Review: Off the Map Cambodia

After doing five Rustic programs, I can confidently say that Off the Map Cambodia, which I did this summer, was my favorite. This trip is a three week service oriented trip that does a fantastic job of providing students with a full view of Cambodia. We got the opportunity to do two village homestays, one of which was in a rural village on land and the other of which was in a floating village. These two portions of the trip were my favorites because we not only got to form a complete picture of what life in Cambodia is like, but we also got to partake in extremely meaningful, intense service projects. Another aspect of the trip was the time in the more developed cities of Cambodia, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. These were also great legs of the trip because they satisfied our interests as tourists to see the major landmarks of the country. Personally, I felt that this trip gave the perfect balance between travel/sight seeing and service/cultural immersion. I got to experience everything from swimming under monstrous waterfalls and touring magnificent temples to eating tarantulas and using a bucket shower each day. By the end of the three weeks, I had made lifelong friends of my peer students as well as my local and international leaders. Not only did I have the best three weeks of my life, but I grew tremendously as a person. I learned so much about myself physically, mentally, and socially by pushing my boundaries and challenging myself in ways that I could never get at home. Not to mention, I made lifetime memories and learned so many things that I never would have known had Rustic Pathways not given me this opportunity to travel.