# I wanna go to camp! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810 "2004-03-12T00:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![look\_hergo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@look\_hergo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_hergo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/1 "2004-03-12T00:15:17Z")
I want to go to camp this summer. Not Baseball Camp, or Rock-n-Roll Fantasy Camp, or a Family Camp held at the YMCA, full of screaming kids. I want the kind of camp you approach through a forest, on a dirt road, beneath a canopy of leafy boughs. Where you sleep in a rustic cabin made of logs. Where you eat in a wooden mess hall, at long, communal tables; swim in a lake; sit around an open fire at night, singing old songs to a tuneless guitar. I want to make a crappy wallet out of leather scraps. I want to wake up in the morning to a rusty bugle call. I want to be sunburnt, mosquito-bitten, grubby, and have a kool-aid lip. Should it matter that I’m 36? Can anyone recommend a camp for adults? ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/2 "2004-03-12T00:31:19Z")
if there is one, don’t go looking… the food will be gross, the camping full of bugs, the lake mucky and full of leaches, the singing amature and not songs you like. the ground cold and uncomfortable for sleeping. you always forget the unfun parts when you grow up. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/3 "2004-03-12T01:13:49Z")
I would reccomend becoming a Boy Scout leader. Perhaps you could also get to such a camp by being a Girl Scout/Campfire Girls/Boys/whatever leader, but I know from personal experiance as a boy scout that the adult leaders have much the same experiance as the scouts do. > [@](#): > > the food will be gross Not necessarily. I preferred the food at summer camp to what I usually have at home! Of course, I had friends in the commisary staff, so I knew who to yell at if the food was bad! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/4 "2004-03-12T01:13:56Z")
> [@owlofcreamcheese](#): > > if there is one, don’t go looking… the food will be gross, the camping full of bugs, the lake mucky and full of leaches, the singing amature and not songs you like. the ground cold and uncomfortable for sleeping. > > you always forget the unfun parts when you grow up. I didn’t. \ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/5 "2004-03-12T02:07:31Z")
So, do you prefer your experience with soap-bar beatings or without? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/6 "2004-03-12T03:06:49Z")
I know of a wonderful camp for adults, such as you describe. Hitch is, you go with your dog. When I first heard about it, I thought it was nuts. It’s actually great. Friends of mine run it. Beautiful place, great food. Here is a link to the camp. If you want to go to camp, and you like your dog (if you have a dog), it may be just the ticket. [http://www.glenhighlandfarm.com/camp\_bc\_&\_friends.htm](http://www.glenhighlandfarm.com/camp_bc_&_friends.htm) Look at the trails, the fields, the streams, the cabins, the barns. the activities…ah! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-go-to-camp/233810/7 "2004-03-12T06:19:10Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > I would reccomend becoming a Boy Scout leader. Perhaps you could also get to such a camp by being a Girl Scout/Campfire Girls/Boys/whatever leader, but I know from personal experiance as a boy scout that the adult leaders have much the same experiance as the scouts do. > > Not necessarily. I preferred the food at summer camp to what I usually have at home! Of course, I had friends in the commisary staff, so I knew who to yell at if the food was bad! When I was somewhat active in Camp Fire Club leadership, I was trained in camping skills for leaders. I learned food planning, fire building (unnecessary for me, I’m already quite an accomplished fire builder), camping safety, and other skills. I would second the notion of getting involved in youth activities, even if you don’t have a kid.