What countries have you traveled to?
I always try to spend at least one afternoon, if possible one day, learning about the people and the country. I traveled to almost all South America (except Bolivia and Paraguay), all North America, spent one day in Panama. In Europe I was in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France.
How has your international experience evolved to make you an even more valuable addition to the Rustic Pathways team?
The knowledge of remote teamwork and communication while away. Also learning how to interact with the communities we help was important in achieving our goals of the community service.
How did you get involved with Rustic Pathways?
I was in between jobs and wanted to work for a German company and practice the language through a local company. The local company offered me an opportunity to work with Rustic Pathways.
How long have you been working with Rustic Pathways?
Already 8 years.
What is the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
The community service Rustic Pathways is committed to. I’m really happy to be a tool to make that happen.
What do you like most about Rustic Pathways?
The remote work possibility and the chance to meet people from all over the world who shares our same ideals is also really important.
What makes Rustic Pathways different from other international program providers?
The reality about community service. Other companies only offer a couple hours of service which doesn’t really count, for me, as community service. Other companies only offer some help to communities during end of the year holidays.
What has been one of your favorite moments at Rustic Pathways?
For summer groups: The staff training days, the first day of summer and the final days are always special. For private groups, also first and final. But when I had the chance to be with the groups the final day of service work or homestays is very touching, the way kids get transformed is amazing.
What is your favorite project you have worked on and why?
The CRFA local partial boarding school, we helped them a lot.
How did you first go about getting a global perspective?
The fact that most of the times I traveled abroad for work, really opened up my perspective, the traveler always need to get to know locals and their real situations not just the ones we are able to see in “touristic tours”.
How do you embody Rustic Pathways’ vision and bring it to life?
Since I was a child, I had the chance to travel all around my country with my family and learned a lot about how different is life depending where you live and that makes a big difference in the way we live and how to treat other people.
How do you stay focused on Rustic’s mission to positively impact lives and communities around the world?
Is not really hard to stay focused, because the mission is the main reason I work with Rustic.
Why do you view travel as an essential part of every education?
When someone travels, they always learn something that they will never have the chance to learn in school. Getting to know people and their differences with us is something that we always have to do.
What makes you proud to work at Rustic Pathways?
The fact that community service is one of the main reasons we are chosen is the most important factor to me. The educational part of the trip is also important, but in my opinion, they are both linked.