When travel writer Paul Thoreau gets ready for an adventure, his first stop is at the library.

Anyone's travel should begin with reading, I think.

Reading about travel, looking at maps in a library reading.

In just a bit, Paul tells us some of what he's learned from a lifetime of global travels.

I got shot at in Marsabit, Northern Kenya, I got robbed.

It was difficult, but I had something to write about.

There's a mask-wearing tradition that goes back centuries in Bulgaria.

It's part of a festival where people in elaborate costumes go door to door to

to scare away the evil that winter can bring.

All the people in the villages, every village put on masks and every village actually has unique

masks made of feather, made of fur, different beasts, heads, scary.

They celebrate the culture, they celebrate the folklore by dancing in the middle of the streets

in the yards of the houses.

And listeners share their travel dreams with us in the hour ahead.

Come along, it's travel with Rick Steves.

He's been called the world's most perceptive travel writer.

Coming up, Paul Tharu tells us how he's been exploring the world for more than 50 years,

from a Peace Corps stint in Africa to taking trains across continents and road tripping the hinterlands of Dixie and Mexico.

And in just a minute, guides from Sophia tell us about the colorful festival's Bulgarians enjoy

to celebrate their history and to usher in the changing seasons.

Later in the hour, we'll check in with listeners to hear how they're handling cancelled travel plans

and what they have to look forward to and they can safely go overseas again.

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