I was honored to speak at the Travel and Adventure Show in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles–just like my travel idol, Pauline Frommer! I loved having her on my podcast and I know you will learn so much from listening to her extensive travel knowledge! Want more? Listen to her podcast, The Frommers Travel Show! And BUY the brand new guidebooks she talked about from their website or at your favorite local bookstore.
Lisa Niver and Pauline Frommer both speakers at the New York Travel and Adventure Show Jan 2023
Watch our interview on Spotify, YouTube or your favorite PODCAST platform. Enjoy the transcript here:
Lisa Niver:
Good morning. I’m so excited to be here with one of the most impressive people in travel publishing. Pauline Frommer. Thank you, so much, for being here.
Pauline Frommer:
Well, it’s such a pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
Lisa Niver:
It was such an honor for me to speak at the Travel and Adventure show this year, and to see you in so many cities. And I can’t believe that, what started with you and your dad, The Frommer Travel Guides, that you’ve published, is it really true 75 million books?
Pauline Frommer:
Yes. It started well, before I was born. It started in 1957. My dad was drafted into the Korean War, and luckily, the day before he would have been sent to Korea, the powers that be discovered that he spoke Russian and German, because he was the son of immigrants. So, instead of being sent off to Korea, which was a very bloody war, he was sent to Berlin, and started traveling all over Europe. But this is after World War II, so, Europe was in rubble, and most of his fellow GIs just stayed on the base. They were too nervous to travel, because they thought if they couldn’t spend a lot of money, it wouldn’t be worthwhile, and when he came back to the base, they would pepper him with questions. And he thought, well, maybe I’ll write a little book for my fellow GIs. He called it the GIs guide to Europe, and he self-published it. The day it went on sale, it sold out at the PXs across Europe, and so when he got out of the army, he thought, well, maybe civilians would like this, too. And again, he self-published. He self-published a little book called Europe on $5 a day, which became the bestselling guidebook of all time when it came out in 1957. And so that was the start of it all. But I wasn’t born until well, after that.
Lisa Niver:
Wow. I had no idea. That’s such an incredible story.
Pauline Frommer:
He was very lucky, because the jet age was starting, and after World War II, Americans had a lot more money than people in Europe did, for the most part, and so, they were finally able to go out and see the world. If you ever go to the World War II Museum in New Orleans, the weight of that war, and the numbers involved, it was the bloodiest war in the history of humanity. Getting through the other side of that, there was this feeling of great possibilities, and joy and relief, and that’s what spurred travel.
I think it’s spurring travel, right now, getting out of that awful pandemic. Everybody wants to be on the road. So, even though inflation is high, travel numbers are higher still, because we came out of that pandemic, with the understanding that life is short, and that you have to grab life when you can, and there’s no better way to grab it, then through travel.
Pauline Frommer, Lisa Niver and Patricia Schultz at the New York Travel and Adventure Show 2023
We need not know where every decision will lead before taking the first step. Sometimes acting upon our deepest convictions is itself the beginning of wisdom.
New opportunities and challenges have always come and gone. But pulpit clergy with their years of training, education and perspective on life, generated from atop the pulpit, are especially well suited for whatever lies ahead.
The Tower of Babel reminds us how easily language can divide us. Our shared history reminds us of what becomes possible when we find ways to understand one another.
What is especially troubling to me is that at many of these protests in France you will find signs reading “Intifada Revolution” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Arab,” along with ubiquitous Palestinian flags, and Hamas flags too.
As an Iranian-born Jewish American, I cherish the right to participate in choosing our leaders. That means researching candidates, understanding the powers of each office and expecting promises to be matched by follow-through.
Zionism, to me, begins with a decision: to stay and refuse to give up – even when election results disappoint us, even when the government pursues a course we fiercely oppose.
When TV was free, somehow there was always something to watch. It was a very Norman Rockwell experience. The whole family would gather in the living room. The dog was asleep on the woven rug.
The fact that he thinks such a once-radical message will be accepted by the American people speaks volumes as to the challenges that the winner of next week’s Israeli elections will face in the court of American public opinion.
Northern Ireland learned at a terrible price that political agreements alone cannot secure lasting peace while armed terrorist groups remain committed to violence.
Wanderlust Whisperer: Wisdom from Travel Maven Pauline Frommer
Lisa Ellen Niver
Thank you Pauline Frommer for joining me on my podcast!
I was honored to speak at the Travel and Adventure Show in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles–just like my travel idol, Pauline Frommer! I loved having her on my podcast and I know you will learn so much from listening to her extensive travel knowledge! Want more? Listen to her podcast, The Frommers Travel Show! And BUY the brand new guidebooks she talked about from their website or at your favorite local bookstore.
Lisa Niver and Pauline Frommer both speakers at the New York Travel and Adventure Show Jan 2023
Watch our interview on Spotify, YouTube or your favorite PODCAST platform. Enjoy the transcript here:
Lisa Niver:
Good morning. I’m so excited to be here with one of the most impressive people in travel publishing. Pauline Frommer. Thank you, so much, for being here.
Pauline Frommer:
Well, it’s such a pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
Lisa Niver:
It was such an honor for me to speak at the Travel and Adventure show this year, and to see you in so many cities. And I can’t believe that, what started with you and your dad, The Frommer Travel Guides, that you’ve published, is it really true 75 million books?
Pauline Frommer:
Yes. It started well, before I was born. It started in 1957. My dad was drafted into the Korean War, and luckily, the day before he would have been sent to Korea, the powers that be discovered that he spoke Russian and German, because he was the son of immigrants. So, instead of being sent off to Korea, which was a very bloody war, he was sent to Berlin, and started traveling all over Europe. But this is after World War II, so, Europe was in rubble, and most of his fellow GIs just stayed on the base. They were too nervous to travel, because they thought if they couldn’t spend a lot of money, it wouldn’t be worthwhile, and when he came back to the base, they would pepper him with questions. And he thought, well, maybe I’ll write a little book for my fellow GIs. He called it the GIs guide to Europe, and he self-published it. The day it went on sale, it sold out at the PXs across Europe, and so when he got out of the army, he thought, well, maybe civilians would like this, too. And again, he self-published. He self-published a little book called Europe on $5 a day, which became the bestselling guidebook of all time when it came out in 1957. And so that was the start of it all. But I wasn’t born until well, after that.
Lisa Niver:
Wow. I had no idea. That’s such an incredible story.
Pauline Frommer:
He was very lucky, because the jet age was starting, and after World War II, Americans had a lot more money than people in Europe did, for the most part, and so, they were finally able to go out and see the world. If you ever go to the World War II Museum in New Orleans, the weight of that war, and the numbers involved, it was the bloodiest war in the history of humanity. Getting through the other side of that, there was this feeling of great possibilities, and joy and relief, and that’s what spurred travel.
I think it’s spurring travel, right now, getting out of that awful pandemic. Everybody wants to be on the road. So, even though inflation is high, travel numbers are higher still, because we came out of that pandemic, with the understanding that life is short, and that you have to grab life when you can, and there’s no better way to grab it, then through travel.
Pauline Frommer, Lisa Niver and Patricia Schultz at the New York Travel and Adventure Show 2023
READ the FULL INTERVIEW on We Said Go Travel
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
Albie Selznick’s Unlikely Connection to David Bowie Inspires New Solo Show
Is the New Facebook Film Equal to the Original?
Larry David Is Spot-on in His Satire of the DSA
Remember and Be Grateful
Michael Broukhim’s Journey to a Deeper Judaism
Rosner’s Domain | No Surprise Is Also an Election Surprise
Lech Lecha: The Journey of Growth and the Process of Becoming
We need not know where every decision will lead before taking the first step. Sometimes acting upon our deepest convictions is itself the beginning of wisdom.
From Atop the Pulpit
New opportunities and challenges have always come and gone. But pulpit clergy with their years of training, education and perspective on life, generated from atop the pulpit, are especially well suited for whatever lies ahead.
Abraham’s Lessons in Leadership on the Eve of Israel’s Elections
Anyone who votes, or leads, would be wise to study the story of Abraham and David.
A Different Kind of Tower
The Tower of Babel reminds us how easily language can divide us. Our shared history reminds us of what becomes possible when we find ways to understand one another.
Paris on Fire, America on Edge and the Generation of the Flood
What is especially troubling to me is that at many of these protests in France you will find signs reading “Intifada Revolution” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Arab,” along with ubiquitous Palestinian flags, and Hamas flags too.
Torah Portion: Lech Lecha
In this parsha, we meet the first hire — employee #1 — of Jew, Inc. a new God-created enterprise that will change everything.
“What is Life Worth?”
Determine how much a man’s life – and death – are WORTH? The man who did this for the 9/11 families!
Mayoral Election Preview: Mayor Karen Bass vs. Councilmember Nithya Raman
It is the first time two women are running against each other in the general election for Los Angeles Mayor.
Voting Down Party Lines This Midterm Election Will Hurt Jews
As an Iranian-born Jewish American, I cherish the right to participate in choosing our leaders. That means researching candidates, understanding the powers of each office and expecting promises to be matched by follow-through.
The Missing Years
The question is not only which campus will be safe for our children. It is who our children will be when they arrive.
Silence of the Jews: How Antizionist Mobs on College Campuses Are Assaulting the Freedom of Jewish Students to Disagree with Them
Facing potential mob violence, silence can become a kind of rational, albeit disappointing, response.
A Rose by Any Other Name Is Probably Jewish
Whatever Happens, We’re Here to Stay
Zionism, to me, begins with a decision: to stay and refuse to give up – even when election results disappoint us, even when the government pursues a course we fiercely oppose.
Will Israel’s Critics Repent?
There is a special need for the critics of Israel to repent for their false charges against Israel of starving Gazans.
Who Is Your Provider?
When TV was free, somehow there was always something to watch. It was a very Norman Rockwell experience. The whole family would gather in the living room. The dog was asleep on the woven rug.
Obama’s Turn on Israel
The fact that he thinks such a once-radical message will be accepted by the American people speaks volumes as to the challenges that the winner of next week’s Israeli elections will face in the court of American public opinion.
Obama Got a Doctorate in Belfast and Failed the Local History Lesson
Northern Ireland learned at a terrible price that political agreements alone cannot secure lasting peace while armed terrorist groups remain committed to violence.
El-Sayed’s Muslim Motherhood
A new damning disclosure may finally be too much for even diehard Democrats to overlook.
Melissa B. Greenberg Joins Americans for Ben-Gurion University as New CEO
Greenberg is a veteran nonprofit fundraiser for Jewish organizations with ample experience in higher education as well.
Did You Hear About the Violent Jews Rioting Through France?
Of course not. A scene of angry French Jews burning down government buildings is as likely as a UFO sighting.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.