapas bars.

It can be intimidating. Do you go to the barge order? Do you wait for them to come to you? Do you pay before? Do you pay after?

Sure. Tito is actually the best choice. It's just a big, big dish.

Come along. It's Travel with Rick Steves.

A pair of guides from Madrid help us navigate the customs of Spain's tapas bars coming up on today's travel with Rick Steves.

And, librarian Nancy Pearl recommends some of her favorite literary escapes for seeing the world.

Sort of like how travelers from the romantic age took their grand tour, but from the comfort of your easy chair.

Let's start the hour of getting baptized by nature on a wild and scenic river in the western U.S.

There's so many ways to experience and appreciate the great outdoors in the United States.

And one of the best must be a immersed in nature, almost literally a immersed in nature, when you're rafting or paddling or canoeing or kayaking down a great river.

I'm joined by Hefe Aaronson, who's a river raft guide, works for a company called ORS, OARS. Hefe, thanks for joining us.

My pleasure, Rick.

Hefe, when you're thinking of the great rivers of the Great West of the United States and Canada, what four or five rivers come to mind?

I would say some of the top ones would be the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, the Rogue River in Oregon, of course.

For the Adrenaline Junkeys, the Toalmy River, the Tea in California near Yosemite, and of course the Grand Mother, a Grand Daddy of the Mall, Grand Canyon, Colorado River.

When you say for the Adrenaline Junkeys, the Toalmy in California, why is that so exciting compared to the others? Is it just more white water?

There's a grading scale of one to six, one being kind of like the Mississippi and six being your crazy don't do that, you're going to die.

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