Rustic Pathways Reviews

This trip was absolutely amazing. I made friends that are going to last a life time! The community service is hard but so rewarding. Also the connections that you are able to make with the local village kids is amazing. We had dance parties with them which was so fun. The boat trip down the Mekong was so fun it was a really good experience to bond with everyone from our trip and to see Laos. The village people are so kind and welcoming, I didnt feel like an outsider at all. Overall this trip is extremely rewarding. I wish I never left!

I was on Rustic Pathway's Souqs and Service program to Morocco from June 26-July 10, and I was in very good hands even before I got to my home airport on the way to our gateway airport. I was scheduled to land in New York (where we were to meet out group to fly to morocco) significantly earlier than any one else, and I was in contact with the airport coordinator before I even took off to New York. They assured that I was in good hands the whole time.
I was one of the unfortunate ones and was sick almost the entire duration of my trip, which was just due to the drastic change in diet, and being in a new place. It was never anything too major and I was still able to participate in everything almost the entire time because my program leaders (and one of the airport coordinators at JFK) kept me in great hands. It was good to know that my health was always a priority, and they stuck to it and did whatever they needed to to keep me as healthy as possible the entire trip.
As for on the trip itself, I had two of the best weeks of my entire life. This trip left a major impact on my views of Moroccan and Muslim cultures, and an impact on me as a human being in today's society. We spent about a week in a small village in the High Atlas Mountains called Zaouia Ahansal and worked very hard with The Atlas Cultural Foundation there. Our week in Zaouia was definitely the highlight of my trip. I was slightly shocked on the accommodations we had there, I knew what to expect, and Rustic's website was good at explaining exactly what we would have access to, but it still came as a bit of a shock to me. The closest thing I am able to relate our stay in Zaouia to would be "glamping". The community service we took part in was so much fun. Much more fun than I was expecting. We never worked too hard, but we got things done, and we had fun bonding with our group and the locals while doing it. One thing I did not expect with our service was the amount of breaks we took, and they weren't just stop for 15 seconds for water, they were full on 5-10 minutes, sit down and drink a cup of tea every 30 minutes. Especially during construction, it almost didn't feel productive. It wasn't strenuous work either, I moved a large pile of rocks. each rock weighed only a couple pounds and it was quite easy work. We also helped out with gardening in the community garden, and tutoring kids in the community center with games and activities. In the evenings and free time, we would go back to the guest house and take naps, play games, and hang out with the people of the house.
Zaouia was by far my favorite part of the trip, but I loved the rest also, we went to 3 other cities, Marrakech, Rabat, and Chefchaoen. We spent 3 days in Marrakech wandering the souqs, learning calligraphy, talking with local teenagers, getting henna, and my favorite, eating the food! I am a huge "foodie" and getting to eat a completely different type of cuisine for two whole weeks, I was in heaven. I will say, the souqs are not designed for people with ADHD. I can say from experience. There is so many smells, people walking buy, people asking for money, people trying to get you to buy stuff, motorcycles and scooters (vespas), donkeys and carts, did I mention smells, both good, and bad, you have to keep an eye out for your program leaders, and your group, I had a friend staying in Marrakech at the time, so I would be looking for them occasionally, and I was trying to shop and buy things. There is a reason the souqs are called sensory overload, and it's true.
Rabat was fun, but it was fast and not near as interesting as everywhere else. If vague tours of international governments are your thing, then you'll enjoy this, but me personally, it wasn't my thing.
Finally Chefchaoen. Only the best city on the planet, the blue city. The way they set up the Chefchaoen itineraire was perfect. And my program leaders changed things up a bit and told us to lead and they would point us in the right direction we got lost, some guided us being in charge. kind of. Chefchaoen was definitely towards the top of the best parts of my trip. We ate at some really great restaurants, did some fun activities, and it was a fantastic place to watch the final moroccan sunset with my 13 new best friends.
Overall, I had such an incredible experience in Morocco with Rustic Pathways. This was a trip I will not soon forget.

I definitely recommend this trip. It was impactful, fun, and interesting. There was a good balance between service, learning, and fun. The other students were approachable and caring, as were our group leaders. The community service was rewarding yet enjoyable. I always felt safe and we always stick together as a group. The food was really good and our leaders ensured that there was always water available. The base house was also great.

Overall, this is a great program. The communication with parents throughout the trip was ideal. My largest complaint is in terms of the packing list. Jeans were much more useful than long shorts, so I would recommend bringing another pair. The accommodations were great, but a lot of time was spent traveling to and from service. The food was amazing, and the staff was always willing to adjust in order to accommodate all students.

I just recently got back from my trip to Laos on the Sticky Rice Service Adventure. It was truly one of the best times of my entire life. Everything about this trip was well planned and authentic. My leaders made sure we were safe but still gave us freedom to have fun. The Lao people are some of the kindest, most friendly people you will ever meet, and this trip gave me and my group personal interactions with locals. This trip is special because you get the feeling of being a part of a village, but you still get to move around and venture outside of the village to other cities. Also, what is great is that you get to do two completely different service projects during the trip. One is in the village, building and doing more hands on things, and then you move to Luang Prabang where you are able to help Lao people with their english, and work in a school. This trip was life changing, and I will never forget my amazing memories in Laos. Go on this trip!!!

I loved my trip and it was very fulfilling. The leaders were great. We did service that felt meaningful and made an impact onto other people. I made great friends with everyone i roomed with and local people and kids. The service was very personal and we were given opportunities to explore the country in ways many people are not. We grew close with the culture and the people living in it. I would recommend this trip to anyone.

I was enrolled in the Mountain Air Village Service program. Overall the program was very enjoyable. I found the leaders to be very engaging and I enjoyed some very nice conversations with them. The volunteer work we did was hard work but the accomplishments felt tangible, since we finished the aqueduct the groups before us had also been working on. Seeing the water going through the entire thing and the reactions of the people who now had clean water was priceless and heartwarming. This trip was also great for meeting new people and it was really cool to meet people from all around the US and even a few from outside the US and just to connect with them. Overall this trip was very enjoyable and i’d reccomend it to anyone who is looking for an experience like this.

My 15 year old son went with Rustic Pathways on his first trip alone. We were looking for something easy to get to for a few weeks for his first adventure.
He had an amazing time! It seemed well organized and they had a nice balance between Service and other experiences in the community. I like the fact that the kids had to put away their electronics for the majority trip. I still had to get over having minimal contact, however.
At first my son didn’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish but by the end of the trip he felt more confident and was speaking Spanish to the locals. I really think that the work that they did, building an aqueduct felt meaningful to the kids and the locals.
There were many more girls than boys on this particular trip to the Dominican republic. By all reports, the trip was great! I only wish it was a little longer since he enjoyed it so much.

I have never experienced a country to this depth before. Instead of being told about their culture through guided tours and pamphlets like I had grown so accustomed to, we were able to experience traditions and customs firsthand. We grew so close to the locals and, as a result, we were able to learn so much in such a natural and seamless way. Rustic Pathways has taught me so much, not only about the beautiful country that is Fiji but about myself as well.

This was truely a life changing experience and it is perfect for someone intreated in clean water issues and health related issues. The trip had a lot of educational oppurtunities and fun activity as well. It was a balance of fun and service. We built arbolu toilets and visited a lot of schools in the village and also had fun while going on a safari and shopping. The program is located in 2 places: Shirati and Arusha. Shirati is a rural village and arusha is a city and I like that you get to see both sides to Tanzania. The program is a great way to meet people with common intrests.