We know you’re excited about your Backroads adventure vacation be it a biking trip to France, a hiking trip through Vietnam or wherever the world is calling you! We want you to get the most possible enjoyment out of your active trip and so we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 tips for adventure travel:
- Check the weather forecast and know that it can (will!) change.
- Get recommendations from friends, in books and on the web of what to see before/after trip. Make a strategy, being mindful of festival dates (that you want to see or avoid), days of closure, museum hours, etc…
- Read about your destination by checking out our Recommended Reading page about your destination on our website. Travel reading is a must!
- Learn a few key phrases in the language of your destination: “Where is the toilet, please?”; “Please take me to…”; “Do you speak English?”; “Where is a telephone?”
- Attempt to adapt to local customs/rhythms: On your Spain biking trip, for example, people take ‘siesta’ from around noon to 3 or 4 p.m. and don’t eat dinner until around 10 p.m.; Vietnam is an early culture, where people rise at 5:30 or 6 a.m. and often close up shop by 4 p.m.
- Make a time conversion chart for yourself: 8 p.m. at home = X TIME in France, 8 a.m. at home =
- Avoid alcohol, drink plenty of fluids, eat light meals and get good rest during the three days leading up to your trip.
- On the plane, set your watch to the time of your destination and then put it away; visualize arriving at the time of day/night your plane is supposed to land and be ready for it.
- Be mindful of what you eat. Backroads will ensure that meals provided on the trip are fresh and safely prepared. When you travel on your own, explore that interesting snack stand while biking Thailand or sample a sweet from the street vendor on your Ecuador hiking trip, but make sure the food hasn’t sat out for a long time. Cut fruits and veggies with your own knife; look for places that are busy since high turnover means fresher food.
- Start enjoying your adventure vacation before it begins; in the midst of checking things off your ‘to do’ list, think about the joys of leaving ‘real life’ behind; it starts as soon as you leave your door!
What tips do you have for adventure travel?
For more information about any of our trips or how to prepare, please contact Backroads 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time daily at 800-462-2848.