If you’ve ever worked at a summer camp in America, you’ll know that leaving can feel weird. But what about the first summer you don’t go back?
Suddenly your camp friends are together without you. Your Instagram Stories are full of camp. Colour War is happening. New staff are arriving. And you’re watching it all from home thinking: why am I not there?
Welcome to camp FOMO.
Why do you miss summer camp so much?
Camp is intense in the best way. You live and work alongside the same people every day, spend most of your time outside, follow a completely different routine and build friendships incredibly quickly.
Then suddenly, it stops.
For lots of people, it’s not only the place they miss. It’s the version of themselves they were there.
At camp, you might be more confident, more spontaneous or more willing to get involved. You’re constantly surrounded by people and working towards something together. Going back to normal life can make you realise how much that environment meant to you.
Camp FOMO is very real
Social media doesn't exactly help.
When your friends return to camp and you don't, it can feel like you're watching your old life carry on without you. New staff join. Traditions continue. Your friends make new memories.
That can feel strange — particularly when camp has been such a big part of your life.
But other people having their summer doesn't take anything away from yours. The friendships, memories and experiences you had at camp are still yours.
You can miss camp and still know it was time
One of the strangest things about leaving camp is that two things can be true at once.
You can be happy to be home and wish you were there.
You can know it was the right time to move on and still feel jealous of everyone going back.
You can remember how exhausting camp could be and somehow desperately miss it anyway.
Because when you look back, it's rarely the early mornings or difficult days that stick with you. It's the people, ridiculous moments, traditions and tiny things that wouldn't mean anything to anyone else.
What summer camp leaves you with
Working at summer camp isn't always easy. Plans change constantly. You solve problems on the spot, work long days and learn how to deal with situations you couldn't have predicted.
Without really noticing, you become better at adapting, communicating, thinking on your feet and dealing with pressure.
Those skills don't disappear when camp ends.
Neither do the friendships.
And neither does the part of you that changed because you went.
Is it too late to go back to camp?
No.
Taking one summer away from camp doesn't mean you've closed that chapter forever. Plenty of people take a year out and return later.
So if you're sitting at home watching everyone else's camp summer unfold and wondering whether you made a terrible decision...
There could always be next summer.
