Camp America

[Lbet]

Are there any parents whose kids have done camp America?

My daughter is currently taking a gap year before going off to uni next.
She is really interested in doing camp America next summer.
We have had a good chat with a student who has just been for his second summer in a row. We have had loads of useful tips and advice from him. He did say you don’t do camp America for the money because you actually end up being out of pocket and you do it for the experience.
That suits my daughter fine as she is definitely wants to do it for the great experience.

Just wanted to know if anyone’s child has been and if you can tell me about their experience.

Thanks in advance.

@LbetI did camp America and worked at a camp in the Pocono’s 4 summers in a row. Happy to provide any help or advice DD might need. What camp is she going to out of interest? I was at Pine Forest but they have two sister / brother camps called Lake Owego (boys) and Timber Tops (girls)

There are good train links down east coast and also greyhound / flixbus. Check phone compatibility for USA or if intending use eSim and compare add on roaming etc as generally data is much more expensive in USA even if you sign up to a US provider when you get there. It may be easier to switch provider in uk before go. I’d also recommend taking a second device with Wi-Fi as everything is booked online and we struggled when DS phone broke - we could have got a replacement phone but then the warranty wouldn’t have been valid back in uk so he had to muddle through and rely on mates booking stuff for him. He had a great time but was exhausted by end. Some camps you can earn extra by giving lessons eg tennis, tutoring and sometimes you get tips from families at end. There’s a huge mall near Newark airport if stuck there for a night probably easiest thing would be to Uber from hotel.

My DD is off to Camp America too this summer. She’s in a day camp near Boston and flying to NYC. There’s not a lot of money left at the end by her calculations !

My dd is going to timber tops (girls)

I’ve no doubt dd will have an amazing summer. My co counsellor from my first year is still my best friend 19 years later, we went to her wedding in LA last year, she came to the UK for ours and we are meeting her and her DH in Paris later this month. What is dd doing there? I was a lifeguard and it was such great fun. They have a lot of overseas counsellors especially from the UK and Aus so she will meet lots of friends if she’s going alone.

@mumofboys8787 That’s fabulous. It looks good online. She’s got lots of girlguiding young leader experience so wanted a girls - she’s general counsellor and outdoor recreation. She’s excited got her visa appointment in 2 weeks.

All counsellor’s will be general counsellors, then her specific skill will be outdoor rec - so she will teach outdoor lessons supervising the zip line and similar things but they’ll do all her training in the first 10 days before the children arrive. She will be in a bunk with 2 other “counsellors” and that bunk is who she will live with and be responsible for throughout the summer. Wish her the best of luck and tell her to enjoy every second of it!! I went with my best friend and it’s where she met her husband 🥰

Mine too! She's off to Linx camp. Is that where your DD is going? I'm shittin bricks about her going 😭

My dd is going to Pennsylvania mid June as a counsellor. I’m very excited for her. We are arranging our own flights to Newark. I’m not sure if she has been given a collection time. I need to check this and arrange a hotel if her flight doesn’t get her to Newark in time.

DS2 is off to pinewood.

mine's off to somewhere near Chicago :)

My daughter is off to New Jersey and will be a general Counsellor.
I am very nervous but guess it will be a test run for when she goes off to uni in Sept😢

My youngest did this on his gap year and I was so worried and there was so much to organise. He had the best time, a wonderful experience and came back so confident, happy and went off to university and had a brilliant time. We had one phone all from the airport where he seemed a bit nervous and every other call all summer was full of all the great time he had. His experience was very positive ! I am sure your young people will have a blast ! (Take tissues for the drive back from the airport)

Thank for your encouraging post, very positive.

I am in the thinking it will het me used to her then coming back and going off to uni😭😭😭😭

I've just found this thread. My ds is going in may to a camp in the poconos mountains.

He's going early to help open the camp up snd get everything ready for the kids arriving.
He had his staff handbook through this week. It looks like a lot of work but good fun!

Big earrings do some camps have flexible start dates? At dd's they've all been told what day they need to arrive, as there's training for a week plus a trial run day before the campers arrive. She has a choice of two end dates.

It would be great to keep this thread going for when our kids go off to their camps. We can all help each other through it.

Yes please. We have seen YouTube videos of where DS2 is going…. Slightly jealous.

@jockeywilsonsaid the camp offered ds a month's extra work called " pre camp' . He'll be painting fences and raking leaves and stuff like that. Then he orientation week in June and then the kids turn up

Yes it’s Linx day camp PM me if you like

Just found this thread. DS is off to Camp Tumblesom Lake in Colorado. He got his place from an interview at the Manchester fair. He's going towards the end of May and plans to travel for a month once camp ends. He's just finishing his first year at uni and will be back in the UK for a week before he has to be back up in Manchester

Sounds amazing. My Daughter got her place at the recruitment fair in London, she is off to New Jersey.

Our kids are going to have the best experience of their lives.

My son got his job at the Manchester fair too!

Are you all helping with prep?
I'm currently putting name labels in clothes because all the laundry in his camp goes in a communal wash!

Mine just told me about communal laundry. Ordered iron on name tags!

I had some sew in ones left over from school so ....that's what I am going to be doing while I watch tv in the evening!