This year, World Bicycle Relief is reaching an incredible milestone: one million Buffalo Bicycles delivered to people who need reliable transportation to reach school, health care, markets and opportunity. And for Backroads, it also marks ten years of supporting this work alongside our guests and staff who have helped turn two wheels into real-world change.

I’m on a small electric-powered wooden ferry boat, skimming quietly along Slovenia’s Lake Bohnij, the misty Julian Alps reflecting in the mirror-calm water. This is why I travel, I think, the landscape before me an answer to a question I didn’t realize I had.

August lets the warm temps linger, so you can go all-out, all day and opt for some R&R in villages with mountain views or tiny towns shaped in every way by the sea.

Chiang Mai is often travelers’ introduction to northern Thailand—a city known for historic temples and lively markets that reward exploring on foot.

Bolzano is a great base for Dolomites adventures—so much so that we start many of our northern Italy trips here. Nestled in the heart of South Tyrol, Bolzano blends Austrian, Italian and Ladin influences in everything from its architecture and cuisine to its language and traditions. Historically, Bolzano was called Bozen, and less than a century ago it was entirely German-speaking.

At Backroads, we believe people can do hard things, specifically hard hikes. Many guests come seeking a true mountain challenge. Others arrive certain they’ll choose the moderate route each day, only to decide they’re up for testing their limits. However you approach your next trek, our leaders and thoughtful trip design support your ambitions.

Looking for a challenge? Backroads has long been a favorite of riders who love big days in the saddle.

As a Backroads Trip Leader and a musician, I’ve always believed you can learn just as much about a place through its music as through its landscapes. Music carries history in a way few other things can.

In the Galápagos, sustainability is a fundamental philosophy of local culture and policy, further emphasized by the islands’ remoteness and subsequent scarcity of certain resources. Santa Cruz Island is home to roughly 20,000 people—over half of the human population of the archipelago—with smaller agricultural communities spread far beyond its main coastal town of Puerto Ayora.

Uruguay has been flying under the radar. That’s exactly why we like it. But it’s time for this small, stable and safe coastal country to have its moment. If you haven’t heard Uruguay talked about yet as a destination, let this be the first of many times—and allow us to introduce our new obsession.