U.S. health officials advising travelers going to 10 polio-affected countries to get booster shots one month before travel.  Thailand lifts curfew for Phuket, Pattaya and Koh Samui.  Mllions of viewers around the country may miss main media event marking 70th anniversary of D-Day.  EVA Air expands trans-Pacific routes to North America following delivery of another new Boeing 777.

Visit World Footprints for more news and information.

Today on World Footprints, we welcome back, author and television host, Rick Steves.  We enjoy a very thought-provoking discussion about a range of topics from the current pandemic and social issues to the challenging issues facing the travel industry today. 

Rick generally spends 100 days a year in Europe but like the rest of us he is stuck at home.  However, Rick treated us to a virtual trip through the pages of his newest book “For the Love of Europe”.  As you listen to this interview you will be transported to many of Rick’s favorite places and you meet some of the delightful and fascinating people he has encountered along the way.  

“We need to get to know the world better…The most frightened people in the world are those who don’t have passports.”

You’ll also learn about the things that have motivated Rick Steves, what he sees as his mission and you’ll understand why he sees travel as an imperative for all of humanity.

We promise that you’re travel bug will awaken in a thoughtful and insightful way and that you’ll be inspired, entertained and informed by our conversation with Rick Steves.

Nancy Gardella, Executive Director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, says that Martha’s Vineyard is so much more than its pretty beaches and famous residents. Among the stories Nancy reveals is the Vineyard’s troubling story of colonization and the island’s surprising legacy of sign language.

The sign language that was created on Martha’s Vineyard was a precursor to American Sign Language. People on Martha’s Vineyard used sign as naturally as spoken English and even hearing people used sign to communicate with each other.

Martha’s Vineyard is doing an exception job celebrating and preserving the island’s history. In addition to the Deaf Heritage Trail, there’s a cultural center that dedicated to the indigenous community, and there’s an African American Heritage trail that showcases the legacy of African Americans on the island.

The music of New Orleans is not just considered a birthplace of jazz music but carries various styles of music. It is a unique global collaboration that gave birth to an exceptional musical genre that was never experienced traditionally.

In this episode, Tonya and Ian Fitzpatrick celebrate the history, heritage, legacy, and influence of the music of New Orleans and Louisiana with Take Me To The River: New Orleans film director Martin Shore and producer Ian Neville.

Have you ever heard of God’s Little Acre? Today you are in for a treat! In this episode of the World Footprints podcast, we have the privilege of interviewing Keith Stokes, advisor to the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.

We met Keith in Newport, Rhode Island in a section of Newport’s Common Burial Ground known as “God’s Little Acre”—recognized as the oldest and largest colonial African burial grounds in the United States. Dating from the late 1600s, “God’s Little Acre” holds the graves of over 300 enslaved and free Africans and provides insights into their lives through the commemorative images and words etched into stone markers.

This episode represents Part 1 of a two-part series.