Four weeks in a village of rice paddies is not something most American parents expect their teenager to be texting about.

And actually, there isn’t any texting at all on this trip.

“We’re cellphone-free for the time that we’re there,” said James “Rob” Roberts.

Roberts leads teens on Expedition Club trips to the remote village of Phapang, Thailand. But he added that teens didn’t miss the ubiquitous devices usually found at the end of their arms.

“I don’t think you could find a single kid that would say they wish they had had their cellphone when they come home,” he said.

Roberts has just returned from four weeks spent alongside 13 teens from Jefferson County surrounded by Thailand’s verdant green that can even make the Peninsula seem a shade or two faded in comparison.

The idea first came to him after having a similar experience as a child. After leaving the Marines, Roberts’ father took the family to a small village in Japan where he learned the language and was changed forever by the experience.

“It was an experiment for me in education. I just sort of wondered what would happen if you plop them down in a village,” he said.

Roberts has been leading these adventures every year since 2003, except for the last two due to the pandemic, which reared its head for one of the weeks they were there. About half the group ended up catching the coronavirus, but none fell seriously ill.

“After five or six days we were able to get back together,” Roberts said.

“It wasn’t bad. The village has such a great healthcare program. Nurses came to visit us … We really felt cared for and didn’t have to pay a dime,” he said of Thailand’s universal health coverage program.

The other three weeks were spent enmeshing themselves in the culture.

“Our goal is to become a part of that village; whether that’s learning basket weaving from an elder or helping out at the temple,” Roberts said.

There are the moments out of movies with elephants and jungle treks, but many hours are also spent just keeping up with daily life by hand-washing clothes, helping in the rice patties, and assisting in the village’s English education program.

“We don’t pretend to be English teachers and we don’t pretend to teach English. We just hope to get them excited about learning English, which is a door-opener in Southeast Asia,” Roberts said.

He also made sure to emphasize that what they receive far outweighs what they are able to offer.

“We learn more from the Thai culture than we give to them … the peace, the gratitude, the giving, the smiles — those are the things that are most important that we learn,” he said.

Most importantly for Roberts, are the new challenges that push the teens to become the best versions of themselves.

“I’ve always felt that in order to grow, there has to be some obstacle to get over,” he said, recounting tales of bugs and snakes, nights spent sleeping on the floor, and buckets of cold water for showers.

“It takes courage,” he said.

Roberts’ two sons have both participated in the program alongside him and now that they’ve grown into adults, the effects on them can still be seen, he said.

“I personally think they’re just better people. I’m biased, of course,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ son Cameron fell so in love that after his first trip he asked his father if he could go back to live there for a year after high school.

Roberts’ reply?

“Why wait?”

Cameron ended up not only going back for a year when he was 16, but also spent four years of college in Thailand, becoming fluent in the language. He now runs the restaurant at The Castle, serving Thai fusion food.

As the Expedition Club nears its 20th anniversary, Roberts is hoping for more community support and engagement.

“We do need help for the future … This year was important because we had to get back. You could really see the impact on the village from two years of COVID shutdowns,” he said.

“I would hope that in the future we could get more community investment,” he added.

In previous years, participants have done their own fundraising drives to come up with the money that keeps the program going. For those who aren’t able to raise the full amount to cover their costs, the Expedition Club has tried to offer scholarships.

So far, Roberts has been able to take 300 kids with him on this life-changing adventure.

“It teaches us how we connect in our own village, in our own town,” Roberts said. He’s watched for years as participants bond with not only their travel companions, but with people from past trips, as well.

“They have a connection and they can run into each other and they instantly refer back to the village,” he said.

To learn more about the program, visit expeditionclub.org.