Our Worldwide Team: Berkeley and Beyond
Backroads people share a single focus: To make your vacation the best it can be.
Our international team of travel experts successfully handles the complex logistics of operating trips all over the globe. We actively recruit exceptional people with special talents to fill all positions critical to the design and operation of our world-class active vacations. First and foremost, we look for individuals who have passion - for travel, the outdoors and for having fun. They must also be enthusiastically committed to meeting Backroads standards of quality and legendary service.
Here's a peek at a few of the people behind our operations:
After 17 years of trip leading, and now in her 22nd year at Backroads, Jo stewards the Leader Development department. Her primary responsibilities are focused on field staff: the hiring of our new leaders, the on-going professional development of our returning leaders, and the in-field management of leaders on trips. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Trip Leader job I applied for straight out of college would lead me through the most significant mileposts of my life. In my second season as a Trip Leader I was randomly paired with a guy named Paul. In my third season we eloped on a mountaintop in New Zealand, the day after a Backroads trip finished. Now, 18 years later we reside in Salt Lake City and have two boys and travel extensively to Backroads destinations around the world."
Now in his 18th year at Backroads, Bob Greeneisen, Global Logistics & Transportation Manager, oversees all the "stuff." That's more than 4,000 bikes, nearly 150 vans and trailers (plus all the parts and pieces inside), and over 35,000 square feet of warehouse and office space in three international locations. "With the help of an awesome L&T team, I make sure that every trip has the top-notch equipment it needs from start to finish." Bob, who was once the Concert Tour Manager for pianist George Winston (a job that took him to 48 states), spends his spare time tinkering on his guitar, hiking and skiing the mountains of Utah with his daughter and two sons, woodworking and planning the next family adventure.
Our European General Manager, Stacy Loucks is the daughter of an itinerant military family (i.e. a "military brat") and learned the tools of the travel trade early on (SMILE! Haggle. Be curious. Pack light). Since she missed being born in France like her older brother, she decided to see what all the hype was about and traveled there in high school, which led to her love affair of both France and Europe. She majored in French and spent her 20s living in Nome, Alaska and circumnavigating the globe. Stacy landed her dream job as a Backroads trip leader in 1997 and can currently be found in our Provence hub during the week, and in her free time scouts local swimming holes, pedals around Mt. Ventoux, and haggles for antiques in the local markets.
"As manager of the folks who create our catalogs and help our guests choose the perfect trip, I'm continuously impressed by the energy level of the people I work with - and their passion for quality," says Massimo Prioreschi, Vice President, Sales & Marketing. Massimo has worked, studied and led trips in Italy. In fact, though he was born in Switzerland and raised in Canada, Massimo's heart belongs to Italy. "Tuscany to be specific. It feels like home, because it's where my family is from. It's also the kind of place that gets under your skin—where you find yourself planning your next visit before you've finished the current one."
