Program Reviews

My experience with Rustic Pathways was unique and will never be replicated. Rustic Pathways impacted me on how I view the world and others from different cultures and cities. Being able to accomplish two things in one sitting is very effective. With Rustic Pathways, you get to travel as well as help out others in different communities that aren’t as fortunate. Costa Rica itself holds a huge spot in my heart because I was overwhelmed with happiness every moment I was there. If you chose to go on a service trip to Costa Rica with Rustic, you should expect a lot of fun activities, bonding with new people from all over the world, and lots of smiles on people’s faces. My favorite part of this trip was being able to see the gratitude expressed by the Costa Rican’s after seeing all the help we provided during our community service. I would extremely recommend ANY of Rustic’s trips if you want to travel, help others, and have fun!

It’s going to be difficult to sum up this incredible and unique experience, but hopefully I can do it justice. I went to Costa Rica on the Summer Camp Leadership program and was given the opportunity to run an authentic camp for Costa Rican children. The connections I made with even the youngest of the group were so valuable, even with a language barrier between us. In a sense, we were able to find common ground because we didn’t quite understand each other, and that brought the counselors and campers all the more closer. I benefited so much from this trip by truly experiencing what life is like for so many people in the world. My outlook on life as a whole is much deeper, and I felt a greater sense of self immediately after returning home. I grew confidence and leadership that will stick with me forever, just like the beautiful memories from the program altogether.

My life was changed by Rustic Pathways. I met people that live life in a completely different way. I changed my values and have looked at my daily life with different perspectives. I learned about new cultures and gathered different ideas. I made connections with people across borders and developed deep friendships that I will carry throughout my life. I loved how it took me out of my daily life and immersed me in an educational environment. I made a connection through true friendliness and compassion. I have traveled to many places around the world, but Fiji brought me to tears because I made connections I have never made before. While in the highlands, I met some of the most genuinely nice people I have ever met. I stayed with a family that immediately called me one of their own. They were always smiling and happy to adapt their culture to make us more comfortable, even though we were in their village. In the house I was assigned to, I paticularly bonded with the 2-year-old living there. He would fall flat on his face and cry. But whenever I said "it's gonna be okay" and smiled at him, he smiled right back and would call me "yalewa" (sister in Fijian). It still makes me smile. Even though we didn't speak the same language, we made an immediate connection that I will never forget.

I was a little bit hesitant in the beginning coming on this trip knowing no one, but after getting to the airport and meeting everyone going on the same program as me, I knew I would have a good time. This program was educational and fun. I had a great time and I hope to go back for more years to come. I made some great friends that I hope to keep for a long time and the service I did here had a great impact on me. The food was phenomenal, having a home cooked meal basically everyday 3 times a day was great. All of the hiking and swimming we did was super fun and the service we did really helped out the people in the communities that needed it. We also learned about many different things and about the culture. This has by far been my favorite trip that I have ever been on and I highly recommend it to anyone that is thinking about it.

A unique aspect of my Rustic Pathways trip over the summer of 2019 was not just meeting teenagers from across the United States, but in other places such as Vietnam and Hong Kong. I was very glad to meet two people that were from outside of the US because on my previous Rustic trip, everyone was from the States. It’s not often that you get to meet some really cool people from across the world. As the program progressed day by day, I learned about the Vietnamese and Hong Kong cultures and what their lives were like back at home. These topics lead to lengthy and intriguing conversations. So all in all, I was learning about the Hawaiians, the Vietnamese, and the people from Hong Kong, all at once! Establishing friendships and connections around the world, whether that be Texas, Chicago, New York, California, or Vietnam, etc. can be beneficial to have in the future.

If someone is considering this program, they should keep in mind that it did rain just about every day in Hawaii. However, it depends what areas of the island you’re on and at what elevation. For example, within the lower level elevation areas by the beaches, it was always hot and sunny, but up in the mountains where the base house was and where we camped, there were frequent yet light rain showers. That didn’t keep our spirits down, it’s just something to keep in mind.

I will always choose Rustic for my travels as a highschool student, thats why for the past 3 years I have chosen to spend my summers with them. I chose this trip super last minute and I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I was pleasantly surprised by the activities and Rustic always outdoes themselves with a great combo of service of fun. The zoo was very organized but kind of inconsistent. They would split us into groups and some groups didn't get to experience things that others did. There was a lot of downtime on this trip at the zoo and after because once you are done with the zoo for the day, they don't really have anything else planned. The accommodations were probably the best I have experienced with rustic in comparison to Fiji and Costa Rica. We stayed at a nice house and super nice hostiles. The food was great because most of the time we cooked and could recommend dishes or places to eat to our program leaders. I highly recommend this trip for animal lovers!

Over the past summer, I got the opportunity to join a Rustic Pathways Trip to the Dominican Republic. This trip was an extremely valuable experience for me and allowed my to come more out of my shell. Before attending this program, I was just a shy high school student who was a little too afraid to put myself out there. When offered the opportunity I was scared but ready to try and enact positive change in the world. This experience has offered me the opportunity to meet and work with new people and collaborate with others in an efficient way. Thanks to this program I have now become more open and I have been able to take more leadership in day to day tasks. I am forever grateful for this life changing experience and I hope this review helps you decide whether or not to join Rustic Pathways.

I went to Morocco with Rustic Pathways the summer after my sophomore year of high school. Having been to China with them previously, I was worried that nothing could compare to that amazing experience. However, I was proven wrong very quickly. My group was small for the program, as we only had 10 students, but I think that made us all much closer than we would've been had we been in a larger group. The students and leaders were amazing, and made my trip so much more special. The leaders really cared about us, but were also genuinely interested in being with us, and even befriending us. That was a huge perk, because it made us all more comfortable with each other. The things I got the opportunity to do were amazing as well, like riding camels across the Sahara Desert, or teaching English to small town kids. The program helped me face some of my fears, but I always felt safe and cared for. The places we stayed were beautiful and well thought out. Everywhere we went was chosen perfectly and genuinely fascinating. My travels with Rustic Pathways have been the best experiences of my life, and I am so grateful to be able to do them during the summer.

As an avid traveler, photography pushes me to communicate with and capture the stories of locals in different countries. Photography empowers me to break barriers that language and different cultural norms put up and allows me to tell the stories of different countries to my community at home. I aim to showcase the lives of individuals throughout the world, to create less fear and more interest in differences. Eyes, expressions, and stories have the power to surpass the extremists shown through media and make connections between citizens of the world accessible to all. During my two weeks in Morocco, I was guided through the history and culture in a way that made my photos come alive. Not only did my photography significantly improve but I was able to humanize a culture that I only imagined before. Through Rustic, I made incredible friends and my trip left me wanting to learn, listen and travel to so many more places throughout the world.

This summer, I went on the Lake Titicaca Service Adventure trip with Rustic Pathways and I really enjoyed it. I decided on Peru because I always wanted to travel to South America. Throughout the trip, I was immersed in the unique and amazing culture of Peru. It was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. Over my two weeks on the trip, we saw Machu Picchu, stayed in many different cities such as Arequipa, Puno, and Cusco. Along with this, we did service work in a small village on the beautiful Lake Titicaca. The trip was very fun, but my main reason for traveling was the service aspect. I love helping people out who really need it and Rustic Pathways really helps to connect you with the people who need it most. The village we stayed in was poor, but the people really enjoyed their lives there and were so happy to have us stay there because they knew they could trust Rustic Pathways students. Rustic Pathways, over the last few years, built a strong connection with this community and it was just amazing. Along with this, the leaders were awesome people. Both my leaders were people who I could easily go to for help. They seemed like less of authoritative figures to me, but more of friends. They really made sure that every student was enjoying the trip to the fullest. Also, I made many great friends with the other students on the trip. I found common interests with other students and actually hung out at home a few months after the trip. I enjoyed this trip to Peru so much and I wish I could go back. To anyone contemplating going on the trip, I would say to go for it. I was not very sure if this was the trip for me when I first signed up, but I stuck with it and it was one of the greatest times of my life. This trip opened my eyes to the world, gave me more independence, and overall helped me grow as a person