It’s been another crazy month for many reasons, and actually none of them have much to do with camp! As you all know, I got myself pretty much sorted for camp back in March, with my visa approved and my flights booked, so I’ve just been waiting for the summer to begin ever since then.
I started May with an epic camping trip to the countryside with some friends (camp friends, of course), which involved an absolute FREEZING cold first night followed by some glorious sunshine, a walk on the beach and an awesome evening BBQ and fire. It was great to get out of London and spend some solid time with some of my favourite people and was a good way to kick off the (almost) summer season. I love camping, and this trip just reminded me why summer camp is so amazing, just getting to be outside all the time, round the campfire with good people.
This month I also started a blog series with some ideas for fun games to play with your campers, the first about learning their names, and the second about driving them crazy with some of my favourite camp riddles, or ‘never tell’ games as we call them at my camp. There’s a few more posts in this series still to come, so keep your eyes peeled for some great tips about field games to play or team building challenges to help your campers bond and make friends.
My camp Director also asked me to make a packing video for our staff group, to help the new staff out with what they need to bring, and this got me thinking that I’ve never really made any videos or vlogs about camp… so I made a packing video for you guys too! And I think I’m going to try and make some more videos this summer too, about my experience as a CCUSA summer camp returner, maybe even with some interviews with other CCUSA participants. We all know how busy summer camp gets though, so don’t hold me to it! I am definitely going to be posting more frequently on Instagram though, so if you don’t already, go follow Summer Camp Secrets for regular updates and stories throughout the summer.
Apart from all that, it’s really just been a month of continuing with uni, planning activities for the kids at nursery, being observed, completing a research project with a massive (and very scary) presentation and just generally plodding along. This year of studying has been intense and stressful, so it’s really great to be coming to the end of it.
In terms of other camp things, I’ve now got some friends who are at camp already for the Spring season, helping to run some programs and getting camp ready for the summer. It’s really strange not to be there – this time last year I had just arrived – and I haven’t been in England this late since 2011, my first summer at camp! So I’m struggling a bit with that, but the days are slowly counting down… hurry up summer!
To get myself ready though, I’ve been going through my pre-camp checklist and double checking I’ve got everything sorted on my CCUSA footprints account (the handy to do list at the top is great!). I also did another Q&A with CCUSA last week – so go check that out for a heads up on info about flights, insurance and getting to camp.
And that’s May… only 1 month to go. The next time I do an update I’ll be on the plane to the USA!
**I’m returning to camp this summer with CCUSA who have the lowest returner fees and have placed 100% of applicants in the last 2 years. Get in touch with them via their website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, by phoning them on +44 0208 874 6325 or by email at info@ccusa.co.uk.**
Disclaimer: CCUSA are waiving my camp fees in return for this blog series, but please rest assured that all opinions are honest and my own.
Summer Camp Secrets 