Camp America: A Journey Worth Taking
09.12.20
We may not be able to travel right now, but let’s be honest, we’re all dreaming about it. After months of cancellations and change of plans, our little travelling selves are ready to jump at the next opportunity to simply get away. Here at Camp America, we want to make sure your next adventure is one to remember.
Gone are the weekend European city breaks. You spend all your time trying to cram as much of the ‘bucket list’ sights and activities into a 48 hour trip and end up in overpriced, crowded situations - not actually taking much away from it other than just a scratch off the map and a ‘pic for the gram’. Or, you may spend hundreds on a lads or girls holiday and end up getting burnt on the beach and coming back not even remembering a thing (we’ll say no more). In today’s society, it’s fair to say that people travel with the mindset of showing off or going for the opportunity to catch that perfect selfie, rather than to have an experience, yet it’s the experience that’s memorable, not the social share.
Travel is designed for you to learn; to learn more about yourself, those around you and the environment you’re in. Every destination has something unique to discover, and seeing the world is more educational than what you read on paper. Yet for travel to truly have an impact, you need to go for a long period of time, and that’s where we come in!
The thought of committing to a 9-week trip initially may be off putting for many, but we’re here to tell you that big adventures are totally worth the effort. Don’t get us wrong, Camp America is the perfect opportunity for you to just do something different with your summer and have one of the epic travel experiences however, it’s a lot more than JUST that.
Authentic travel
Spending your summer doing Camp America will be one of the most authentic travel experiences you may ever have - it is a cultural exchange programme after all!
Summer camp is a HUGE part of American culture and you get to be part of it; be a part of what the majority of Americans look forward to each and every year, and bring to life what we get to see in the movies - think s’mores, the inflatables on the lake, friendship bracelets and many spontaneous moments of singing, dancing and chanting (especially in the dining hall), and more! It doesn’t stop there…during your time off, the authentic travel experiences will keep on going. Yes, you’re bound to visit the big cities of the US, but you will also get the more favourable opportunity to experience the REAL America. Working and making friends with the American staff means you’ll get to explore the states with what can only be described as your own personal tour guide…they’ll be excited to show you the areas they grew up and reside in, their colleges (yes, they really do have lockers like High School Musical!) and the best places to go for all things American from the food, drive-in movies, state fairs and more. Spend your summer living like a local!
Real Connections
Talking about those American friends, they’ll end up being more than just your own personal tour guide...let’s say, friends for life.
At camp, you’ll be living and working in one of the most social environments you will ever find yourself in. Being part of a cultural exchange programme means you truly will get the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life and it’s amazing how quickly they go from being strangers to best friends!
Camp friends see you at your very best; winning colour war with your team, helping camper A overcome one of their fears, and all the moments of laughter along the way...and they’re also with you at your worst; entering day 3 without a proper shower and brush of your hair, the hanger when you have to sacrifice the last cookie for a camper, and the exhaustion of working at enthusiasm level 1000 day in, day out...and they still choose to be your friend! You experience it all together and it’s the most judgement free environment, ever!
It’s likely you won’t be working with just fellow Brits, and Americans; we recruit in multiple countries across the globe so get ready to make friends with some Aussies, Jamaicans, Italians, Kiwis and more! Making friends all over the globe means that when your travels continue after camp, you’ll have friends to visit, sofas to sleep on and new places to explore. Afterwards, your life will consist of FaceTime’s (you’ll become the Master of Working out the time differences), searching for cheap flights so you can see each other again and again, and in the meantime, lots of sobbing whilst you reminisce on your time at camp.
Adventure
Camp America really will be the best adventure of your life! You get to spend your summer experiencing a life and activities you wouldn’t typically get to experience at home. You could be spending your morning taking the campers jet skiing on the lake, doing arts & crafts in your cabin during quiet hour, flying down the zip-line in the afternoon, then being overly competitive at a whole camp game of capture the flag in the evening before enjoying some hot cookies as a bedtime snack!
If the adventure of camp isn’t enough, you get a 30-day grace period to travel the US. However, you wish to travel, and wherever you wish to go, you can make it YOUR adventure. America is quite literally a world in itself; you can get off the beaten track and experience the best of their national parks, join the buzz that it’s major cities provide, or relax and recuperate after the summer at camp on one of many incredible beaches!
It’s a job!
Believe it or not, this summer of fun is actually considered a job - a job that is globally recognised by employers and is a great talking point at future interviews! Employers know it takes a lot to step out of your comfort zone, travel independently to a new country and work within a role so important to the American culture.
Your role at camp is to provide the best experience possible and in order to do that, you’ll become a master of all trades; you’ll be responsible for comforting those homesick campers at 2am, dealing with a change of schedule because of a storm, patching up broken friendships, motivating that camper to experience the zip line for the first time, and most importantly, getting up for work every morning with a smile on your face! You’ll be the reason behind those kids smiles at camp and you will know you’ve done the job right when you get asked “are you going to be my counsellor next year?” and the tears being unstoppable on the last day!
The majority of people go to camp for simply something different to do with their summer, yet many come back with different or new future career aspirations thanks to the experience they gain, so you really don’t know what’s around the corner!
You may arrive at camp with a small handful of skills, yet you’ll leave 8 weeks later with what feels like a lifetime worth of knowledge and experience that will help you ace all those situation-based interview questions for the rest of your life!
Unfiltered
In a nutshell, Camp America is the perfect opportunity to go against the norm and experience unfiltered travel that you’ll remember forever. It’s probably the only travel opportunity you can experience by purely living in the moment; going against the need of sharing your every move on social media and enjoying a summer where you just get to be your true self, forming the best memories and making the most incredible impact.
Go big next summer or stay home.