There are so many reasons to get teens traveling early (and without their parents), but exposing them to new cultures is one of the most important.
With college application deadlines just around the corner, it always helps to take a step back and find out what universities are really looking…
We’re very excited to announce that Rustic Pathways was named 2017 Best Youth Tour Operator during the Global Youth Travel Awards Sept. 28 in…
My phone rang and I was told there was an accident in Peru. “One of our groups got caught in a landslide and there are…
64-80 hours. That’s how long the average Rustic Pathways Program Leader spends training for their role leading service trips for high school students after…
We are excited to announce that Rustic Pathways has been selected as a finalist in two categories, Best Social Responsibility Initiative and Best Youth…
Rustic Pathways was featured in USA Today. Rustic CEO Chris Stakich said having a global perspective is now more important than ever for high school and college students…
At Rustic Pathways, our mission is to empower students to positively impact lives and communities around the world…
Showing up to the airport for your first Rustic adventure can be a little nerve-wracking for most of us—after all, you haven’t met the rest of your group yet! You may find yourself worrying about…
Development is complicated. Sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to describe what you’ve learned (or what you’re preparing to learn) during a culturally-immersive travel experience to friends and family back home. It’s easy to exaggerate the differences…
Over the next 10 weeks, more than 400 seasonal staff members will help students navigate airports, customs, and new experiences across 19 different countries and 100+ Rustic Pathways programs. This year’s program leaders are the most experienced we’ve ever employed…
Inspired by our Critical Issues programs, which aim to help our students become future change makers, we reached out to Rustic Pathways staff to see what books they would recommend…
The following post was written by Victoria Shanghai Academy Deputy Principal Les Millard, who has partnered with Rustic Pathways for four years to provide his students with transformative travel experiences. Les plans all the CAS Week trips and other experiential learning opportunities for students at the school in Hong Kong. Victoria Shanghai Academy sends about…
Trekking through the Himalayas is likely the last thing on your mind when you’re trying to find time to grade an Everest-sized stack of papers and still get enough sleep to keep a classroom full of teenagers engaged the next day. What these two distant realities have in common—aside from the mountains—is that they can…
We couldn't be more excited about our partnership with Thrival World Academies. Together we're creating the largest network of publicly-funded travel abroad high schools in the country. The first class left Oakland for Thailand in January, where students are spending three months immersing themselves in the local culture as part of their state of California curriculum. Thrival Executive…
With the latest news this week in Washington, we want to reassure families that Rustic Pathways programs are open to all students — including those who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. As an organization, we have been committed to these principles of inclusivity for decades. In 2014, we established a formal policy that outlines…
The first Thrival World Academies class is leaving for Thailand today. Since the school year began in August, the students from Oakland have been preparing for their three months abroad as part of our partnership with Thrival to build the largest network of publicly-funded study abroad high schools in the country. As part of that…
Rustic Pathways is excited and honored to be named one of Outside Magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Work in 2016. According to Outside, this list "showcases companies that make employee health and happiness a point of pride." Maybe we're biased, but Rustic exemplifies these qualities by allowing us to work from literally anywhere and providing free travel perks. Rustic also…
We understand that every school, curriculum, educator, and reason for traveling is different. An itinerary that might be perfect for you may not be the right fit for someone else. That’s why we don’t believe in choosing from a set of pre-made itineraries. Instead we promise customized, private group travel experiences. But what does that…
Whenever I meet someone, the conversation inevitably turns to travel. But it’s more than just knocking countries off of a bucket list—we talk about the people we met, what we learned during these rich cultural experiences, and how they changed us. These are the same kinds of conversations Rustic Pathways students have when they return…