Last month I went on a weekend-long, women-only summer camp with 200 strangers in their 20s and 30s in rural Pennsylvania. I was hoping to meet a few cool people and get out of New York City, but I ended up re-experiencing some of the joys of childhood and realizing that you are never too old to make new friends.
I am 31 and run a coaching business called Reflect Your Light. I moved to New York City from Denver in 2020 with my husband and although I managed to make a few good friends, a lot of them have since moved out of the city, and I would like to have more.
I like to organize activities for my group of friends and I'm an outgoing person, but meeting people in the city is hard, and conversations are often surface-level and centered around work.
When I saw Camp Hot and Social advertised on social media I impulsively signed up because I thought it looked fun and might be a good opportunity to make friends. The camp ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning and was held at an actual summer camp venue in Pennsylvania called Camp Starlight. It was aimed at women in their 20s and 30s looking to make new friends, have some fun, and spend some time off-grid.
I went to an all-girls camp for five or six summers in Asheville, North Carolina, growing up and I remember those being some of the best moments of my childhood.
My time at Camp Hot and Social was packed with activities, from playing pickleball to cocktail hour and a cooking class, and time away from screens made it easier to connect with people.