2013 has arrived and we know you like to travel as much as we do. So we’ve listed out some of our top 10 New Year’s resolutions specifically dedicated to travel. Lots of people make “travel” itself a New Year’s resolution, but we wanted to go deeper and make some suggestions of how to improve your travel experience in 2013.

Here are Backroads’ top 10 New Year’s travel resolutions:

1)      Travel somewhere you’ve never been – At Backroads we travel to hundreds of destinations around the globe, and we can help you find a bike tour or hiking tour to a place you’ve yet to discover. Instead of taking the same trip you do every year, be bold and try something new!

2)      Travel somewhere unexpected – Sure, everyone wants to take a Tuscany bike tour or a Provence walking tour, but consider traveling to a location more off the beaten path. For 2013, Backroads has introduced bike trips to Myanmar, for example, a country that has largely been closed to the modern world for many years. By biking through Myanmar, you will truly discover an “undiscovered” world untouched by tourism.

3)      Add activity to your trip – At Backroads, we believe half the fun of travel is the way you travel. Step out of the car or tour bus and hop on a bike, walk or even kayak down the river. Your travel experience will be so much richer out in the open air with some activity mixed in. You’ll even be able to enjoy all the gourmet dinners we provide without the guilt!

4)      Bring your kids along – Afraid to travel with your kids? Don’t be! We offer wonderful family adventures that will make a trip with the kids a great experience. Our family bike tours and family walking tours are designed with lots of kid-friendly activities, whether it’s a scavenger hunt, eating gelato in Sicily or fencing in the Loire Valley, that will entertain and educate not just them, but you, as well. Browse our family adventures.

5)      Try a solo trip – Traveling alone can be a life-changing experience and you can do it without worry with Backroads’ Singles + Solos travel program. We offer trips around the world designed for traveling solo. You’ll enjoy meeting other solo travelers on the trip and get plenty of time to explore the world on your own with the unparalleled service, support and guidance of the Backroads team. Browse our singles trips.

6)      Travel at a different time of year – Always take a summer vacation? Try traveling at the holidays to create once-in-a-lifetime memories. Paris in the spring? Yes, it’s lovely, but Europe in the fall can also be a wonderful time to travel. Mix it up this year!

7)      Try a new food – Backroads offers gourmet meals at many Michelin-starred restaurants and plenty of opportunities to try food local to your destination. It might be a little out of your comfort zone, but be brave and try a new food or dish. You just might be surprised at how good it tastes!

8)      Try something adventurous – Add some adventure to your travel! With Backroads, you can fence in Loire Valley, zip line in Costa Rica, hike a volcano in Hawaii and Sicily, visit ancient temples and the list goes on. No ho hum vacations for us! Make your travel exciting in 2013!

9)      Engage the locals – To really get the most out of travel, try to immerse yourself in the local culture. When you bike or hike a destination, you’re more likely to stop and have a conversation with the farmer selling produce by the road or chat with the couple next to you at the café. Make an effort to talk to the locals, ask them about the area and their favorite things to do. You’ll likely come away with a new world view.

10)   Learn a new language – It’s easier to engage the locals if you know a little bit of their language. Challenge yourself a few months before your trip to learn some key phrases in the language of the region you’ll be visiting. Not only will you feel more confident and comfortable, you may just be inspired to learn the language fluently.

Have you set any resolutions related to travel? Let us know what they are and if we can help you meet them! Give us a call 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific any day of the week if we can help you stick to those travel resolutions with a Backroads bike tour or Backroads hiking tour. Happy New Year!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we can’t think of a better gift for your significant other than an adventure tour to a romantic destination. Just picture yourselves biking the great outdoors together, exploring a new country and enjoying gourmet dinners and magnificent wines as your reward in the evening.

Here are our top 3 recommendations for a surprise Valentine’s Day vacation with Backroads:

Loire Valley Biking — With its fairytale castles full of towers and turrets at every turn, this is your chance to play princess and knight in shining armor. The Loire Valley in France is a countryside full of castles like the romantic Chateau de Chenonceau built in the 1500s and the home of the king’s mistress Diane de Poitiers and later Queen Catherine de Medici. We’ll also visit Chinon, known for its full-bodied red wines, and Leonardo da Vinci’s last residence, Clos Luce. Join hands as we head to the centuries-old wine cave and enjoy quintessential French cuisine throughout the France bike tour. The trip is 6 days and 5 nights and runs April through October.

Bali Biking – Looking for an exotic Valentine’s getaway to a warm weather locale? Look no farther than Bali! On our Bali bike tour, couples can swim in the famed Blue Lagoon, visit an ancient temple and cycle past lush green landscapes in Bali where romance is sure to bloom. Enjoy the adventure of rafting the Ayung River, cycling up a volcano and relaxing at the spa. The trip is 8 days and 7 nights and runs March-April, October and December.

Wine Country Biking – Closer to home, rekindle the romance on our California Wine Country bike tour. Pedal along rolling hills and endless vineyards and enjoy a picnic under the majestic redwoods. Of course, there’ll be plenty of wine to taste along the way. Our 6-day, 5-night wine country biking tour heads through Sonoma and Napa and along the coast, and includes several Michelin-restaurant starred meals. This is one of our more popular trips and it runs March through December.

When you travel with Backroads, we provide the ultimate in service with three trip leaders and two support vans on every trip to move baggage from hotel to hotel and provide you with anything you need from a snack to a ride to a bike repair. You focus on the romance; we’ll focus on the details J.

Hurry and call us soon at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific to surprise your sweetie with a Backroads adventure tour of a lifetime on Valentine’s Day!

You’re likely familiar with lavender, the herb, known for its purple-colored flowers and intoxicating fragrance, that’s not only beautiful, but said to reduce stress (lavender sleeping mask, anyone?). In ancient times, lavender was used in bathwater and was often strewn on the floors of homes and castles to keep insects away and mask smells. Today, lavender is used in everything from lotions and perfumes to recipes, and Backroads offers several trips where you’ll not only learn a bit more about this pretty plant, you’ll also see fields and fields of lavender, a sight you’ll never forget.

If you take our France biking tour through Provence in the summer, you’ll be certain to see the flowering herb in bloom. Biking past these fields is like something from a dream, and you’ll get to experience it at least twice on this trip. One day, you’ll explore Ménerbes, where you’ll enjoy a tour and picnic lunch at a lavender distillery! Another day, you’ll bike Provence’s quiet roads through rolling fields of lavender and wheat into the foothills of Mont Ventoux, which will surely be one of the most beautiful places you’ll visit.

Our France walking tour to Provence and Costa Brava lets you meander down the rugged and beautiful Luberon Valley, which is sometimes called the land of honey, lavender and cherries. Lavender is also on display in St-Rémy, a vibrant town that has provided much inspiration for artists from around the world, including van Gogh.

Another Backroads tour where lavender takes the spotlight is our Mallorca biking trip. It’ll be hard to tear your eyes away from the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, but it will be worth it when you ride through seaside Deià with its stone terraces lush with wild lavender and citrus groves.

What’s your favorite use of lavender? Have you ever seen lavender fields in person?