Rick Steves' 'Prescription' For Culture Shock Is Brilliantly Simple

Rick Steves has more than earned his stripes as everyone's go-to travel guru. He's the guy who's been dishing out rock-solid travel advice for decades, from mapping out the best things to do in Europe or sharing practical advice on how to haggle without looking clueless and how to dodge pickpockets in the streets. New to travel? No problem. He's got tips for flying solo without feeling lonely and also has a cheat code for surviving culture shock: stay curious, keep an open mind, and roll with whatever comes your way.

Even Steves himself, who's spent a lifetime exploring the world, isn't immune to culture shock. After all, it's only natural to feel a bit out of your element when you're somewhere wildly different from your comfort zone. For him, his first taste of culture shock came as a teenager visiting family in Norway.

"It was teen culture-shock: No Fanta. No hamburgers," he wrote on his blog, although he was able to snap out of it pretty quickly. "But after a few days I was wild about Solo (Norway's orange pop) and addicted to pølser wieners. Noticing stunning women — and their hairy armpits — I began to realize that our world is intriguing, and that exploring it can be endlessly entertaining." Instead of sulking over the inaccessibility of his favorite fizzy drink, Steves leaned into what he initially perceived as weird, proving that culture shock doesn't have to knock you out and spoil your experience entirely. And he advises that you embrace it, too.

Rick Steves won't side-eye you for experiencing culture shock. In fact, he sees it as a travel rite of passage. But he's also fully aware that culture shock often comes with a side of judgment, where different, unfamiliar habits might seem downright bizarre. Different doesn't mean wrong, though, and Steves has the ultimate "prescription" to "cure" culture shock. Dr. Steves, anyone? At this point, the man's basically earned an honorary PhD in globetrotting.

"Learn as much as you can about your host culture," he penned on his site. "Assume 'strange' habits in this 'strange' land are logical. Think of these habits as clever solutions to life's problems. Be militantly positive. Avoid the temptation to commiserate with negative Americans. Don't joke disapprovingly about a culture you're trying to understand." And if you do just one thing? Befriend a local. "Make a local friend, someone you can confide in and learn from," he added. In short, stay curious, see quirks as practical solutions, keep the negativity at bay, and make an effort to connect. Culture shock doesn't stand a chance against genuine connections and sustained curiosity.

Most importantly, Steves reminds travelers that culture shock isn't a hurdle — it's the key to meaningful travel. "It's the growing pains of a broadening perspective," he told The New York Times. "To me, there are two kinds of travel: There's escape travel, and there's reality travel. I want to go home a little bit different, a little less afraid, a little more thankful, a little better citizen of the planet."