We just got back from Mallorca and Menorca, where, as you can see in these photos shot by Liz, I had a smile on my face for the whole week.

The last year has been transformative for Backroads, but after welcoming more than 25,000 guests on trip in 2021, it’s clear that some things—like the desire to travel—never change.

Here’s a riddle: three people go out on a bike ride. One of them is me, a lifelong runner and fairly avid cyclist. The other two are my daughter Avery and her boyfriend Matt, both casual bike-riders. Avery and I ride side-by-side, chatting for most of the climb, while Matt zips ahead. Somehow we’re all able to have a great ride despite our different backgrounds in biking, and no one thinks the ride is too challenging or too easy. How is this possible?

When I first decided more than 40 years ago that I was going to start an active travel company leading bike tours around the country, a lot of people thought I was crazy. But I knew that something special happens when you combine physical activity with exploring new and inspiring places.

While the world has been transformed in big ways, I can confidently say that when this is all said and done, the essence of a Backroads trip will remain unchanged. I say this because, without quite realizing it, we’ve spent the past 40 years crafting our own style of active travel that has now turned out to be more resonant—and necessary—than ever.

There's no doubt about it—these are difficult times. As I write this, I'm at my home in the Bay Area with my wife Liz and the kids. Like everyone else in California and so many others worldwide, we are sheltering in place and learning to adapt to new realities that would have seemed hard to believe just a short time ago.

As the founder and owner of Backroads, people often expect me to have some special insight into how our trips run. It's true that I was a Trip Leader in the earliest days of Backroads, but nowadays I'm busy running the company from Berkeley and every chance I get to visit the field is precious. Ah, for the footloose days of being a leader.

I’m not a fan of buzzwords, especially when it comes to travel. “Experiential,” “curated,” “transformational…” Labels like these often dictate what the traveler should be getting out of the experience, ironically building limits around what is and isn’t possible on a trip. An experience that embraces the individual gets lost. In contrast, the most important outcome at Backroads is that our guests have the freedom and support to seize unexpected opportunities, to go whatever pace feels right at any given moment, to craft their own adventure with no limits or boundaries and have a genuine, one-of-a-kind experience.

Since very early in the Backroads days, we have run annual staff rides that gather our employees in one place for a multi-day adventure. These trips get everyone in the same space after being spread out across the globe for much of the year to revel in our strong community and just plain have fun together. Last month, it took place in Vietnam--right in the middle of one of the biggest typhoons in decades.

Expanding Backroads internationally is a tale of necessity, entrepreneurialism, and of course, adventure! My bet is that many of you will relate, as you might be growing your own companies, trying to connect with someone from a very different culture, or fondly remembering your own international adventures.