Summer Camp Secrets

The other morning, I walked into our morning meeting and our Executive Director was blasting music and handing out donuts to all the supervisors. It took me a second and then I realised…. this is what he does every year at the halfway point of the summer. Halfway?! How had that happened? Every summer I come back, the weeks just go by even faster. I’m trying to be ‘in it’ and enjoy every moment as much as I can, even with my endless to-do list.

We started the month with an awesome 4th July celebration – it kicked off with an all-camp karaoke session, which was a huge, noisy, sweaty party, and then followed that up with a parade through camp down to the lake, where we had our fireworks display. I love celebrating 4th July at camp, because everyone gets really into it, dressing up and being ridiculous in a way that you can only do at camp.

I’ve had some pretty epic days off this month too – I’ve somehow managed to be on day off with an awesome group of people, some of whom I was already friends with, and some of whom I’d never really got the chance to know, even though they’ve been at camp before. That’s something I love about returning to camp year after year – I get the opportunity to get to know people over multiple summers, and see different sides of their personalities. And even though none of my best friends are here this summer, I’m actually trying to think of it as a good thing, as it’s almost forced me to step out of my comfort zone a little and push myself to make new friends and get to know new people.

We went to a friend’s beach house a couple of weeks ago which, even though it was over an hour’s drive, was so incredible. It was so nice to get away from camp, to enjoy each other’s company and a beautiful sunny day on the beach, talking about everything and anything.

For the last couple of weeks, camp life has just been continuing in its own awesome way – there’s been some excellent evening programs, pool parties, thunderstorms and rainy day parties in the dining hall. If you’ve ever worked at summer camp, you’ll know exactly what I mean about rainy day parties. If you haven’t, then you’ll need to book on for Summer 2019 with BUNAC to find out what the heck I’m going on about.

We’ve also had 2 of our all camp theme days – the first was our Carnival Day, where the kids were able to freely roam around camp do all the activities such as the Haunted house, the petting zoo and other such games and activities. And yes, we had Cotton Candy.

The most recent theme day was our Color War. This is something that happens in Session 3 of the summer every year, and it’s probably our most epic day of camp in the whole summer. Every camper and staff member is split into one of four teams, Red, Yellow, Blue or Green, and they compete in games throughout the day to earn points. The day culminated in a camp-wide relay race and final battle with coloured paint, which was absolutely immense. The teams were so close by the end of the day, with the Green team being the eventual winners, and the Yellow team just a couple of hundred points behind. It was an immense day and perhaps one of the best I’ve ever been a part of.

And now, as I write this from the comfort of my couch, sat in front of the TV on my day off, I’m looking forward to the final 4 weeks of the summer, before we move into the Fall and a completely different way of camp life.

**I’m returning to camp this summer with BUNAC who have been sending people just like you to camp for many years. Get in touch with them via their website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, by phoning them on +44 333 999 7516 or by email at enquiries@bunac.org.uk.**

Disclaimer: BUNAC are waiving my camp fees in return for this blog series, but please rest assured that all opinions are honest and my own.