Family & Parenting, Features, Travel

Adult Summer Camps

Adult Summer Camps

Because summer vacation isn’t just for the kids anymore

By M.M. Cloutier

Jamming with a rock n’ roll band, swimming with dolphins, partying with chefs, orbiting to space, rubbing elbows with great minds—summer camp isn’t what it used to be. It’s better—and it’s for adults, too.

In our faster-better-more culture, grown-ups increasingly aren’t satisfied spending time “off” lying on a beach. According to the Travel Industry Association, more than 30 million U.S. adults have taken an educational trip to learn or improve a skill, sport or hobby in the last three years. Tens of millions more have taken an adventure trip during that period. Whether you consult the latest statistics or flood of anecdotal evidence, more and more adults are leaving their Blackberrys¨ and briefcases behind for a day, weekend, week or more to relish the celebratory world of what would seem an oxymoron: adult summer camps.

They’re becoming one of the most pervasive trends in summer travel and no one knows that better than Nancy Lapook Diamond, president of a Boca Raton-based company, NicheDirectories that runs a Web site called grownupcamps.com.

The site, currently the most comprehensive adult-camp directory, gets 100,000 unique hits a month—and Diamond expects its user activity may soon rival her company’s ever-popular flagship kids’ camps directory, which Diamond launched more than a decade ago.

“No sooner did we go online with kidscamps.com when we started getting e-mails from adults saying they wanted to go to camp, too,” says Diamond. “That interest has skyrocketed. As we say, why should kids have all the fun?”

It’s not exactly a surprise, then, that some kids’ camps around the country now are launching adult versions of themselves, including Florida’s Camp Ryno (“Rediscover Your Natural Obsession”) in Santa Rosa Beach, where adults soon will be able to enroll in extreme-sports weekends sprinkled with meditation and other activities.

But adults being adults and kids being kids, grown-up camps aren’t just like kids’ camps. First, it helps to play it a little loose with the definition of “camp,” since terms like “workshop,” “program” and “seminar” fall under the adult-camp rubric.

Second, accommodations and amenities typically are a far cry from tents, bug juice and mess halls. Finally, camp categories run the gamut, from hiking and canoeing to culinary, dance, sports, visual art, current affairs and more.

“Today, when people have time off, they’re interested in renewing a passion, sharpening a skill or learning something new,” says Diamond. “Some people simply want to recapture a sense of the camp experience they enjoyed when they were young or to participate in a camp-like experience they never had growing up.”

The easiest way to find an adult summer camp that suits your interests is to browse camp Web sites or search the Web with such key works as “summer camps for adults.” A plethora of possibilities pop up, which can be narrowed by indicating a state or category preference, among other things.

HERE IS JUST A TASTE OF THE MANY WAYS YOU CAN SPEND YOUR VACATION:

CAMP RYNO, Santa Rosa Beach, FL (campryno.com): The camp’s credo is to “inspire you to strengthen your body, enlighten your mind and enrich your soul. Live, laugh and learn extreme sports while becoming whom you truly wish to be.” For years, it has been geared toward teens with surfing, kayaking, snorkeling, free-diving, meditation and exploration of the area’s history and natural landscapes, but weekend-long adult camps are slated to be launched in a couple of months.

INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES, Sarasota, FL (incredible-adventures.com): It’s headquartered in Florida, but Incredible Adventures has day- and multi-day camps both in the Sunshine State and elsewhere. Florida-based adult programs range from three-day sharkdive adventures to a program at Kennedy Space Center. The space center adventure allows guests to embark on a plane for a fantasy trip through the galaxy that concludes in zero gravity “outer space” as you bounce around the cabin like human popcorn.

THE DOLPHIN RESEARCH CENTER, Marathon, FL (dolphins.org): Day- and week-long adult camps bring you up close and personal with dolphins. The center’s adult DolphinLab and “All About Dolphins Program” is a seven-day program that includes a blend of hands-on and in-water interactive experiences with dolphins, as well as seminars, observation time, snorkeling field trips, research and training workshops and more.

ROCK N’ ROLL FANTASY CAMP (rockcamp.com): The camp, where adults share the limelight with living rock legends, annually touches down on cities from London to New York to Las Vegas. The three-day experience includes small group instruction from celebrity musicians, playing and writing your own original song, rehearsing and recording at professional studios, and performing live to a sold-out audience at a major rock venue. Depending on your skill level, you may spend time singing backup vocals or playing tambourine.

NEW ORLEANS COOKING EXPERIENCE, New Orleans, LA (neworleanscookingexperience.com): Among other offerings, NOCE’s immersion cooking-class series includes two-, three- and fourday series in the company of a small, spirited and fun class each day with New Orleans chefs, followed by a meal and good cheer. Weekend and long-weekend culinary programs also are offered.

OUTWARD BOUND, Golden, CO (outwardbound.org): Outward Bound offers hundreds of adventure-based wilderness expeditions for all ages. Courses, as the camps are called, demand pushing your limits and working as a team. Adult summer programs include a week-long river rafting adventure in Oregon to face the challenges and rewards of the rivers. Campers also explore historical and cultural sites in the area — from Chinese miners’ houses to Native American pictographs.

IDYLLWILD ARTS, Idyllwild, CA (idyllwildarts.org): Every summer, hundreds of children, teens and adults attend Idyllwild workshops, week-long festivals and programs under the pines along hundreds of acres. Here they can pursue pursuing interests in creative writing, dance, music, theater and visual art—all under the auspices of some of America’s finest artists. Idyllwild Arts’ Family Camp is a huge draw each summer.

THE ASPEN INSTITUTE, Aspen, CO (aspeninstitute.com): The institute’s version of adult summer camp is its week-long Aspen Ideas Festival (aifestival.com), presented in conjunction with The Atlantic magazine. It brings those of us with curious minds together with an army of thinkers —from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to actor, playwright and author Anna Deveare Smith. Activities include panels, debates, discussions and one-on-one interviews, with topics ranging from world affairs to innovations in education. Cultural events are part of the mix. V