Camp America

[Vettrianofan]

Has anyone's DC done Camp America or equivalent? DS considering doing this after S6 exams are finished in the spring/summer. He has a spring birthday whenhe turns 18 next year.

Any thoughts? Any experiences to share?

My nieces friend is there for her 3rd summer. Absolutely loves it. Going by her fb posts she's once again having a great summer

I did Camp America when I was 19. The best summer of my life! Had an amazing experience and then saved enough money to go travelling in the USA for 3 weeks after. Made amazing lifelong friends who I still keep in touch with (20 years later!) and meet up for a reunion every year.

Absolutely go for it.

Two friends of DD did it 5 years ago. They had a great time but remember DD saying no good if you wanted to save up some money for uni. I think they ended up owing money to family members.

You get paid whilst working there so you earn money which can go towards university?

DS not sure if he wants to take a gap year anyway. Lots to think about.

My friends DD did this the year before Covid.
IIRC she had to have a skill to offer. She had done a lot of dance and had done all the Grade exams so she took the cheerleading sessions.

Dias your DS have any sports/ hobbies he can teach at the camp?

You don’t earn all that much - most people travel for 2 weeks after the Camp finishes and the money you earn pays for that. So you come home with nothing.

So if he flew home straight after the camp finished then he’d have a bit of money. But he would miss out on arguably the best part of the camp experience - going travelling with his new friends made at the camp.

He would earn much more in a job at home, if his main aim is to save up money to take to uni with him. Your flights, insurance, food, lodgings etc are taking into account, so the actual money paid direct to you isn’t high.

You need to pay your own flights so I suppose its not much especially if he does go travelling afterwards to explore.

I did it about 20 years ago - best two summers of my life!

My son did it a few years ago and returned three times being promoted each year. As PP noted it was cost neutral at best BUT he had an amazing time, has friends all over the world now. He travelled to Australia on graduation and stayed with Camp America friends who found him jobs. He travels to see mates in loads of countries. They seem to have regular meet ups in Dublin as there was a big Irish contingent.
He was at a camp for disabled teens and adults so a bit different but he is so pleased he did it and he developed loads of skills and resilience.

When my DDs friends did it, by the time they'd paid the admin fees and flights and bought things for the trip and had a bit of a holiday at the end they had no money left (ended up borrowing some from family). I know for many thats not the point but just pointing out to consider the financial side.

He has a sport he has been doing for two years and also plays two instruments -one for nine years, the other for two years.

Ds did it after he graduated a few years ago & then went travelling around the US for another month afterwards.

He had the most amazing time & made some good friends he still meets up with.

The only reason he didn't go back a second time is that he was saving for a much bigger trip traveling around Asia & Australia.

My DD did this pre-covid. She went with Bunac who are a similar thing to Camp America.

She definitely ended up with some money at the end. She had around a £1,000 at the end of of working at the camp I seem to remember, some of which she spent on travelling around the US before returning home.

I just did a quick check in case my memory was wrong and this is what they say currently (figures were a bit different back when my DD did it):

Minimum camp salary US$2,200 (food and accommodation are included).

Costs payable to Bunac £399

Cost of work visa & background check £160

Return flights I just checked online and prices start at about £450 but British Airways are about £600.

So, minimum salary of US$2,200 is £1,670

Cost of visas, flights etc £1,000 or £1,150 if flying BA so, net, it looks like currently they'll end up with around £520 - £670 after taking account of costs.

https://bunac.org/summer-camp/camp-usa

Double check you don't have to be 18 when the applications open.

Yes this is the site we have been looking into.

Really pleased that for most it's been a very rewarding experience, but leaves little money left at the end. I suppose that is balanced out with the experience of travelling and meeting new people too.

That's a really good point. Thank you. Will look into this🙂

I did it about 20 years ago through BUNAC and I think we got better looked after than the Camp America crowd. Indeed you basically break even if you spend your earnings on travelling but you're not doing it for the money! It was a great experience, the camp plus the travelling afterwards and you make lifelong friends. Hard work though, I got 1 hour off each day, the kids can wake you in the night if there's a problem so you're kind of on call.

Would recommend it to most.

Two of my sons friends have now down two years. They’ve had an incredible time and have travelled after. A friends son also did it once and similarly loved it. Not a way to make (much) money but a brilliant way to experience a different culture / work overseas safely.

Be prepared - mobiles are only allowed for very limited periods. It’s mostly an offline experience.

I did it for a few years when younger. I always came back with money as I worked beyond the 6 weeks? you were contracted to do which were reasonably paid. I think I got slightly more as I was a qualified lifeguard.

We did 12 hour shifts with two hours off for lunch and dinner so e.g. 8am to 8pm and worked 5 days a week. Cabin counsellors I think only had 1 day off a week and are pretty much always on duty.

Be prepared - mobiles are only allowed for very limited periods. It’s mostly an offline experience.

Now I feel really old, majority of the population didn't have mobile phones when I did it.

It feels incredibly brave now, I basically got on a plane and was told someone would pick me up at the other end, I had no way of contacting them.

My son did this two years ago when he was 19; he had a fantastic time working as a life guard and camp counsellor then travelling for three weeks with a friend that he met there. He didn’t come home with much money (if any) but the camp wages paid for the travelling and it was definitely worth it for the adventures he had and the lifelong friendships he made. Most of the kids came from New York and he was pretty shocked by how entitled and materialistic they were, on the whole. They still all had a great laugh at camp though. The older ones (15, 16) were pretty much openly smoking weed too he said, although this was not officially allowed, and there was a “game” in which the campers had to sleep with as many other campers as they could, no need to be friends or anything. Many of them had parents who went to the same camp back in the day, and played the same game, so they knew all about it. It was a camp tradition apparently! The counsellors were all really young (18-21) and many romances blossomed (amongst themselves not with the campers; that was strictly forbidden). The food was really unhealthy he said, there was salad on the buffet but it was just for show and was left to rot before it was replaced. All the campers used to queue up each day for their medication, which intrigued him, until he discovered they were being allocated their vitamin tablets which they had brought from home. I’m being really negative, but it was primarily good, very interesting, lots of fun things happening and opportunities to take responsibility for children/situations and gain important life skills. He had so many stories to tell when he got back and it was a huge step for him independence-wise at the time. I’d go for it!

I did camp America 25 years ago (God I feel old 😂) it was the best summer of my life and I'd encourage anyone to do it.

I did Camp America (via BUNAC) 30 years ago (!) It was amazing, best summer ever. As others have said, I spent all the money travelling afterwards with friends I'd made (and actually, I spent quite a lot of it while I was there as there was a nearby hotel bar we all used to go out drinking at). You don't have to have a skill to teach, there are also roles in kitchens, maintenance, office work etc. I did dish washing!

My DD did Camp America twice and was about to go back a third time when Covid struck. She had been promoted to go back for the third time. She actually house shares with a friend she met out there!
DD was a lifeguard but also had special needs experience so may have extra pay for that.
One thiing that did change was that she had to pay tax on all her earnings in America which was bought in her second year.

I did it 26 years ago. It was hard work as I was in a camp for under privileged children and got $400 for the 12 weeks. However the experiences of days off with my camp mates were amazing.