Amazing experience. 1000% recommend and my daughter is looking forward to going on her next adventure with rustic pathways. Excellent communication and the best travel help. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed her trip and the kids that she made lifelong memories with.

I got to go with my best friend and meet the other people was fun and traveling was really fun! I liked the leaders they were nice i love japan and would go back it was truly a awesome experience!

My son—an avowed homebody—went to Japan with Rustic Pathways. He was having so much fun that he wrote us several times asking to stay in Japan.

The communication from Rustic Pathways was very thorough from start to finish. They made sure we had all the information that we needed at each step of the way.

The group dynamics in his cohort were amazing—in every picture the kids had big smiles on their faces. Rustic Pathways took care to budget both fun and learning so it wasn’t a drag on their summer, but so that they also deeply engaged with the culture. My son was already interested in Japanese culture and history. The best part of this program is that his interest came alive through this experience.

I am a university professor and have experience leading students abroad and know how difficult it can be to balance different needs in a study abroad type of context. Rustic Pathways did a great job stimulating cultural knowledge in these kids.

All of the program leaders were so nice and helpful and supportive of everyone. They made the trip so much better!

My daughter was glowing….. she was smiling for days after the trip.

“The best experience of my life” are the exact words my daughter used. She loved every moment of this trip. The friends, the fun but most importantly she loved the service project. It was very purposeful.

Absolutely the best experience we had with Rustic. The communication was outstanding, the tour guides were knowledgeable and caring. The lodging we had in Peru was the best of the best. Everything was well thought of and well organized. Highly recommend Rustic pathway for future travels

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