Camp Briefette: Why I’m putting myself in DIY summer camp (and why you should too)
Having fun. Making new friends. Being outdoors. Goring on day trips. Crafting.
Want to have more fun, get immeasurably better at a skill or hobby, meet new people, and get unbelievable clarity for the second half of the year? Put yourself in DIY summer camp.
No matter how old you get, summer feels alive with possibility. I think we hold on to this feeling from childhood and our teen years. It is the longest stretch of time we would have away from our peers. It was a chance to reinvent ourselves. Get a tan, fall in love, become smarter, or get better at sports or music. Maybe we would read 100 books or make new friends at our cousin’s house. Summer was memorable, hopeful, and full of life.
Time moves faster in adulthood. Every year, I feel summer slipping through my fingers like sand on the dry part of the beach. I want to make a fist and hold on to it forever. But what if summer could feel endless again? I have seen a couple of articles here on Substack that discuss putting yourself in an adult summer camp or a self-imposed artists’ residency. And I am so in.
Schools in Scotland have just broken for the summer holidays, and English schools won’t do so for another 3 weeks. Summer is just beginning. Now is the time to shape what it might look like.
How to build your DIY summer camp
Getting started: Orientation
Getting yourself into the summer camp mindset is the most important thing. Make an experience of every little part of it.
Reflection rituals
Get to know yourself again. We spend so much time in fast-paced work and life, we rarely get a chance to slow down and assess wtf is happening. That’s where reflection rituals come in.
Before your reflection rituals, take a long walk in nature if you can, or maybe get in the camp spirit early with a yin or restorative yoga class. Stay off your phone. Walk or practice with some questions in mind.
What am I most proud of from these last six months?
What surprised me about myself this year so far?
Where did I grow in a way I haven’t fully let myself acknowledge yet?
The one benefit of adult summer camp over the playfulness of child camp is that by now, you should know who you are.
Intention setting
I LOVE intention setting. I’ve found a really great system for it. It makes me really excited for the year ahead, and lets me feel like even my wildest dreams are possible.
I find that if you really spend time thinking about it, getting through these questions should take a couple of hours. The questions below are based on a template I have been building over the years and try to use annually.
What are my biggest dreams?
Go big here, nothing is off the table. Win an Oscar, meet your heroes, become a millionaire.
What areas of my life are a priority right now?
Work, family, sidehustle, finances, friendships, projects…Try to be specific.
What experiences do I want to have in these areas of my life?
Examples:
Health - Find a workout routine that i enjoy and can stick to
Substack - Hit 1000 subscribers
Money - Have £XXX in savings
Sidehustle - Launch my first physical product line
What do I need to believe about myself and these goals to achieve them?
I have something worth sharing, I deserve success, the people around me support what I’m trying to achieve
The three intentions that reflect where I want to be are...
Once your intentions are clear, you can start building your camp schedule around getting closer to them. Writing is a big one for me, so I will be tailoring my camp experience to gain inspiration and practice the craft of writing. But, as you can see from my fitness intentions, I want to have a great, happy, healthy routine. Summer is the perfect time to start building it.
Build your camp schedule.
You can do this digitally or on paper. If you have a good amount of time for summer camp prep, it could be your first camp craft. Have fun with it!
The foundations (work)
Unfortunately, most of us can’t take 6 weeks off to go to summer camp. But I believe we can bring summer camp to work. Can you introduce some new, regular activities to your working week? Lunchtime group walks. A bake sale. A quiz night. Start a group chat to discuss your hobbies. Make a new work friend. If you work from home, try working from a new location. The key here is novelty.
Classes
Time to sign up for classes. I have regular gym training sessions, so I’ll include them and try to set some summer goals. But I’m also trying some new things:
Try a new style of class at the gym
Try learning a language
Take a dance class
Add a crafting hour to your week
Volunteer
One-off events
As well as regular classes to try for 6 weeks, find some one-off events and sign up for them. Or schedule yourself in. Treat these like a camp day trip. I have signed up for some in-person writing classes and trips to galleries and museums. There’s so much to do when you start looking. My gym is doing a hill walk and cold dip, and there are exhibitions on at my local library. Even planning a beach trip or going to a new restaurant opening night counts. Anything out of the ordinary for you.
Daily rituals
Summer camp has structure. While it is about having fun, daily routines and rituals are what really compound to bring about that ‘transformative summer’ feeling. I have
Lights out! Set strict bedtime and wake-up times.
Meal plan every week and theme your meals
Be outside whenever possible, and find that time in your day
Junk journal. Get an old diary and start saving bits of your summer. Leave it out so you remember. Try doing it before bed instead of scrolling.
No phones in the cabin. Leave your phone outside your room before you go to bed.
Meditate. Try using one of the Headspace courses aligned to what you need help with most.
Find community
Summer camp is social; it’s about meeting new people. While that can feel a little uncomfortable at first, the rewards are endless. But making new friends as an adult can be tough. I recently joined with another creator to set up a local group chat. ‘Glasgow Group Hangs’. We organise casual, low-pressure meetups across the city. Everyone can share things they would like to go to, and see if anyone else would like to come along. If you are in Glasgow, please DM me to join!! For safety reasons, we are strictly women only. You could also try starting your own group, finding one in your area, or simply attending events solo. When you are open to meeting new people, it often comes naturally. Mindset matters.
Opportunity rather than optimisation
When thinking about designing my summer camp, I was worried I would accidentally turn it into some kind of 75 Hard. That’s not the point. It should feel abundant rather than restrictive. You have to be open to the unknown.
My friend Alejandra and I have this night out concept that has led us on some weird and wonderful adventures. It’s simply a mindset shift from having a plan for the way your night is going to go to letting yourself be taken wherever the next non-player character will lead you. It’s really about unclenching. Having no expectations. Let summer surprise you.
Over the next six weeks, I’ll be sharing ideas and stories from Camp Briefette. A postcard from a drizzly Scottish summer, toasted by the campfire of possibility. Come camp along with me.