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Adults Are Going to Sleep-away Camp to Make Friends. It Seems to Actually Work.
Overnight camps are increasingly catering to solo travelers who are looking for in person connection.
Jocelyn Benson made some of her closest friendships at sleep-away camp while hiking, climbing the ropes course and cheering for teammates during color war. She lived in a bunk with other campers, chatted late into the night and made plans to see them once camp ended. The other things she did: mingled with fellow campers who drank wine and cocktails and stayed up till 1:30 a.m. Benson was, after all, 29.
Sleep-away camp isn’t just for kids anymore.
It was two summers ago that Benson, now 31, started attending Camp Social, a three-day overnight camp for women in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. She plans to return in September.
Camp directors say that in the past, campers would come with large friend groups. But these days new campers are arriving solo.
“When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you don’t make tons of friends unless you’re doing something that bonds you,” she said. Now Benson has a girls group she goes on trips with and one of Benson’s closest friends at Camp Social became her roommate for a year in her Provo, Utah, home. Perhaps it was the war paint they smeared under their eyes to display their color-war team spirit or cheering each other on during a relay that connected them so tightly. As she put it, “we got to be silly together.”
From left, adult campers Amy Buhrmaster, Maddie Martino and Jocelyn Benson in the gym at Camp Social.
Overnight camp has long been a way for kids to disconnect, play and make the kind of friends that stick with you for life. To Camp Social’s founder, Liv Schreiber, it seemed only natural that, in a world where more people are connecting via social media and work can be remote, grown-ups would be looking for the same experience.
“I built Camp Social for the adult friendship gap,” said Schreiber, who is 28, lives in New York and founded the camp in 2023. “I created what I wished existed. We’re expected to figure out friendships without a blueprint.”
Camp Social joins a number of grown-up sleep-away camps such as Club Getaway, ‘Camp’ Camp and Camp No Counselors that have seen a surge in new campers in recent years. Demand was enough that Camp Social, which hosts 400 female campers per session, added a second in September. Camp No Counselors, which has locations in Pennsylvania and California, is expanding to Texas in April.
Camp directors say that in the past, campers would come with large friend groups. But these days new campers are arriving solo. Schreiber said 92% of attendees at Camp Social come alone.
At Camp Social, campers create their own schedules from a buffet of traditional activities including boating, archery, ropes course, bracelet making, waterfront, tie-dye and tennis.
“Anyone that has worked at camp or grown up in the camp world understands there is a powerful people connection that forms at camp,” said Liam Macleod, a longtime camp professional and marketing director at Camp No Counselors. “It’s camp magic and it’s hard to replicate in the regular world.”
Schreiber agrees. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2018, she moved to Manhattan but felt isolated. She took trips to the Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard, but found herself longing for deeper friendships.
In 2023, she rented an existing camp in the Poconos and used social media, including followers from a meetup group she founded in 2021 called Hot and Social, to get the word out.
At Camp Social, creating chemistry is everything: campers are divided by age, which range from 20s to 60s, into bunks of eight to 10. Each is staffed with a trained counselor who serves as a camp concierge and bonding facilitator—they are even tasked with coming up with a bunk cheer. During the day, campers create their own schedules from a buffet of traditional activities including boating, archery, ropes course, bracelet making, waterfront, tie-dye and tennis. But there are adult embellishments too: paint-and-sip and a mixology class are on the schedule.
Campers at Club Getaway get a chance to try ‘sky cycling.’
It costs $883.51 for two nights and three days. The camp has been profitable since the first summer, in part because the cost of operations are offset by brand partnerships, Schreiber said. This summer, Dunkin’ is a sponsor and two branded trucks will drive around camp offering caffeine. Other sponsors include La Croix beverages, Essie and Jones Road. Last summer Amazon Prime was a sponsor, and screened the movie “My Old Ass,” and provided branded towels and popcorn holders.
Unlike all-inclusive vacations that don’t facilitate bonding among guests, and wellness retreats that focus on one or two activities such as yoga or meditation, sleep-away camp, with its combination of nature and trying activities with new friends, fosters connection, participants say.
“I played games I haven’t played in 15-plus years,” said Maddie Martino, 29, director of an indoor sports facility in Chicago, who signed up for Camp Social after seeing a video on Instagram.
Camp social has adult embellishments too: paint-and-sip and a mixology class are on the schedule.
Upon arriving at camp, everyone gathered around the flagpole for a rundown of scheduling and cabin assignments. That night there was a cookout, ice breakers including charades and a dance party. For the next three days, she traversed the high ropes course, hiked, kayaked and paddle boarded in the lake. “I left feeling lighter and more worry-free. It reminded me to step away from the hustle and bustle of work life,” Martino said.
“Camp allows us to tap in to time where we’re brave enough to try new things that we don’t always give ourselves permission for in real life,” said Jaime Gullotti, a 43-year-old office manager from Dover, N.H, who attends ‘Camp’ Camp, a week-long overnight camp for LGBTQ people in Maine.
Part of the magic is the people who return year after year. ‘Camp’ Camp has a 75% return rate among campers and nearly 40% have attended for more than five years, said its director Kerry Riffle.
Gullotti said that unlike vacation, after which you become Facebook friends with someone you met and then never see again, the friendships made at ‘Camp’ Camp are lasting. She even met her girlfriend during her first summer.
“It’s like a big old family reunion every summer, but even that would get boring,” said Gullotti, who returns to ‘Camp’ Camp later this week. “There’s new people every year that revive and bring extra energy.”
