When you first land overseas, what tear head and your heart try to tell you.

But abroad all my senses are on and I'm trying to respond to everything around me and I like that self. That's one reason I'm sure you travel and I travel.

Coming up, Pekowire explains what informs his style of writing.

Julian Sankton investigated the harrowing realities of the earliest polar explorers from just over 100 years ago.

His own voyage to Antarctica helped him grasp the immensity of what they had to endure.

It was large, flat, gray, extended all the way to the horizon. It was almost like a Martian landscape.

Or go back 500 years to imagine the first contact between Renaissance Italy and Mogul India.

That's what Salman Rushdie does in the enchantress of Florence.

That interaction between the great sphere of public events and the small intimate sphere of private life.

That's been something I've always been interested in.

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Hey, I'm Rick Steves. One of the delights I've found in hosting this program is in meeting fellow writers who guide us into new places and experiences around the world, and even back in time.

On today's travel with Rick Steves, Julian Sankton investigates the horrors that the crew of a pioneering expedition to Antarctica had to endure when they were grounded in ice for the winter.

And we'll talk with novelist Salman Rushdie to hear how he explored the first contacts between the worlds of Renaissance Florence and Mogul India.

Pico Ayers long been one of our favorite writers to talk with. He has a real knack for getting at the heart of what motivates us to travel.

Here's a conversation we had with Pico just prior to the pandemic, which is airing here for the first time.

For me, a travel writer goes places, learns, and then shares his experiences in a way that inspires us to venture to that destination ourselves in a more thoughtful way.

Good travel writing celebrates our world and inspires us to engage with it. And for me, Pico Ayers is the model of a great travel writer.

Pico joins us now to get us up to date on his work and to talk about his craft. Pico, thanks for joining us.

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