A Lifetime of Adventure

We led our first bicycle tour in 1972 . . .

We led our first bicycle tour from coast to coast across Italy in 1972. It was a wonderful experience, but we didn't offer bicycle tours again in Europe until 1985. Instead, we followed our own passion for travel and explored every corner of Europe on our own. That was how we began a lifetime of adventure – and today we have a lifetime of priceless memories to show for it!

We've been stuck with our VW van in the Sahara.

We’ve walked for miles and miles with our donkey "Benjamin" in Greece.

We’ve hitchhiked across Turkey (twice!), and we’ve sailed an Arab dhow across the Persian Gulf from Iran to Bahrain.

We’ve hiked and biked throughout the United States, Italy, Ireland, Germany's Black Forest, the European Alps, the islands of the Mediterranean, and from St. Petersburg to Istanbul…

We’ve always felt a strong desire to really understand the countries and cultures we’ve visited. That’s why walking and cycling have always been our favorite modes of travel. You can’t get much closer to a new landscape and culture than when you’re wheeling into a new town with the wind at your back, knowing that a cozy hotel and a savory dinner are just ahead!

Our tours reflect our passion for learning & sharing

To satisfy our passion to know more about the world we were exploring, we stopped hiking and cycling long enough to complete our PhD degrees at the University of Oregon. Rick became a cultural geographer, and Paola began an academic career that has led her to become a recognized author and distinguished professor of Romance Languages and Literatures.

You will find that our academic expertise in both geography and European culture have influenced the tours we offer at ExperiencePlus! and helped to make each one more rewarding for our customers. After all, our style of travel has always been an educational experience – “Experiential learning" at its best!

Our bicycle tours still have a slight educational “flavor.” No lectures – just good, fun, intellectual exploring with inspired tour leaders and interesting, unpretentious people like you. When you get home after one of our tours, you’ll feel as if you've truly gotten to know someplace new and different.

Read on about Our Style of Traveling