Summer Camp for Adults

*All photos courtesy of Camp No Counselors

Summer Camp for Adults

When: June 29 – July 2, 2017
Where: Camp Kindle
Water Valley, Alberta, Canada

Camp No Counselors (CNC)

After 5 days of waiting with great anticipation, I finally received my acceptance letter. No, not to University, but to summer camp…. ADULT summer camp. Whoo hoo! I’m in! 

I had seen CNC advertised all over Facebook. It has been touring the United States for a few years and was now being offered in Canada. Each camp offers something different depending on the location and its facilities.  I am from Vancouver, so it was my preferred choice but it was sold out. As luck would have it, there was a camp in Calgary that lined up with my already planned road trip to Manitoba. I thought it was fate, so I applied for my spot!

When I was a kid, I went to Brownie camp for a few days and it was disastrous. Everyone was homesick, it rained most of the time and my main memory is jumping into a freezing pool and having a rat swimming beside me. Time to attempt to gain some new camp memories. At the very least, it would be a new experience.

My mom thought I was crazy, after all I was on the older side of being an adult….(that’s all I will admit to). It looked like the average age of the camp was around 25, but it sounded like so much fun and I wanted to experience it!

I am not a super sporty person but CNC advertises that there are lots of things to do that are not sports related, so it sounded doable and seeing as there was an open bar all weekend, it couldn’t be that bad.

 So now with my confirmation in my hand, I had some planning to do. There were to be two theme parties. First theme was your spirit animal second was Canada day. Hmmm… Canada day would  be easy but Spirit animal? I had a bee costume so I looked it up. Yep… its actually a Spirit animal. With much protest from my son objecting to my choice, my costume was packed. (and there were 3 others dressed as bees too!)

 

There were a few rules to summer camp.

#1 – No electronics. Time to unplug and be present. Enjoy the experience and those around you. (I could do that…)
#2 – Don’t ask anyone their age. (I like this rule)
#3 – Don’t ask anyone their occupation. (no work talk… What?! What would we talk about?)

Upon arrival, they signed us in, directed us to our cabins, and showed us where the party was. After unloading my stuff, I wandered down to the bar/campfire area. Some people were playing Beer Pong, some sat around the fire exchanging stories, others were standing in line at the bar making friends. People were already settling in ….all 200 of us mingling and getting to know fellow campers that we’d be spending the next couple of days with.

What I did at my weekend at camp:

Friendship walk: Right after breakfast on the first day, we were shown around by a walk through camp with the rest of the campers asking silly questions from each place to the next. Great way to meet friends for the weekend!

Giant Swing: Well, let’s just say I would rather watch everyone else scream.

Escape room: Yes we made it out! Was really a team effort!

Ultimate frisbee: I think I will leave this next time to the very athletic. Although I did have a great time

High Ropes: I did this!! I was so proud of myself for completing the course! (check!) And thankful for those who were rooting me on!

 

 

Archery: It’s harder than it looks! (and even harder trying to find your arrows in the forest when you miss the target!)

Kickball: Not my thing.

There were many more activities offered such as zip lines, arts and crafts, pool time, etc but I’ll have go back to experience these.

Theme parties: Fun times! Thank you to the young Australian girls that decided I needed to join them for Vodka shots. I so appreciated them and everyone else who included me in their fun!

Talent Show: Very entertaining. From the very strange to the very funny and talented. Who knew my roommate could sing like that?

Award Ceremony:  Great way to wrap up camp.  The songs were a ton of fun.  Who knew moose moose alpaca would be in the same song?

What to watch for before you book:

Ensure the activities that you are wanting are offered at the camp. Not all camps have swimmable lakes and therefore the fun water activities are not always offered.

Cabin Life: Can be extremely noisy. If you are a light sleeper, bring earplugs!

Don’t always expect hot water at prime time during the day.

Bathrooms can be a little sketchy due to some heavy partying the night before. (if you get what I mean)

What impressed me:

The counselors were organized! Not once did it feel like things weren’t running smoothly even when they weren’t.
What happened? You can never count on the weather. Just before the grand finale of the apache relay, a huge thunder and lightening storm moved in. It was hailing so hard it looked like it had snowed. They smoothly moved everyone into the barn where dodge ball was going on. As the apache relay could now not be done, the biggest flip and sip competition ever began. 200 people and one winner! We missed the grand finale of the slip and slide of the apache relay but I think the flip and sip competition made up for it.

Professional photographer capturing all moments throughout the camp so there was no need to carry your phone/camera around. All pictures were offered for free download one week later.

After camp was over, Camp No Counselors set up a Facebook group for all the Calgary campers so they could stay in contact. What a great idea CNC!

What could be better:

Before camp, we, the campers, received many camp letters getting us excited and ready for the trip. I thought this was a fabulous idea, but what was advertised was not always delivered as it was a general letter that they probably sent to all camps. Some of the food mentioned, etc. Were not offered at our camp. Not receiving what was offered was a little bit disappointing.

Parking. Before I went to camp, I had to buy a parking pass. Nowadays with limited parking this is understandable but when I drove up to a camp and saw there was ample parking and you are in a field on the camp property but you were still required to pay? I thought it was a money grab and not necessary.

My experience:

Even though I was much older than most, I met some great people and awesome roommates that I have stayed in contact with on Facebook. (fellow travelers!) I believe there are many people that  made life long friends from this camp. 

The best Roomies! 

Overall, I thought the weekend was a great experience and a lot of fun. A little on the pricey side for only two days, but if you liked your drinks, it would be worth the cost. The non counselors were great at their jobs and knew how to bring in the fun. If I was 20 years younger (or so) I would be organizing my best buddies to go for a weekend. But since I am not 20, once was enough, however, if they offered a 40+ camp…..I may reconsider.

About Camp Kindle – Camp Kindle is owned and operated by the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. For decades, their core mission has been to create a magical camp experience for children with cancer.

For more information: https://campkindle.ca/

If Camp is something that you have always wanted to experience, I hope my weekend at camp encourages you to book!   If you would like to experience summer camp, please click here for more information.

Camp No Counselors –
https://www.campnocounselors.com/ (USA/CANADA)

Other adult camps:

The Wild Rumpus 
http://thewildrumpus.ca/ (BC, CANADA)

Ptitbonheur 
http://ptitbonheur.com/adultes/location/ (QUEBEC, CANADA)

Canadian Adventure Camp
http://www.canadianadventurecamp.com/ (ONTARIO, CANADA)

Singles Travel Service:
https://www.singlestravelservice.com/trip/weekend-summer-camp/(NEW YORK, USA)

Club Getaway 
http://www.clubgetaway.com/getaways/ (CONNECTICUT/USA)

There are many kinds of adult summer camps. These are just a few that are similar in nature. (unplugging and being a kid again) If you are interested in Yoga Retreats, Zombie Apocalypses, Survival camps, there are many out there that will suit your interests!  Just google Adult Summer Camps!