Our Commitment to Responsible Travel
Making a Positive Impact
Backroads has been taking responsible travel seriously since our first trip in 1979. After all, traveling on two feet or two wheels is the ultimate minimal-impact approach to travel. But we also recognize that any travel has an impact, so we do everything we can to make that impact positive.
World Bicycle Relief
We are delighted to support World Bicycle Relief's mission of improving rural access worldwide to education, healthcare and livelihoods. Through the power of bicycles, WBR supports communities to conquer the challenge of distance, achieve independence and thrive. Our commitment over the years to WBR has helped provide thousands of Buffalo Bicycles to those in need across regions in Africa and Colombia. Backroads' involvement with WBR complements our efforts to promote and improve biking in communities where our guests live and visit.
Trust for Public Land
We are thrilled to be supporting Trust for Public Land (TPL), who is on a mission to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. Like TPL, Backroads believes that access to the outdoors is a fundamental human need and essential to our well-being. TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most, and where they can be enjoyed by everyone for generations to come. Expanding local and national parks, building greener schoolyards, creating trail systems and protecting community forests and cultural sites is just part of TPL’s important work. We’re proud that TPL supports Backroads’ commitment to preserve hiking and walking trails and are committed to helping TPL further their mission across the country.
Outdoor Afro
For numerous years we've been supporters of Outdoor Afro, the nation’s leading network for celebrating and inspiring Black connections and leadership in nature. In 2021, we created a new Georgia & South Carolina’s Underground Railroad Multi-Adventure Tour with Rue Mapp and Outdoor Afro regional leaders. We’re proud to work with Rue and her incredible organization to foster more diversity and inclusion in the world of outdoor, active adventure.
Adventure Travel Conservation Fund
We are a founding member of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ACTF) and support their mission to protect threatened communities, cultures and wild places to preserve their cultural and recreational integrity. ATCF believes in the power of travel to protect and conserve, and that all travelers and the global travel community can become stewards for the planet. Our Backroads philosophy is in alignment with this mission.
Community Involvement
Since Backroads was founded in 1979, we've made it our business to support the areas where we travel and the communities where we live through financial aid, material donations, people power and education. We try to make a big impact by creatively using our resources where they'll do the most good. Backroads supports organizations and causes across multiple disciplines. We encourage you to follow our lead and support the causes closest to your heart, wherever and whatever they may be. The interests of our guests and staff generate many of the causes that Backroads supports and has supported in the past.
Sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is at the core of Backroads. Inherently, our mode of travel has always been more sustainable! We travel together in vans and we adventure by foot and by bike. This lessens our footprint and allows for a sense of wonder and connection to the amazing regions and communities that we visit. We empower our Trip Leaders to educate guests on thoughtful plastics use on trip (e.g. water bottles, snack bags). Our Field Operations teams seek creative regional solutions for reducing waste and plastics. These include: donating spare food (to food banks, local communities and vendors, etc); bulk buys to reduce packaging; recycling and donating bottles to local organizations. Our Field Houses maximize recycling and compost opportunities, as pertinent to the region. Additionally, we are reducing our reliance on paper print outs in our offices, among the Trip Leader community and with conveying information to our guests. We have migrated to providing Wahoo GPS Navigation units for our guests to use for route guidance.
Our guests can take part in sustainable actions by:
- Bringing their own reusable snack bag, ideally one that can fit in a jersey pocket or Backroads-provided trunk bag. We also encourage reuse of Ziploc bags provided for snacks.
- Bringing their own water bottle/s or hydration pack.
- Of course, Backroads provides complementary BPA-free water bottles. We encourage guests to be thoughtful about labeling their bottle on trip, to reduce replacements. Start with one and take more based on personal hydration needs.
- Use Backroads provided water bottle or glasses in the hotel room versus single-use bottles.
- Consider hotel turn-down needs for towels and linens. Most hotels invite reducing water use/laundry services and share best practices for doing so.
- Talk to your family about the sustainable practices they are invested in while traveling.
- And, don’t forget, you already are taking part! Simply by exploring your environment by your own power. It’s as easy as that.