“There is so much to experience: hiking around volcanoes, zip-lining through the tropical rain forest, surfing in the warm Pacific and enjoying the white sand beaches,” says Jackie. “I … love the people and the ‘pura vida’ lifestyle. Leading Backroads trips through Costa Rica has brought me an even greater appreciation for what this unique small country has to offer anyone with a sense of adventure.”

Jackie speaks fluent Spanish, of course. She loves surfing, writing and traveling. Says one of the guests on a recent Backroads trip to Costa Rica with Jackie, “She is AWESOME. We were just in Costa Rica on the Backroads trip, and Jackie was our [trip] leader. Super cool, fun, chick!”

Travel to Costa Rica with Jackie and experience this gorgeous area of the world. On our Costa Rica bike trip, we introduce you to howler monkeys, cloud forests, a majestic volcano, coffee plantations and tropical fruits galore! Try our Costa Rica Multisport (available in classic format or for families) for even more adventure and go white water rafting, zip-line through the jungle and cross hanging bridges up to 300 feet long!

Interested in enjoying a Costa Rican adventure with Jackie? Give us a call at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific to get started.

Dare we say leave them at home? Nope, we’re not kidding! We think it’s best that you leave these goodies at the old homestead so they aren’t stolen or lost. If you decide to bring them along with you, please understand they are 100% your responsibility. This includes cash, jewelry, items you buy during travel, delicate items, personal electronics and more.

We recommend you keep all valuables with you at all times or that you lock them in a hotel safe that you feel is secure. However, some of our guests have forgotten that they even placed their items in the safe and leave without them. To help avoid this, we suggest leaving an item that you absolutely cannot forget (like a shoe) on top of the safe so you’ll have to pick that up before you leave, reminding you that you left something inside the safe.

We always recommend that you keep cash, jewelry and passports in your possession at all times. Keep travelers checks, credit cards and passports in a money belt beneath your clothes and hold out just enough cash for the day in your pocket. That way if you lose it, it’s only a day’s worth.

So when it comes to things you’d rather not lose, we suggest better to be safe than sorry and leave those items safely at home.

For more questions about active travel with Backroads, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page or call us 7 a.m.-5 p.m. daily at 800-462-2848.

Here are some of our favorite active travel honeymoon destinations:

A French Biking Getaway

Say Oui to a French honeymoon and get ready to pedal through a storybook land. Our Loire Valley Biking Tour takes you past castle after castle where you can dream of knights in shining armor and realize you have your very own knight cycling right beside you! Bike France and see perfectly groomed gardens, visit chateaus and sample French wine, tour historic castles and spend some time at a romantic French café. Before it’s all over, you might just give in to the idea that your life is indeed a fairy tale!

An Italian Honeymoon with Hiking

Who wouldn’t want to go to Italy on their honeymoon? Rolling hills, farmhouses and tiny villages all scream romance! On our Cinque Terre and Tuscany Walking Tour, you can view all the sites in the great outdoors, holding hands, strolling along at your own pace. Visit wineries, tour a World Heritage site, soak in views of the deep blue Mediterranean and meander along historic Greve. Any great honeymoon should include fantastic food, and this Italy walking tour gives you plenty from fresh seafood to Tuscan delicacies. You’ll also enjoy your share of Italian wine to toast your new life together!

California Lovin’

If you’d prefer to stay a little closer to home on your honeymoon, look no further than an adventure into California’s wine country. One of our most popular bike tours, Wine Country Biking lets you enjoy the beauty of this majestic region while tasting some of the best wines the U.S. has to offer. This California bike trip will take you through five valleys of world-famous vineyards, each day allowing you to sample a variety of vintages. Oh, did we mention the food? Your honeymoon days will end with nightly gourmet meals where you can celebrate your nuptials.

What’s on your dream honeymoon list? Have you considered making it an active honeymoon? We find that the newlywed couples who travel with us list our trips as remarkable and they come back again and again for anniversaries and active family trips. Here’s what one couple had to say:

“This was our honeymoon and I cannot think of a better way to have spent it. The leaders were among the best I have ever encountered and they managed to enhance what would have in itself been a magnificent trip. From the educational aspects to the food to the hiking, everything was perfection!” Read what more honeymooners had to say.

To book your active honeymoon with us or for more information, please call us 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific daily at 800-462-2848.

1)      Develop a ‘spending strategy.’ Do you want to use travelers’ checks, credit cards or your ATM with an international PIN? This will depend on how many countries you plan on visiting and how developed the region is. If you plan to use a credit card, be sure to alert them in advance that you’ll be traveling and spending in a foreign country so they don’t freeze your account.

2)      Stash $100 in your wallet so you have cash upon returning to your home airport. Also, take $20 in $1 US for emergency tip money.

3)      Get small bills and coins upon arriving in a foreign country. Familiarize yourself with the currency, noting any similarities between bills or coins. It’s no fun to mistake a $2 coin for a .25 coin!

4)      Before you leave for your biking trip or walking trip, make a conversion chart for yourself:  $1=  , $5=  , $20=    etc. or buy a conversion calculator.

5)      When heading out for the day or while traveling by plane, put your credit cards, passport and travelers’ checks in a money belt beneath your clothes, but put cash (try to estimate what you’ll be spending that day) in your pocket.

Of course, when you take a Backroads bike trip or hiking trip, our knowledgeable Trip Leaders will be there to guide you on all things, including money. Additionally, before you leave on your Backroads trip, you’ll be assigned a Trip Planner who can also help answer questions about financial preparation before you arrive.

Got any tips for traveling safely with money overseas? Anyone learned a lesson the hard way J? Let us know.

For more information about any of Backroads overseas bike trips or overseas hiking trips, please contact us 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific daily at 800-462-2848.

Small might sound better at first, but we’ve seen firsthand the downsides of travel with too small of a group. Whether you’re hiking the Italian Alps or biking through Provence, too few people in your group can be restrictive.

Often, there is only one van provided, so if you have different plans or needs than everyone else in your group, guess whose needs will be ignored?  Everyone has to leave at the same time no matter what. We’ve also heard from guests that they enjoy meeting new people on our trips, and with small groups you’ll likely see the same people over and over again at lunch, dinner and throughout the day.

At Backroads, we provide two support vans on most of our trips to allow for flexibility and the different needs of guests. In slightly larger groups, this helps us accommodate those who want to go back to the hotel and those who want to keep riding or allows us to stop and get one group a snack while the other group forges ahead.

We also find that more people equals more camaraderie. Exploring with others who have the same love for travel and discovery makes the experience that much richer. Sit with different people at dinner each evening and see how many people you can get to know. Enjoy the diversity of personalities, passions and travel styles just as you enjoy the diversity of the destination and culture you’re visiting.

If you truly want a small group trip, consider planning a Backroads Private Trip comprised of your close family and friends.

Have questions about our group sizes or private active trips? Please give us a call 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific daily at 800-462-2848.

Our best recommendation is to book as far an advance as your timing allows. The further ahead you reserve your spot, the more availability you’ll find. When you’re planning a major getaway like a European bike tour or hiking tour through the US National Parks, you’ll want to be sure the dates work best for your family’s schedule.

Many families travel with us during the summer months, for example, so those dates fill quickly, along with holidays. To make sure you can choose your top destination and date, try to contact us at least four to six months ahead of time.

There are also several tours that are very popular and tend to book quickly. They include Yellowstone & Tetons Walking Tour, San Juan Islands Biking, all of our Italy hiking tours and Italy biking tours as well as our France hiking tours and France biking tours. If any of those locales are on your list, call us early.

To reserve your active trip, please call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific daily or use our secure online reservation form by clicking Reserve This Trip! on any trip page on our website. We request a $600 deposit per person made by check or major credit card. The balance of your trip cost is due 95 days prior to departure in most instances. In a few Special Departure           cases we request the balance due 125 days prior to departure.

So pick your destination, choose your dates and give us a ring! Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to an active vacation of a lifetime…

Here are a few of our Alps adventures:

Swiss Alps Walking & Hiking Tour – On this 6-day, 5-night hiking tour of Switzerland, you’ll get the full alpine treatment. Taste Swiss cheese at a local farm, climb by cable car to an amazing hike, take a dip in healing thermal waters, travel via train to the town of Zermatt, enjoy local fare like strudel, fondue and plenty of wine, and relax at the luxurious Riffelalp Resort. The stress is already melting away, isn’t it?

French & Italian Alps Walking & Hiking Tour – As you hike the French Alps and the Italian Alps, you’ll be treated to the reward of a gorgeous turquoise lake, visit chic Chamonix, take in view of rock spires, saw-edged peaks and woodland valleys, take a breathtaking glacier walk, enjoy local flavors of wine and visit the Italian side of Mont Blanc. This 6-day, 5-night Alps hiking tour will have you saying bonjour and arrivederci.

Italy’s Dolomites Walking & Hiking Tour – We like to call the Dolomites “Italy’s best kept alpine playground” so get ready to do plenty of “playing”! The Dolomites are full of fairytale villages, grassy meadows and majestic mountains, along with the chamois, eagles and marmots if you keep a sharp eye. On this 6-day, 5-night Dolomites hike, you’ll picnic at a 13^th century Gothic castle, ride chairlifts, hike through wildflowers, taste wines at a local wine cellar and visit a natural park.

Italy’s Dolomites Biking Tour – Dare you bike the Dolomites? We think you should! On this 6-day, 5-night Dolomites biking trip, you’ll get to bike the Sella Ronda Loop, one of the most spectacular rides you may ever experience, pedal through storybook villages, conquer 14 alpine passes in 6 days (including epic Passo Giau with a 9% grade over 6 miles!) and participate in wine tastings as your reward.

Which mountain adventure will you choose? No matter your choice, you’ll be glad you settled on the Alps for your summer vacation. For more information or to book your Alps getaway, call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific time daily.

A common question families ask is: Is childcare available during the trip and will there be other children my kids’ ages?

Childcare is not included as part of Backroads’ family adventures; however, that doesn’t mean that we can’t help you find childcare if that’s a need for your family. Many of our hotels on family trips do offer childcare services or we can explore other English-speaking options in the area. We do not book the care for you but can direct you to the appropriate contacts.

Remember, our Trip Leaders are not charged with childcare, but on active family trips there is a Trip Leader dedicated just to the children to create age-appropriate opportunities wherever we’re traveling.

Second, you’re certainly welcome to ask your Trip Consultant about other children’s ages who have booked the trip. Just keep in mind it could change prior to departure. One of the best parts of a Backroads active family vacation is the friendships that kids develop with each other. You may find a new “pen pal” that your child can stay in touch with for years to come.

We have lots of fun family trips available this summer from bike tours and hiking tours of the US National Parks to multisport adventures in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Panama and more. Take a look at our Family Trip Advisor to get customized trip recommendation for your family.

For more information about our family adventures, please visit www.backroads.com/family-trips or call us at 800-462-2848 daily from 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific time.

In today’s post, we’d like you to meet Rebecca Sorensen. Rebecca left her job as a film/TV production coordinator in LA to travel the world! After spending four months traveling, including biking in Thailand and biking in Italy, she decided she didn’t want travel to be a hobby but a lifestyle. Enter Backroads!

These days You can find Rebecca leading families on a variety of Backroads family bike trips and family hiking trips, including our Yosemite Multisport Tour in California. On that tour, she’ll take you rock climbing, walking through the giant sequoias, hiking past waterfalls and alpine meadows, and to a visit of the Ansel Adams Gallery. You can even enjoy a family game of bocce ball or ping pong!

Rebecca also leads the Hawaii Big Island Multisport trip where families get to walk through a rain forest, ride horses, snorkel, visit a coffee plantation and bike part of the Kona Ironman Triathlon course. Of course, we work in plenty of swimming and beach time, as well.

“I think families really bond on an active vacation, because they are out there every day experiencing new things together. There’s nothing like biking and hiking together as a family—exploring a national park, being able to smell the trees, pick up rocks and pine cones, and really appreciate the nature that surrounds you,” says Rebecca. “It’s beautiful, challenging, and in the end, it’s something you’ve accomplished together.”

Want to travel with Rebecca? Give us a call daily 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific at 800-462-2848 and we’ll answer any questions you have and get you booked!

We plan our trips so that they begin and end in towns or cities that are accessible by plane, train, bus or a Backroads shuttle for convenience. When you book your trip, we’ll provide you with a Travel Planner, which will include detailed information about starting and ending times and locations, as well as airport and hotel van transfer locations and other transportation options.

You may want to engage or Travel Desk or your travel agent to help support the planning of arrival and departure, including pre- and post-trip hotels, rental cars or rail tickets.

If you haven’t received your Travel Planner and you’re ready to go ahead and book airfare, a Backroads Trip Consultant can help you with all the trip details you’ll need by. Additionally, if you’d like to drive to the starting location, please check with your Trip Consultant about parking options.

Many of our guests like to extend their Backroads hiking tour or bike tour with a few extra days at a destination either before the adventure tour begins or after it concludes. Backroads has negotiated special hotel rates for our guests who want to extend their trip. Here you can find a list of these hotels grouped by location. Please note that you must book the rooms directly with the hotel (not via a third party website, for example) in order to receive the special rates.

What other questions do you have about beginning or ending your Backroads adventure trip? Please call us at 800-462-2848 daily from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Pacific and we’ll help!