Make The World Your Classroom

The Mission and Values of Your School:

We design innovative programs that help schools achieve their mission and live their values.

Your Vision and Purpose for Travelling with Students:

We admire the passion and vision of teachers. Allow us to partner with you and help create your legacy!

Your School’s Curriculum:

Our school group tours can integrate with your school curriculum and become part of the school culture. We go into our alignment with the Australian curriculum further down on this page.

Coursework or a Specific Content Area:

We help teachers to choose or design programs that meet their specific objectives. We also provide teachers with resources to help deepen their students’ engagement before, during, and after travel. We customise the activities and discussions and staff each program with the most capable Program Leaders to achieve teachers’ goals.

Projects and Essays:

There are numerous ways we can work with educators to link their program to in-class goals. For example, we can suggest projects that complement our program experiences. We can also work with educators to integrate an existing project into the program experience.

Themes or Methods of Inquiry:

Our staff are trained to facilitate thoughtful inquiry around the key questions and themes at the heart of our programs. By doing this work outside of students’ home cultures and communities, we have seen incredible learning outcomes. These include:

• A greater personal ownership of their thinking
• A recognition of the factors that have combined to shape their experience
• A wider worldview, and an appreciation of the abundance of perspectives in our world
• Read more about our student learning outcomes

Your School’s Service Philosophy:

Our country teams work hand-in-hand with our partner communities to set up service projects. (Find out more about our community impact here.) These projects are based on a combination of community needs and students’ skill sets. We can connect your group to a program that best supports your school’s philosophy and goals. Many of our students obtain service hours through our programs. We will work with you to ensure any community service on our school group tours meets your school’s requirements. Community service often becomes a catalyst for students to reflect on larger issues. It is an opportunity to help them understand the responsibility they have as members of global and local communities.

Step 1. Choose a Destination

Peruse our destinations. With 19 countries to choose from, there’s sure to be at least one that sparks your interest! We also offer an incredible range of programs in Australia for school groups looking for an adventure closer to home

All our programs involve elements of:

• Community service projects
• Education and global studies
• Cultural immersion & exchange
• Adventure & challenge

Consider why you want to travel and what the main focus of your trip should be.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a destination:

Trip Length

While one week is certainly long enough for a visit within the Asia-Pacific region, you may want to consider a two or three week program if you plan on travelling further afield.

Impact Opportunities

Each destination offers different service opportunities. Have a think about whether you want your efforts to benefit people, animals or nature? Do you see your group getting their hands dirty with an infrastructure construction project or is running a holiday program or tutoring students more their vibe? Our programs are centred around specific types of service projects, so take some time to think about what you would enjoy working on, where your skill sets lie, and how much service you want to do.

Step 2. Connect With Us

Get in contact with us! Share your interests with one of our Group Travel Managers who will design your ideal program. Think of your Group Travel Manager as a personal travel concierge who will help you identify the right type of program, connect you with our country teams, work to your budget, and provide all your pre-travel support. They will be with you every step of the way!

Step 3. Pre-Departure Phase

The pre-departure phase is the time between your commitment to running the program and getting on that plane! We will support teachers, parents and students throughout the journey.

For the teachers, we will be with you every step of the way. You will have one main contact at Rustic Pathways. We’ll provide you with an Educator’s Guide to Learning Through Travel and other helpful materials. The school will have the option to have full administration support to book flights, organise travel insurance, collect payments, medical forms, passports and visas. A Rustic Pathways representative will be available for presentations at the school. We will also provide a comprehensive risk management plan.

For the parents, we are available every day of the working week over phone and email to help answer questions and provide support.

For the students, we provide a series of interesting, informative emails, called The Rustic Globe. These teach students about their destination so they are well informed by the time they get there. Students will also receive a t-shirt, luggage tag and sticker.

Step 4. Travel on the Adventure of a Lifetime!

Our outstanding program leaders will meet you at the airport in-country and will have all logistics taken care of. That means all you and your group have to focus on is immersing yourselves in local culture, participating in meaningful service, making new friends and creating lasting memories!

Step 5. Post-Travel Phase – Rustic Life

Once students return from the trip of their lifetime, we want them to feel supported and part of a community. Rustic Life offers ongoing education and opportunities in Australia after students return from their travels with Rustic. The objectives of Rustic Life are to:

• Build a sense of community between all Rustic Pathways students across Australia
• Bring together young, progressive minds to create positive change
• Provide Rustic students with ongoing resources and opportunities for personal growth
• Continue empowering students to positively impact lives and communities around the world

Ways in which students can be involved:

• Read our monthly emails – be wildly informed on citizenship, community impact, events, personal development and service opportunities in Australia and around the globe
• Check out our new blog posts when they come out (and maybe even write one yourself!)
• Follow us on Instagram – it’s the hub of the Rustic Life community
• Attend networking events and workshops
• Collaborate with other Rustic students and families

Travelling with Rustic Pathways opens students’ eyes to the world. Our hope is that Rustic Life will continue to serve as a resource for our students as they journey through life.

Our Service Learning programs intersect critical global citizenship education with international development. Community impact is a pillar of most Rustic Pathways programs. However, our Service Learning programs take it to the next level. They combine meaningful community service projects with rigorous pre-trip academic content and post-trip critical reflection. Students investigate issues prior to departure. Then they participate in structured discussions while travelling. Finally, they demonstrate their learning through reflective projects upon return. Our framework is guided by the research of Dr Kearrin Sims into best practices in international service learning.

We are proud to be a Registered Activity Provider for The Duke Of Edinburgh International Award! We can provide Adventurous Journeys, Residential Projects and service opportunities on school group tours for students working on their Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.

Our critical issues programs each take a deep dive into an issue of global importance such as social justice, climate change, access to education and environmental conservation. The programs are designed around exploring the topic in-depth. Hear from affected communities. Learn from the organisations making a difference in that area. Brainstorm how to create change. Participate in design-thinking workshops to develop an idea into a solution.

For groups wanting to develop aptitude in Spanish, Frech, Arabic, or Chinese, we’ve got you covered! There’s nothing better for gaining fluency in a language than deeply immersing in a country where it is spoken natively. Thousands of small every-day exchanges cement vocab and verb tenses. Students can gain competency in a matter of weeks, especially with the added help of formal language lessons.

These programs are great for groups focusing on wildlife biology or environmental conservation. From dancing bears in India, elephants in Thailand and pandas in China to native Australian wildlife like kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and koalas, we have wildlife conservation programs near and far to suit your needs.

Rustic’s expeditions focus on student leadership, physical challenge and personal development. Expeditions are 3-4 week programs that include multi-day treks. These can take students through the Himalayas or across the Andes, to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, along mountain trails in Fiji, or from village to village in the hilltribes of Thailand. These programs include extensive pre-departure training. This is led by our incredible Aussie program leaders. Combine treks with service, cultural immersion and adventure travel!

These programs are some of our most immersive and impactful experiences. Students come with minimal personal belongings that they can fit into a small carry-on bag. They pick up a few essentials at the local markets before heading out to rural villages. There, they live in homestays with locals, and spend their days contributing to community service projects.

Ocean lovers, these programs are for you! You can help a marine biologist with biodiversity surveys in Fiji, work on reef restoration in the Dominican Republic or learn from a world-renowned marine biologist here in Australia while living on a deserted island in the Great Barrier Reef!

For avid sports lovers, these programs allow you to experience a foreign country through the lens of your favourite sport. What better way to connect with locals than through a shared love of the game? Whether you’re playing soccer in Costa Rica or baseball in the Dominican Republic, you’ll have the chance to develop your skills and practice with locals. Then give back to the communities you visit through community service.

Calling all aspiring photographers and photojournalists! Develop your skills under the guidance of a professional photographer. Build a portfolio of beautiful travel photography. Learn how to use photography as a means to respectfully get to know locals and preserve their stories.

Future medical professionals, unite! These programs give you the opportunity to get out into the field and gain some real world medical experience! These programs generally incorporate attainment of your Wilderness First Aid certification. Support ongoing community health projects in various ways, and practice your medical skills within your scope of training.

The name says it all – practice your surf skills and give back to local communities! These programs are suitable for everyone from first-time surfers to experienced wave-shredders. Whether you’re in Costa Rica, Fiji, or Australia, local surf instructors will assist you to up your surf game. Between catching waves, you’ll experience local culture and lend a hand with ongoing service projects we have in that area.