Popular TV travel host says he has regrets about his career choice

Rick Steves, the popular TV travel guide host and writer, revealed that he has some regrets about his career choice and the impact it’s had on his personal life.

Steves, who in August announced he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, said his diagnosis led him to consider “what you might regret when you’re wrapping up your life,” he said on The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast.

“There’s regrets,” Steves, 69, told the NYT. “It has not been good for my family. I got divorced. It has not been great for relationships with loved ones.”

Steves, who published his first book, “Europe Through The Back Door,” in 1979, said he considers what his life would have been like if he didn’t become a renowned travel author, TV and radio host.

“You know, I would love to be the person I was before I was a travel writer,” he said. “I would have had a very, very beautiful life being a piano teacher and coming home every night for dinner and mowing the lawn and joining clubs and being regular and reliable. But I’ve chosen a different path. It’s a mission for me.”

RELATED: Why Rick Steves likes to get ripped off when he travels

With that in mind, Steves also acknowledged the conscious decision he made to become a travel expert and the pros and cons of that decision.

“I’ve got an opportunity to be what I consider extremely productive … helping people travel in a constructive way,” he said. “And I choose that knowing it’s not gonna be without a cost. Yeah, I’m aware of that. And in a way, I’m sad about it. But, again, you have to make a choice.”

Steves, drawing on his traveling experiences, said he think of his cancer diagnosis as a “journey” to an unknown destination, calling it a “learning experience.”

“You know, a month ago, I said goodbye to my prostate, and I see it as a journey,” Steves said. “I don’t speak the language. I don’t know exactly where it’s going. I’m not in control of the itinerary.

“And it’s interesting to me. It hasn’t gotten me down. I’m kind of having — not fun — but I’m having a learning experience. I didn’t really want to be an expert on incontinence, but I’m gonna get through it.”

Steves also thanked family, friends and fans for their support during his cancer diagnosis, surgery and recovery. The longtime host of PBS travel show “Rick Steves’ Europe,” expressed optimism about the road ahead, saying he’s “doing as well as you can be” and “my prognosis is very good.”

Looking ahead, Steves said he has imagined a day where he’s no longer a travel writer or host, either due to age or health.

“I would welcome the day, strangely, when I could not travel anymore, because it would open a gate of things that I’ve not done because of my love for travel,” Steves said. “I’ve got a great piano sitting here. I don’t play it enough. I’ve got a cabin in the mountains. I’ve got an amazing girlfriend. I’ve got a wonderful son and daughter and a grandson.

“This world is such a beautiful place to experience, and there are dimensions of experiencing this world that I have yet to try,” he added.