Cameron is incredible. Rustic Pathways made sure that our entire trip was low-stress and so well organized. The addition of a local guide was key, and Marta (Iceland) was knowledgeable, fun, and kind. The students, my co-chaperone, and I had the trip of a lifetime!

Great trip - very well organised!
Thank you!

The staff that we had in Puerto Rico was amazing! Patrick, Nancy, Isabelle, Sidney, & Melito were very accommodating and gave us a breath of insight into Puerto Rico's rich cultural history, delicious food & environmental beauty of the land. All this, while providing a fun-filled time for our students and faculty! Thank you again!

Great guides (Guillermo, Erica, and Jonathan, as well as driver Nick)

Rustic Pathways is -in theory- an attractive concept: cultural immersion in a foreign country tied with community service. Unfortunately, weather or not the experience ends up being a good one depends on a mix of variables: the size of the group, the types of kids that end up attending, and the capability of the guides assigned to supervise them. All these factors are unknown ahead of time and it all becomes a leap of faith. Our family learned the hard way that this company lacks consistency in their vetting capabilities. Therefore, any given trip is like rolling the dice.

My son first went to their program in Bali and had a great experience, which led us to sign him up the following year to a program in Thailand. The second ended up being disastrous. The group was detrimentally small, only 4 more kids. The age disparity was significant and unfortunately my son was on the younger side. He was paired with a much older roommate that continuously smoked pot and ended up providing it to the rest of the group. They would smoke at the hotel they were staying at under the alleged supervision of the guides. To make matters worse, during a day trip to the market, the same kid bought marihuana there. Again, the guides where in close proximity all the time yet remained oblivious.

Only 4 days into the trip, our son called us he was having a hard time with the peer pressure. We immediately found a way to get him on a flight back home. I spoke to the regional director and warned them about what was going on. After all, more than half of the trip remained. I made them aware of this particular kid that was providing pot to the rest of the group. To my surprise, they refrained from removing this kid from the trip, concealed this information from the rest of the parents and allowed the trip to go on as if nothing was happening. The only other time I heard from them was when I received a bill for additional expenses. Reimbursement was out of the question, not even partially.

I was left feeling very disillusioned but mainly disappointed at myself for having placed my trust in this company. I wanted my kid to be exposed to a new culture and in return he got exposed to pot for the first time. Their lack of response was irresponsible. I kept thinking about the other parents that never found out about this. Unfortunately I didn’t know who they were or how to contact them.

Excellent communication from the start, plus this is a company that works hard to make sure it coordinates with school leaders to ensure the trip is tailored to the level of the students. Guides were superb, and a special shout out to Keagan who went out of his way to share his love of Thailand with students. Best guide I have every had!

The tour guides were great. Wonderful experience.

Rustic Pathways left no stone unturned when exploring options for the best trip to Morocco. We learned about life in a small village by doing a service project and learning to make bread and weave with the locals. We learned about life in a big city by touring the markets, visiting a mosque and museum, and walking the streets to soak it all in. We learned some basic language to communicate with the locals as we explored and even had the amazing experience of Iftar (breaking fast) with a family in their home. It was a well rounded trip leaving me with much to thing when we returned home!

the people really made the trip! i think rustic does a good job connecting everyone

The locations, activities and the amazing guides

I had a great experience with Rustic Pathways. I could enjoy the culture in so many ways and aspects I didn't know I could. I met many kind and open-minded people, it was so refreshing to have people accept you into their culture so freely. Thanks to Rustic Pathways, I could participate in such a diverse range of activities and eat so many delicious, traditional foods that I wouldn't be able to on a regular holiday. Travelling is not just about having fun, but also immersing yourself in a culture and understanding the aspects of the locals' day-to-day life and traditions, and that’s what Rustic Pathways did well. I think this experience will forever be in my mind and when I look back, I will remember my experiences and the amazing people I met who left such a positive impact on me. If I am being honest, I wish I could have stayed for a bit longer but I think in such a short amount of time I was able to experience so much and that was amazing.

Great variety of cultural experience together with worthwhile voluntary work and major sight seeing experience. My daughter enjoyed the experience very much! Thank you Alex for overseeing the whole trip!

had the best time in Mongolia ever all thanks to them, provided great support throughout the trip and could not be more helpful

The instructor Chet was the nicest guy ever.

Learned the basic medical treatment and helped village people.

Good morning !

First of all we would like to say “A BIG THANK YOU” to all the staff involved in this amazing trip.

You guys touched the hearts of our kids.🙏🥰

When we went to pick up Arihant to the Airport he was looking a bit sad and down we thought he might be tired but when we checked with him the reason, we were very surprised to hear from him what he said. Arihant told us that;
“Mama, I am sad to leave and say “good bye” to the Rustic Pathways team”. They were very nice and friendly people. But last day of our trip made me emotional when we have to say goodbye to the RP Staffs”.

So, after listening to my son reply it touched my emotions as well. You guys took care of the children not only as students but as your own kids. We also appreciate your professionalism for handling the whole trip. You took and captured lovely pictures and moments of the students and teachers these are beautiful memories which everyone will remember forever.

We are so thankful and happy with Rustic Pathways overall handling and managing the entire trip and program that if given a chance in future to have a family trip to Thailand or other places we would definitely choose and recommend RUSTIC PATHWAYS.

For Ratings, I would give all the stars and full on marks to you.

Last but not least we would like to say,

THANK YOU !!!!
K̄hxbkhuṇ !!!!

My kid enjoyed a lot. fantastic experience. Kids felt very safe and secure.

It was a fantastic experience, and I couldn't have asked for more. The guides were knowledgeable and connected well with the students. We did a lot of activities, maybe too many. Next time, it would be great to have fewer activities so that we can spend more time in each place. Perhaps having a nice dinner out on the boat would be a nice addition.
It was a wonderful trip and wonderful guides. So helpful!

Really great experience, lots of activities, good leaders who were chill

Our local tour guides were amazing. They were fun, knowledgeable, accommodating, and set clear expectations for the students. They made safety a priority and students felt well cared for.