Dear Students,
At Rustic Pathways, we encourage you to put your phone down and be where you are.
Every minute spent texting, scrolling, or checking notifications is a minute missed, a friendship not made, a place not really seen, a moment you won’t get back. That’s what educational travel is for: being present, trying new things, stepping outside what’s comfortable.
We don’t confiscate phones. It feels unseemly to us.
But during meals, activities, group discussions, and service projects, they stay away. Use it as a camera if you want to remember the trip, just don’t watch it happen through a screen instead of living it.
Call home as often or as little as you want. We will never get between you and your family.
Technology will be there when you get back. Thailand, Costa Rica, Japan; this version of them might not be.
Boldly,
Scott
