Rustic Pathways Reviews

This summer I did three programs with Rustic Pathways in Thailand. I started off with Island Hopping and Diving, then I did Intro to Community Service, then I did the Wilderness First Responder Course. In total, I spent a total of five weeks in Thailand with Rustic. It was by far the best summer of my life. The staff, the other students, and the activities were all amazing. Island Hopping and Diving was the perfect adventure trip and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an adrenaline trip. For the last two programs I spent my time at the Ricefields base. The Ricefields base was amazing to say the least the service projects are not only meaningful but they are also fun and everyone their makes you feel at home. There is a cafe there run by Burmese staff and they are the most amazing people you will ever meet. Durning my stay at the Ricefields I got sick and ended up spending the night at the hospital (it was very nice). There was staff with me the whole time and everyone at Ricefields even signed a get well card for me. I am already planning my next sumer with rustic and I am even trying to go back to the Ricefields base. I would honestly recommend rustic to anyone.

This travel will bring you great, unprecedented experience. It offers you many opportunities to help people, to do things that you have never done before.
You may feel uncomfortable staying with strangers in the same room for so much time at first, but you will be used to it after days and days being together as partners. After all the trip, you will certainly become friends with them and contact them even after the trip.
The counselors and the locals are all very welcomed and full of passion, you do not need to worry a lot. They will help you and care for you.
The views here are wonderful!

To say the least, this trip has been amazing. Not only did this trip incorporate the tourism side of the country, we also got to see the poorest areas of all-- the bateyes, where not many people get to visit. Going to both the agricultural and tourist areas of the country, we are able to really see the country, not only its beaches and waves but also its poverty. I got to learn more about the Dominican government, the sugar cane companies, and the hardships of the Haitian immigrants. This has really been an eye-opening experience for me, and I'm sure, the others in the group. 3 of us are even considering going on this same trip AGAIN next year. Aside from being in the impoverished bateyes, we also went around as a regular tourist would at the beautiful beaches, caves, and historical sites, so if you are interested in doing lots of community service, learning about Dominican culture, and also swimming in unbelievably beautiful beaches and caves, this trip is for you.

The balance of adventure and community service on my trip was amazing. My favorite adventure activities include zip lining, kayaking, hiking, scuba diving, and skydiving. The community service on my trip included doing reef checks, measuring seagrass, and playing with the kids at school. I loved every part of it because I got to experience the real Fiji. Living in the village was my favorite part because I met some of the nicest people ever and had never felt so welcomed by strangers before. The staff were the greatest everywhere we went especially the leaders because they knew when to be strict for our safety and how to have fun.

I did two programs in Costa Rica. The first one was Surf & Service, which I chose because I had always wanted to learn how to surf and I wanted to help out the community. I had a lot of fun at this program, made new friends and created unforgettable memories. the second program I did was the Maleku Experience program. This program was truly very rustic but fun. I learned new things about the Maleku Tribe's culture and traditions. I recommend both of these programs to anyone who is interested in surfing or learning about new cultures.

The goal of this trip was to help save sea turtles. We helped in the hatchery carrying bags of sand and leveling out the sand. We also went on LATE/LONG night walks. We stayed in a beach hut. it was very humble no a/c but a nice chef. We went ziplining and horse back riding as well as white water rafting and surfing. I wish we did more optional activities. There was alot of free time which was spent napping because we didnt sleep at night because of the night walks. Over all it was an awesome experience i would definitly do again in a heartbeat.

I have been on several other teen summer programs such as this one, even with Rustic Pathways, but Rustic's Australia program has made this by far the best summer of my life. I made friendships that will last a lifetime, and memories that I will never, ever forget. This trip was unbelievable; everything I hoped it would be and more.

I felt very involved during the community service hours. I could feel myself making a difference. The optional activities were super cool like river kayaking to a waterfall. Also being able to talk to the locals really got you to see what life is like there.

I chose this program because of the combined community service and adventure travel aspect of it, and I'm so glad I did. We did about 20 hours of service on this trip with the goal to help provide food to low income families, and I really feel like Rustic Pathways helped me make a difference. We packed boxes of food, bagged bulk goods, and prepared food in the kitchen, but the most meaningful thing to me was handing the boxes we had packed to people and seeing the impact it made for their families. As for the adventure travel part of the trip, I had a blast. We did all kinds of things outdoors, but the highlight for me was seeing the Grand Canyon. It is absolutely incredible and something that everyone should see in person at least once in their life. If you're not sure about going on a trip like this, take these last words of advice: I went into this trip not knowing anyone, and I came out of it with close friends and experiences both fun and meaningful that I will remember forever.

This summer, I embarked on my incredible adventure to Laos and Thailand with only a backpack of necessities. I honestly can not summarize the amazing experience into words, but here I will try. This program is, in my opinion, the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding of all programs that Rustic Pathways has to offer in Southeast Asia. Right from the start, I felt comfortable and welcomed into my group of 16 teenagers who all shared interest in impacting the world, and demonstrated humility, integrity, and compassion. My group dynamic definitely set a positive tone for my entire journey, and I felt so blessed to have shared this experience with my new best friends. My leaders were super prepared with medical skills, and I always felt comfortable talking to them, no matter what the topic was. They trusted us to not do dumb things, which I think was important because this is an independent and personal adventure. The local staff were friendly, and it was fun to teach each other new words and aspects of our cultures. I felt safe knowing that I was accounted for and looked after, as we traveled through some slightly risky areas, especially in Laos. I was extremely grateful to be able to experience the realities of world travel while still never feeling threatened or in danger, which I think is something Rustic Pathways has truly perfected.

At first, I was nervous about how far my comfort zone would be pushed during this trip, as I was flying across the world with only a few belongings and I didn't know anyone beforehand. However, my group turned out to be a wonderful support group, and we all helped each other push our limits, learn, and grow from life outside our comfort zone in a painless way. Of course, there were times while we lived in our homestays, in sometimes extremely rural villages, where I felt uncomfortable, but every experience was worth the lesson that it taught me, and helped me grow in my awareness of the global community. I think the like-mindedness of people who choose to send themselves halfway across the world with just 5 things is a really important aspect of this program, and group dynamic can influence the entire trip a lot.

We visited 3 different villages, one in Thailand and two in Laos. We spent 4 to 5 days in each village, which i felt was a long enough time to build relationships with the locals and learn their individual cultures. Our homestay families were welcoming, and I will honestly never forget their hospitality. I enjoyed how much we learned about the rich history in Laos, which was so important to truly understand their way of life. I was so excited to learn about how these people, especially in the most isolated village, lived without influence of modern technology, and it was amazing to work alongside them while we built soccer goals, a fence, and a sign for their school. The service was often challenging, from mixing cement or laying bricks for a wall, to digging/hoeing dirt to transport to our worksite, or digging a long trench to lay pipes for water transport. At some points in the most rural village, I felt like there were more impactful projects that we could be doing, but I always kept it in perspective that the village asked us for specific things that they needed help with. I knew that whatever we were doing, they were really grateful for. It was awesome to spend time with villagers, learn a bit of their language, and share our vastly different cultures.

The travel days between Thailand and Laos were long, but never boring. I was really glad that we took alternate means of travel instead of just days of travel in a van. Our two-day boat ride down the Mekong was gorgeous, and I was never bored, even when stuck on the boat for 8 hours a day. The website really plays up the boat ride, I think, because we didn't stay on the boat for 2 whole days straight. We stayed in a hotel between the boating days in a small river town. Every place we ate at was beautiful and on the water almost always, and I felt safe in our hotel rooms even when they were pretty rustic. I was actually glad that we didn't stay in very high-end or nice hotels because I think it added to the experience and made it more memorable. Laos is definitely the most consistently beautiful country I have ever visited, and every simple view out any window was breathtaking.

By the end of the trip, everyone was pretty sick from either exhaustion or a virus. A few kids got food poisoning, and a lot of us got colds, fevers, or rashes. I know on a lot of these trips, getting sick or hurt is almost unavoidable, but Rustic always seemed pretty diligent about getting kids to hospitals if they need to see doctors, and they paid for medical bills for kids who had doctors visits. I suggest bringing day/nighttime cold meds, advil or tylenol, and a few packages of tissues (because you never know when you'll need them). We were able to shop for clothes & other random items at least 4 times during the trip, either at supermarkets or night markets, but I was surprised by how little I needed on a day to day basis. I also suggest buying something like a fanny pack while you're over there because mine was truly a life saver: I kept all my necessary items in it (passport, phone, hand sanitizer) and I was never worried it would be lost.

Overall, I strongly suggest pushing the limits of your comfort zone and trying out this challenging program. I see things in a new light since I've gotten home, and I wouldn't trade this new attitude for anything. I would love to discuss the program further if anyone is seriously interested.