"They lost me"

"Four years ago, I went on a Rustic Pathways trip to Thailand. I hate to say it, but the other posters hit the nail on the head. I was looking forward to finding "like-minded people," to borrow my mom's expression. Instead, I found myself in the midst of a swarm of wealthy L.A. kids. They would be the first to tell you that their parents had sent them to Thailand to keep them out of trouble (and the notion that the trip would give them a leg up in their Ivy League applications). I was a rising freshman in college, but there were several students in my boat, so that wasn't an issue.

But here's the really big thing. They lost me. I was barely 18, and the group left me behind in the Thai countryside several hours from our house with no phone number to call, no passport, no money. I learned a great deal from that experience. A creepy Australian man offered to give me a ride on his motorcycle; I sent him packing. I took a leap of faith and got a ride with a family of Japanese tourists to a nearby town, where they dropped me off at a police station. I googled Rustic Pathways to find a phone number, used a cop's cell phone to call the US office, got a phone number to call one of my leaders in Thailand, and finally someone picked me up. I got back to the house eight hours after they had lost me. When I got back, one of the leaders told me to call home because he wasn't sure if anyone had told my parents. At this point, I was two weeks into a month-long trip, and as much as my mom wanted to fly me home immediately, we couldn't afford it. She didn't sleep for the next two weeks as she awaited my return. She was furious with Rustic Pathways for allowing this to happen, and she tried calling them several times. They never called her.

I realize that this is a long post, but I think it's something you need to see before you send your kid across the world. There are other, better organizations..." - posted by Dory427 on College Confidential, here.