Thailand Summer High School Programs with Rustic Pathways

This summer I went on the trip of a lifetime! Spending time in both Thailand and Laos, I ziplined across waterfalls, belayed down cliff faces, boated down the Mekong, saw river dolphins, and most importantly met the most incredible people. The leaders were all wonderful, each with great stories to share and advice to give, and everyone was so friendly. The trip was excellently organized (like clockwork) and the Base House was amazing!! Definitely pack for two weeks of adventure (bring athletic shorts!!) but do not overpack (I made that mistake). This trip opened my eyes to all the adventure that is out there, and since returning I have been so much more active!! I would 10/10 recommend this program to all adventure and travel lovers.

Traveling across the world alone is scary. You don't know anybody, you don't know what to expect, you're visiting another country with a different culture, and the food is weird. But what people don't think about is that everybody is thinking the same thing. Nobody knows what is going to happen during the two and a half weeks, and that is what makes it such an adventure.

This past summer, I traveled from New York City to Frankfurt to Singapore to Bangkok to Chaing Mai, with a group of 25 other girls and 1 boy. During those 45 hours of travel, I had no idea that I would meet some of my best friends in the world. Everybody was kind, loving, cared about the environment, cared about all cultures and all people, and genuinely wanted to spend every waking moment living in the present time.

My group spent one whole week living on the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, where we trained to be mahouts. We were each paired with a partner, an elephant, and a professional mahout (or elephant caretaker). My elephant's name was Boon Mee, and my mahout's name was P. Neuk. During those six days, I learned so much from a man who I did not speak one word of the same language as. P. Neuk taught me and my partner to love ourselves, everybody, and everything around us. He taught us to care for our surroundings and be happy ALL THE TIME! We woke up every morning and retrieved our elephants from the jungle and brought them to a nearby body of water where we would give them their baths. Then we would ride them back to the TECC, and spend a day in beautiful Lampang, Thailand, before repeating the bathing schedule during the evening. My time at the TECC was life changing, and I could not be more thankful for P. Neuk and Boon Mee for teaching me how to cherish every moment in life.

For the second week of the trip, my group traveled all around Thailand visiting Buddhist temples, museums, waterfalls, and much more. My favorite moment of the entire two weeks that I was away was the day that we visited a Buddhist Monastery in the mountains. I remember being told that the climb to the monastery was over 500 steps. The whole group groaned and we were all dreading the day that we had to walk up all those stairs. But when we got there and started walking, I noticed that there were signs up against all of the trees that had Buddhist quotes about suffering and sacrifice, making me think about everything differently. The steps were torturous, but reading the quotes made it worth it and so did the destination at the top. When we arrived at the monastery, I remember seeing the hundreds of Buddhas lining the inside of the main area. I remember seeing pictures of renowned monks hanging from all the walls. At the time that we were there, it was a very important Buddhist holiday and all of the Buddhists were visiting the temples and monasteries to pay their respects to Buddha and monks. On this day we got to meditate with a monk at the top of a beautiful mountain in the middle of Thailand. I will never forget how surreal it felt to be meditating with a man who devoted his entire life to following the footsteps of Buddha while sitting in a place so breathtaking and unknown, listening to him speak Thai words and feel like I knew what he was saying even though there was such a barrier between us.

Thailand changed my life, and it will change yours to. I truly cannot say that I disliked any moment of this trip, no matter how hot and humid it was. Please travel to Thailand and experience the same amount of wonder that I did this summer!

If you're thinking about going on this trip, you should. Going to Thailand was my first time traveling out of the country, and I was hardly nervous. RP staff makes it so easy and comfortable to travel, and upon arrival I felt immediately welcomed. The Children's Home is the most amazing place that I have ever been. The people and staff there are by far the best people I have ever had the opportunity to meet. They love genuinely and are eager to make new friends and build relationships. On one of the first service projects we did, we stayed over night at a school. This night we talked about some of the misconceptions we had about the country. It was amazing to see how many people were warned to "wear their backpacks on the front of their bodies" and "be extra careful of your valuables" because of an inaccurate stereotype of Thai people as untrustworthy. It seems many of us came with the impression that because we had more than someone else, they would undoubtedly want, and try to get whatever we had that they don't. Besides the fact that on this trip I learned that my perceptions of having "more" are very different from others, and that just because I have before seen my life as "better" than those who have less, doesn't mean that is the case, I learned that people are good. From my experience, Thai people seem to be some of the most trustworthy people. Some even leave stores unlocked at night, and invite strangers into their homes with open arms. It's almost as if those who gave us the
"advice" to be extra cautious, actually had no idea what they were talking about. I felt so safe here, and at peace more so than I do back home. Leaving the Children's Home was one of the hardest things I have ever done, I think that it truly may be magical.
Although leaving was hard, the Elephants were worth it. Spending a week learning about and helping care for and understand elephants and their role in Thai culture was amazing. It became clear that though these are still not ideal conditions for the animals, it is the best we can do. Love and learn and protect. The hotel was fantastic, and it was so neat to interact with the Mahouts and learn more about their lifestyle. We also had many other excursions on this trip, such as going to temples, white water rafting, and visiting markets. This trip was the most unique and beneficial learning experience I have ever had the privilege of being a part of, and I fully and whole-heartedly recommend it.

At first, this program seemed daunting; coming with only a small carry-on for 25 days halfway around the world? Sounds crazy, especially in a culture where checking a large suitcase for a week's getaway at a resort is the norm. But on this trip I not only used every single item I packed, which was a first for me, but I also came home with so many more experiences than I would have had with a checked suitcase.
One of the highlights of the trip was definitely visiting the local markets, particularly the ones hidden from tourists. Although the stench of the meat sitting out in the sun will never leave me, neither will the feeling of experiencing local life when bargaining to buy towels, t-shirts, and crocs. I felt most like a local in those markets, wandering through the alleyways surrounded by local food. I was able to get all of the necessities at these markets, the first of which I visited on the second day, so anyone concerned about the lack of necessities from home will soon find satisfaction with a whole new bag filled with clothes.
The village life is primarily focused on the service, which consists of two three hour sections each day. Prepare to work with a lot of cement in the sun for hours on end. Despite this description, service days were some of the most memorable because sometimes the local children will come and join you to assist in your service. At one point we had about 40 children in an assembly line bringing sand up a hill.
This program allows you to experience a variety of tourist attractions as well, such as the White Temple, the Black House, night markets, a mountain and waterfall, and wonderful Thai massages. Flexibility is required on this trip however, as the itinerary can change quickly. As you bond with a small group of people you grow accustomed to the exotic fruits, squatty potties, and bucket showers that soon feel normal to you.
I highly recommend this program to adventurous students who enjoy connecting with others, the satisfaction of hard work, and immersing themselves in a completely foreign culture. The rewards I reaped from this program were truly priceless and I would have been unable to experience what I did anywhere else in the world and for that I am grateful.

The program, overall , was an excellent opportunity. From the first moment I set foot upon the Ricefields base, the staff was wonderful. The programs, the food, the lodgings, and the activities all exceeded expectations.

Be careful about the side trip options, however. Though we were told we would have 5 options on the website, we were presented only two at onsite, which was determined via popular vote. The trip itself was also somewhat poorly managed, with little communication.

However, the trip was fun overall, and provided me with memories that will last a lifetime.

This trip was amazing and impacted me in ways I didn't expect. It was the perfect combination of learning, service, sight seeing, and activities. It was a great experience to be able to connect with children who don't speak your language, while also working to improve the lives of elephants. Our group recognized that the Sappraiwan Elephant Sanctuary did not provide the best care for elephants, so we changed our itinerary in order to fix that. It was cool to be able to do what we wanted by working on a project we all cared about. If you have the opportunity to go on this trip, I really suggest doing it because it changed my life.

I want to start by saying that Rustic Pathways has truly impacted and changed my life forever. I've traveled to both Fiji (I did the Sun, Sand, and International Service program) and Thailand (Ricefields, Monks, and Smiling Children) which were eye opening experiences for me where my perspective of the world completely changed. I highly recommend traveling with Rustic Pathways.
For my program in Thailand, I stayed at the base house in Udon Thani and it was unbelievable. It was absolutely beautiful, always clean, and I felt perfectly safe. Both in the mornings and afternoons, we had the option of 3-4 service projects, usually construction in the morning and a variety in the afternoon. I loved them all! The two that stood out to me the most were Welcome Homes and Teaching and Tutoring.
For the project of Welcome Homes, we built a house for a woman whose home had been completely destroyed by termites and was currently living in quite a small shack. I loved this project because I could actually see the impact I was making in the community. I got to see the improvements we were making on the house as well as see the expression on the woman's face as we were doing it. As I was talking to her, I could tell that she was truly grateful for what we were doing.
For the project of Teaching and Tutoring, we traveled to a local school and I had the opportunity to teach 3rd graders flowers in English. They were absolutely adorable! Although this was very challenging because the kids barely spoke English, I noticed how passionate they are for learning and how grateful they are for the opportunity to go to school.
I highly recommend this trip if you are looking to break out of your comfort zone, immerse yourself in a new culture, and experience incredible opportunities.

My daughter went on the Wonders and Riches of SE Asia trip in July 2017. In 2016, she went with Rustic Pathways to Fiji. I have been very impressed with Rustic Pathways - the education they provide, their safety-mindedness, the amazing experiences they line up for the kids.

My stomach was in knots when I dropped my daughter at the airport to fly to Fiji trusting others' opinions of Rustic Pathways ... she knew no one on the trip ... it was scary! As it turns out, her friends were right: the trip was an experience of a lifetime and she made a forever friend who lives not too far from us here in the United States. Seeing the villages and meeting the people there gave my daughter a different perspective and I was thrilled she wanted to immediately sign up for another Rustic trip.

The Asia trip was just incredible - breakfast with monks, cruises, a visit to an alligator farm. She sent me a photo of her about to eat a fried scorpion on a stick and another with a giant (live) snake. It's a real leap of faith for parents to allow kids to roam the globe, but I do think the kids' minds are expanded - and they appreciate not everyone has the same life experiences we have here in the United States. Parents of Rustic travelers can expect to see an increase in independence, self-reliance and self-confidence in their young world citizens.