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Tom Hale

10 statements across 1 episodes · 0 bullish · 4 bearish · 1 people on the record · first statement Nov 10, 2025 by Tom Hale · said 4 times in 3 episodes since 2026 · across every show →

On the record as a speaker too: Tom Hale's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.

Mentions by year

brought up most by Guy Raz (4)

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0232026episodes it came up in
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2026 4 mentions in 3 episodes 1 per episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about Tom Hale, oldest first

Nov 10, 2025 negative
Disclosure
Hale: Backroads avoids or drops destinations compromised by overtourism
“We do our best to avoid those kinds of places. Sometimes we're able to go in the morning and miss something that negative aspect of a place. And sometimes we just don't go there anymore.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 42:00 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025 negative
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hale: Backroads was burglarized in San Leandro, losing half its bikes
“The bikes were in our warehouse in San Leandro. We got burglarized, and they stole half of our bikes.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 20:28 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Assertion Supported
Hale: Backroads remained family-owned without outside investors for 46 years
“Didn't have any investors, never, it's remained a hundred percent closely held family business for 46 years”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 24:49 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hale: Trip leaders finished the summer season despite a vehicle rollover crash
“But they Bill and Kathy went on to lead the next two trips. I went back to get another van to meet them, and we finished it was a pretty rigorous, because we had to keep moving the seats in the van in and out, and they were heavy, and we had to move big, heavy…”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 27:52 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Disclosure
Hale: Early international Backroads tours likely ignored local regulations
“My guess is they probably did have rules and we probably weren't adhering to them.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 30:14 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Disclosure
Hale worked night shifts chipping cheese from pots to fund early ads
“Well, they didn't cost very much, and I worked on the side at night at Fondue Fred on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. I chipped the cheese out of fondue pots.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 13:29 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025 negative
Insight
Hale: Starting an active travel company as a side hustle is unfeasible
“And people that start this as a hobby and keep their day job, I can't even imagine. Oh, good luck.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 45:30 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025 negative
Insight
Hale: Loving the outdoors does not translate to enjoying environmental planning
“I see so many kids Doing exactly what I did, which is I love the environment, ok? I always have. I've been running out in the woods all my life. I love the environment. Well, I love the environment, so why don't I do environmental planning? There was nothing a…”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 3:43 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Disclosure
Hale drafted an eight-page Backroads business plan at 2 a.m.
“Woke up about two in the morning, got out of bed, and took eight pages of notes on what it would take to do this.”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 5:11 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
Nov 10, 2025
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hale: I rode a 5,000-mile western US solo loop to scout Backroads routes
“I thought the, you know, going around the loop in the western United States, I did about a 5000 mile loop. I started in San Francisco, took BART to the end of the line, and got out of BART, and rode down the coast, and Went counterclockwise around the country,…”
Tom Hale Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 8:17 Backroads: Tom Hale. How a desk worker became a trailblazer in active travel
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