With the recent changes in Washington many parents are asking themselves "is it safe for my child to travel abroad this summer"? Watch our most recent info session to learn more about how we keep your child safe on a Rustic Pathways program. In this session, we also address safety concerns about traveling abroad right…
Ingrained in the mission of Rustic Pathways is creating a world where all people are connected through a shared humanity, and all decisions are made with a global perspective. In light of today's growing global security concerns and the unique political situation we find ourselves in, now more than ever, educating and building awareness for the…
Have you heard? Star Alumni is BACK and we're beyond excited! We love providing our stand-out alumni with the ability to join us again because a second (or third, or maybe even fourth!) Rustic experience gives you the opportunity to improve both the cross cultural and personal skill sets you started to build on your…
Taylor Brennan, of Montclair, New Jersey, brought a smile and a beam of hope into our inbox and we think she’ll do the same for you. Read Taylor's full email—and how travel inspired her passion for helping others—below, published with her permission. [caption id="attachment_18066" align="alignright" width="640"] Taylor with a student during her time spent on the Sacred…
How do you know you're a Rustic parent? You know when... Have you heard the news!? Star Alumni is back now through February 14! Check your inbox for more details on how to use your exclusive special rate—don't miss out. Or email hello@rusticpathways.com for more information.
We wanted to know what really makes a RP alum. So we asked the experts. You know you're a Rustic alum when…. Want to submit your idea? Comment below for your chance to be featured! Also, don't miss out on your opportunity to take advantage of your Star Alumni special rate (It's BACK!),…
We got an email yesterday from a student alum named Carey Davis, a high school senior from Northborough, Massachusetts, and we had to share it with you. Carey told us, "My travels with Rustic have taught me that to accept and understand cultures and people disparate from my own is to cultivate global harmony. That…
Rustic Pathways CEO Chris Stakich joined Rustic's Evan Morgan for a Facebook Live Q&A that included a short walk around San Francisco and a tour of the Rustic office. Check out the video and find out why Chris loves being Rustic's CEO, his advice to someone just starting their career, his personal philosophy, and so…
If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with the Rustic Pathways ethos: Education, Travel, Philanthropy. We pride ourselves on being a leader in student travel and providing young people with life-changing educational experiences, and we think we're pretty darn good at that. What you may not know is that we are also an impact driven company that believes…
As a parent, you want your child to succeed, not just in school but in his or her interpersonal relationships, post-graduation plans, and future career. Most of all, you want your kid to be happy; to know who they are and where they fit in the world. But we all know that when you’re a…
Quotes from Rustic Pathways alumni Traveling to a new place is always a little uncomfortable—but…
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…
Travel has the power to connect us to other people and cultures. It exposes us to new ideas and helps shape who we become. It also reminds us that we're all part of a shared humanity. That's why we made this video, featuring the following poem written by Louis Bryant III, one of Rustic Pathways' program leaders. Although it seems as…
Sharif Campbell was the first member of his family to go to college. But he didn’t rush off to Tufts University, where he’s currently a sophomore studying international relations. Instead, Sharif took a gap year. Many universities allow students to defer their first year of college as the practice of taking a gap year becomes…
As 2016 draws to a close, here's a list to inspire your next adventure. We chose these destinations with the idea that unique experiences will always beat run-of-the-mill vacations. To me, the best way to travel is to step outside of your comfort zone and explore. So while you won't find any all-inclusive resorts on…
Rustic Pathways has a lot to celebrate about what our students, staff, and community partners accomplished in 2016—from the number of service hours our students completed to the results of our first Student Impact Evaluation. So we broke down 2016 by the numbers. We added operations in Cuba, including two new programs—of the nine…
With winter showing its cold ugly face, if you're anything like this California kid, you're probably already dreaming of warmer climates. As Rustic's International Photography Manager, I've visited each of our destination countries and personally felt that big ball of fire's warmth on every continent but one. So journey with me as we shake out…
“What’s your experience with high altitude climbing?” Only at Rustic Pathways does an email with this subject line come into your inbox, and it doesn’t strike you as strange. Were all of the times I’ve bounced around high in the Andes leading Rustic programs, skiing the Rockies, and hiking and camping in the Sierras about…
It's not hard to find anecdotal reports about the benefits of student travel. Knowing that students return from our programs having experienced some type of growth wasn't enough for us. So we created a framework to intentionally design our programs and assess what and how students learned from them. According to the results from our…
Experiences make us happier than things, according to science. "The good life, in words, may be better lived by doing things than by having things," psychologists Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich first wrote in their research paper titled To Do or To Have? That Is the Question. It's not a new concept. The New…