Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans Is Here! The wait is over. After months of anticipation, Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans has officially launched. This bold, hilarious, and heartfelt follow-up in the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp series is now available worldwide. Whether you are a former Camp America counselor, a fan of backpacking memoirs, or just someone who loves wild travel stories with heart, this book is for you. A Celebration of Chaos, Campers and Change Following the success of the first book, Andrew Waterhouse is back with more behind-the-scenes tales from one of the most unique summer jobs in the world. Second Summer Shenanigans explores what happens when a returning counselor arrives at camp only to discover that everything has changed. New faces, bigger responsibilities, and even more outrageous escapades fill every page. This book dives deeper into the emotional highs and lows of life abroad. From laugh-out-loud moments in the mess hall to vulnerable reflections under the stars, it captures the spirit of summer like never before. The Video Podcast: Behind the Scenes and Between the Lines To celebrate launch day, we have dropped a special video podcast episode. Andrew Waterhouse sits down to reflect on what inspired this second book, what readers can expect, and why this one feels different. You will hear about: The return to camp life and how it impacted Andrew personally Fan-favorite characters making surprise reappearances Why this book means more than just storytelling Advice for future Camp America counselors and aspiring memoir writers Whether you are reading the book or tuning into the video, you are in for a treat. Why You Should Read It If you ever wondered what it is like to spend a summer working in America, this book gives you the real story. It is equal parts funny, cheeky, emotional, and inspiring. Expect: Camp gossip that could only be shared after leaving the country Honest reflections on friendships, identity and growing up Late-night adventures that belong in a movie A raw look at the mental health struggles that often go unspoken This is not just a camp diary. It is a coming-of-age travel memoir set in the most chaotic and beautiful place imaginable. Available Now Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans is out now in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats. You can grab your copy on Amazon (check your own country if not from the UK) and other major retailers. Make sure to check out the full video podcast and join the celebration. Share it with fellow counselors, leave a review, and follow Andrew’s journey as the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp series continues to grow. Thank You Thank you to everyone who has supported this series so far. Your messages, reviews and stories mean the world. This book would not have been possible without your love for camp and all its madness. Here’s to another unforgettable summer… in book form.

Behind the Scenes of Recording the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Audiobook Hey there, fellow adventurers! I’m beyond excited to share a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of my latest project – the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp audiobook. This project has been a labor of love, and now that it’s all recorded, I wanted to give you a sneak peek into what goes into turning a book into an audiobook, as well as the special preview podcast I’ve put together for you. Why an Audiobook? For me, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is all about energy, fun, and those unforgettable camp moments. Writing it was one thing, but recording the audiobook took it to a whole new level. I wanted to capture the vibe, the excitement, and the chaos of camp life, but also the friendships and growth that happen in those spaces. A lot of people enjoy audiobooks for their convenience, but also for the personal connection you get with the narrator – so, who better to bring the story to life than me? The Process Recording the audiobook was one of the most exciting yet challenging experiences I’ve had. I spent countless hours in the studio (aka my makeshift home recording space), perfecting each chapter, making sure the energy was right, and ensuring that the laughs, heartaches, and shenanigans translated well. It wasn’t just about reading the words; it was about embodying the emotions, pacing the story just right, and of course, making sure I kept you entertained the whole time. I have to admit, there were a few moments where I tripped over my words or had to redo a line for the perfect delivery. But that’s all part of the process, right? It’s all about getting it just right. Free Preview Podcast To give you a taste of what the audiobook has to offer, I’ve recorded a special preview podcast. It’s a little teaser of the wild camp stories, the humorous interactions, and some of the best moments from the book that you’ll hear when you dive into the full audiobook. I hope it gets you as excited as I am to share the whole thing with you! You can listen to the preview podcast for free, and I’d love to hear what you think. Whether you’re already a fan of audiobooks or this is your first foray into the world of narrated stories, I think you’ll enjoy the vibe. What’s Next? The full audiobook will be available soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the preview and get a glimpse of what’s coming. Keep an eye out for updates on the full release and, as always, thank you for your continued support. Until next time, happy listening, and I hope There’s No Place Like Summer Camp brings you just as much fun as it did for me to create! Listen to the Audiobook here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0F1W79XL1/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-439530&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_439530_rh_uk Feel free to leave a comment or share your thoughts – I love hearing from you all!

Transcript from the podcast episode Surprise surprise! Hi everyone! And surprise! Obviously you can tell from the audio recording but not in the office today doing the usual podcast location but surprise I’m here! You can hear the anxiety pulsing through my veins as I’m recording outside in the general public where anyone can hear me. But I’ve come out of the crack of dawn at 8:45 but surprise it’s another episode of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. It’s good to be back, man. The whole situation with the podcast is basically, what we’re going to be doing is having special episodes from here on out really. It’s gone from being the weekly or bi-weekly shows where we are now with episodes that are on a special occasion. So why am I here today? I thought you know what, it’s been a while since I last did a recording. The last episode was with Maisie Craddock, the YouTuber, where we did that interview, and it was really cool to be featured on her channel. So I hope you enjoyed that episode. But I’m here today with something a little different. It’s not so much of an interview. This is just more of a sort of a life update. Check-in with you guys, to surprise you this Monday, with a podcast episode while you’re doing whatever you’re doing. So yeah, we’re here with a special episode. Sort of like a touch-base episode, shall I say? We’re just gonna be like talking about what’s been going on talking about what’s been going on both in my life and what’s going on with the podcast and the book. And I’ve got some cool updates to come. So what’s been going on with me? Well, I’ve become a dad! It’s been a mental few months. While all this quietness is happening on the podcast front. We’ve got a new child in the mix, say. So I’ve become a dad since the last podcast and it’s it’s a big change in your life, man. It’s big. It’s a hefty change. Becoming a dad is mental. You know that there. There are videos out there. If you go to Andrewwaterhouse.com You can go to my blog, you’ll be able to see my reaction to being told that I was going to be a dad and the surprise on my face was like, wait, what?! But yeah, she’s here now Rosie is here. And it’s been she’s coming up to six months old now which is mental. I don’t know when that will last podcast I recorded was but it was definitely before she was born. So yeah, it’s a big uphill learning curve. The first couple of months are brutal on the on both of us really. It’s a lot of learning a lot of responsibility, a lot of buying things. But to be honest, over the course of the six months, Rosie has been absolutely fantastic baby to have. She’s really brought the families together both sides. Being the first grandchild on both sides, so she gets absolutely spoiled with kisses and hugs and gifts and you name it, but she’s been around Angel. So, yeah, basically that’s been a massive change sneakily six months old now. And we’re getting into that with sort of routine. And we have been for a short while to be honest, where I’m more settled in my job. And I’ve got more of the routine sort of hunkered down with who does what chores and who’s the best at putting her to sleep and sort of exchanging that information as well. So we can both be really good at all things. And it’s been quite cool, to be honest, being a parent, because it’s the small things where you’re like, oh my God she rolled herself over today! And that’s massive news as a parent, massive news. Every tiny little thing you’re absolutely flabbergasted by so this week, for instance, she’s started to do this wriggle sort of dance, where she, she’ll wriggle while she’s on her back, almost like she’s dancing. Yeah, so every little thing that she does, you’re just like, stunned and amazed by and then you sort of forget, it’s apparent that they’re actually a human being. They’re going to be doing human being things and, you know, eventually, she’s going to start talking, start crawling, start walking, having a job, going to school, getting grades for things, maybe scoring a goal in a football team or something like that. It’s just like another world. You just think holy shit, all these little things that this person’s doing is something that I made. Yeah, but it’s been great. Possible future podcast: Thoughts on sending my child to be a camp counsellor one day I think we’re gonna probably do, there’s probably a whole other podcast discussion on sort of what it’s like to consider about your child going to summer camp. Do I want Rosie to go to summer camp? Do I want her to go to scouts and cubs in the UK, which is sort of the most similar experience to camp America as you get in the UK. But do I want her to go and volunteer and go and do all of those things? It’s definitely worth a podcast discussion about. But anyway, being great news on that front, a lot of changes you can expect. I’ve become a homeowner: Renovations and floods! So, at the same time, as Rosie has come about, there’s been an update on the house. So you’ll, you’ll learn that this period has been so much change in my life. So we purchased the house and didn’t mean for it to happen this way. But we purchased a renovation project, a semi-detached three bedroom house. And we got there, I think the month or the couple of weeks after Rosie was born. So for the past six months or so, we’ve been having to renovate the house alongside Rosie being around, we still haven’t moved in yet six months down the line. But hopefully within the month, next month or two we’ll be in settled. It’s been a massive job with her on that front as well. So we talking kitchen renovations to rewiring to gas leaks to two water leaks that flooded the house. responsibilities, man, I prefer the days of going to summer camp and just not having bills to pay and all those things. That’s been a massive change as well. So having that having our own house, we’ve always been renting and to finally be able to buy a house do it up, make it the way we wanted as well. It’s gonna be a massive change in our lives. I was going to record this episode as a video podcast, but I thought you know what, rein it in, get that adrenaline down, calm down. I get so excited when I’m doing these podcasts. Get off your high horse and not do a video podcast out in public when you can barely talk in public. So with the new house, we’re going to be having an office that’s one of the rooms that I was like if we get in this house, this room is going to be my office. I work from home a lot. So you might have seen in previous podcasts or YouTube clips that I’ve done. I’ve got a had an office at the previous place. And I’ve got a Camp America shrine with my Camp America shirts, put up in a display box. So every time I walk into my office, I see those camp shirts, and I remember all of those memories of how good it really was with a couple of photos of the boys alongside so I wanted a similar place in my new house. The new house is so much bigger and more appropriate for what we’re going to be doing. Both in terms of bringing up a family, but also working from home having that space and it as a large semi-detached home. So I guess we got to make that office a really cool place. And it all also probably ends up with me having some sort of studio space. New Studio Podcasting Space So we’re going to have like a good recording setup. And I think in the next future special episodes, I’m going to make them video based. So I know, Spotify and other podcast platforms are pushing for the video, podcasting space. So watch out for that soon as well. So we’ve got the studio, we’ve got a house, we’ve got a child, is there anything else that’s been cracking on in the back of my mind keeping me occupied? Changing jobs too Yes, change of jobs, throw that into the mix. So I’ve got a bit frustrated at the last job with lack of opportunity and feeling like I’m like pulling the whole team. And without me the sort of Team collapsed and things like that. So long story short, I was looking very sparingly at job positions. Operations Manager is my current title. And I was just looking for similar soft positions, found one applied for one and got the job. And it was so out of the blue, because normally, I’m so used to applying for jobs. And I’m sure a lot of you can sort of empathize with this if you’re applying for tons of jobs. And people say oh, you’re not experienced enough or, you’re not quite suited for this role. And you end up applying for hundreds and hundreds of jobs. But I’m at a place in my life now where I’m fucking 30 years old, still talking about summer camp, you know. But at 30, you sort of have that experience behind you now. So I’ve got a couple of years of experience doing operations manager positions. And basically what I do is stuff to do with web design. So I won’t bore you with details. So web design agency, Operations Manager is my background. And yeah, basically, I’ve been, I applied for like one or two jobs and got a job. And I was like, Oh, shit, I didn’t really it wasn’t really seriously considering a move, but I got the job and soon moved on… the pay is 25% extra helped. So it’s kind of like an offer too good to refuse. But here we are. And it’s a really good position. Really good growth. And it means that I can provide for my family, while we’re in this transitional period of buying a house and raising a child. Experience is paying off! But all fun and games and, you know, experience brings. So speaking of websites and stuff, there are significant changes to this website too. There’s been an overhaul to how we appear in Google now. So every podcast even this one, as I talk is going to be transcribed into a blog post. So people who are searching for things like ‘Can I go to Camp America when I’ve got tattoos’ that will be translated by my bot into a blog post. (Yes you can by the way, read more here) And away we go. We get some more views and people so I’ve seen real growth in the podcast. If you don’t follow me already on Twitter, @androow09. You might have seen I was really proud of the stats on Spotify. Recently, I had a like an end of year podcasters insights, email come in from Spotify. But how the podcast was doing and it was like 400% growth in 2022 which is like shit like these are serious numbers. So I do appreciate all of your guys support. 51% off There’s No Place Like Summer Camp at Amazon for Prime Day One of the things that I wanted to bring up in this episode is a really good special offer for you guys this week. Monday, this coming week, because we’ve got Prime Day on Amazon. I think it’s the 12th and 13th of July 2023, of course. So Prime Day is coming up and I thought, let’s hop on this, let’s provide content for you guys at a cheaper rate. So I’ve knocked off  51%. I think it’s just the e-book. But if you want to go check that out, go on to Amazon or go here. And you can get the Kindle version of the book for I think it’s £3.99. I’m quite excited to hear what people think of the book. And if you have given it a read, or if you buy it or, you know, take advantage of the 51% off. Please do leave a review! It really does help. Camp America have their own podcast – my seat is still warm! One of the things I wanted to talk about in today’s episode is I’ve seen Camp America are doing their own fucking they’re doing their own fucking podcast what’s going on now? What’s going on? I go away for like a few months. And they hop it. They hop straight on. And, yeah, they started to do their own podcast. So it’s kind of interesting. I popped them a tweet on Twitter. So Camp America, if you’re listening, go check your tweets. I did tweet. Yeah. Because I saw the launch tweet that basically said, Oh, we’ve got a podcast now. I was like, what?! I’m currently here walking around at 9am with my there’s no place like summer camp t-shirt on so if you haven’t got that already. Go check that out. I do have a merch store that’s available. Content, Book, Podcast traction It’s been what is 2023 now so it’s been nine years since I last went to camp. But it’s only been like, one year since the book was released. And for all that content of podcast episodes and website and merchandise stores, good to finally see a bit of traction coming along. So I hope you enjoy the updates to my life, the podcasts, the website, you’ve got the merch store as well. You’ve also got the 51% off the book for this week. It’s only this week, by the way. My Prime Day Wishlist: A Fridge vending machine I’ve been looking forward to this Prime Day for a while. And what I’m going to be picking up in this Prime Day is actually a Kindle Paperwhite base, the kid’s version, apparently is supposed to be more value for money. So I’m going to be grabbing a Kindle that’s got a backlit screen and Natasha is going to love that. Because my current setup for reading books at night involves a neck light that goes around the back of my neck with two little pronged, like light bulbs coming out of each side of my neck. Even though it says it focuses the light onto the book, it’s nothing quite like a backlit screen, sort of similar to how you get on a phone. So that’s what I’m going to be picking up during the Prime Day sales. I’m also looking at a gym, a home gym, maybe getting a rowing machine, maybe a running machine. There are some other bits for the house, I want to get like a vending they get they’ve got these like, you know, when you go to a vending machine, and they’ve got the cans of Coke or whatever in the machine and you see them push the coke to the front after you push the numbers in and give you money. However, they’ve got something similar for a fridge. So I’ve been getting all this nice technology and appliances and new things for the house. We’ve got carpets coming in in the next couple of weeks, we’ve got a carpenter coming around to fix these words that I’ve never heard of like architraves. And yeah, it’s one of those things that I want to pick up in Prime Day sales, is they’ve got these vending machines, sort of like cam pushers for your fridge. So I’ve got a massive-ass like floor-to-ceiling fridge now. And I want to put in this vending machine pusher for cans of Coke. So I’m like sort of dedicating a whole row of fridge to coke. How to see updates from me and rumours of second book I’d say just keep an eye on my socials. Keep an eye on the website as well. And hearing you share the pod is really good for me to hear you guys love it. It’s only been like one year since the book was released. I do often get get asked when’s the second one coming, because I went to summer camp twice. That has been started, but the first book took so many years to create and edit and polish. I think you’d really see it if you especially if you buy the paperback version when you have in your hand. It’s a thick, chunky boy. And it’s not like I’ve used big fonts. These are small ass fonts. Small class fonts with a big chunky book. That’s how I like them. The second book is, has been sort of started on it’s very early days, but it does take years to publish a book. It can’t be something I just rush out because then it just doesn’t make sense. My first few versions of the book were bad and it took time to get them right. I DO have a second book – The Fly Who Flew Too High! Oh, I haven’t done a podcast about my other released book! So it’s kind of not related to summer camp at all. That might be why I might not have mentioned it. So I’ve actually released the second book. So when Rosie was born, I released a book dedicated to her, called The Fly Who Flew Too High. It’s £6.99 for a paperback version, which is like the standard price for a kid’s book. It’s a picture book of a fly, who wakes up one morning in a very loud garden and gets fed up of all of his neighbours, making noise and waking him up. So he decides to fly away, and he flies up into the sky, and then he goes higher and higher, and he keeps going. And then he busts through the atmosphere, and starts flying around space and the solar system, and he goes and visits different planets. It’s a fun, original story that had always been on my mind for a couple of years. If you want to go check that out, if you’ve got kids of your own, check below. It’s got really good reviews! The Fly Who Flew Too High – available on Amazon. Approaching Middle-Age It’s crazy, I’m at the age now where all of the work is starting to pay off doing these podcasts and making the effort of recording every week and optimizing the website. Having the books out there, it creates the audience and then I get support from you guys. And it’s I don’t know, it’s really nice to see that. The belief that I sort of had to have in myself to release all this content is starting to pay off. And I think tears. If you ever go to my blog, You see I ramble quite a lot about working hard, or mental health struggles, or, as a lot of things like just ramblings of a madman a little bit on that. And to see that, projects that I’ve always had a passion for starting to sort of pay off, as I’m like at my mid-life at the minute. 30 years old, you know, people live to say 80. So I’ve got like 10 years left. And so I don’t know, I’m on the way down, literally. That’s if you are lucky! Wow, that’s a bit morbid for 9am on a Sunday morning. Tips for improving your mental health Anyway, so it’s nice, you know, it feels like I feel like there’s a lot of pressure in society at the minute where you’re having to compare yourself to others and I don’t know. Yeah, it’s when you’re comparing yourself to others, it doesn’t get you anywhere, you have to just compare yourself to who you were before. And no one can compete with you and what you are doing. That was a really big lesson that I learned through reading books and educating myself and looking at the habits that have and really honing in on positive habits. And one of the positive habits as all of you know, is read books. No one says oh if you want to get yourself out of a mental health struggle, go watch some TV or go play video games. No one says that… they always say read books. So it’s nice to see that you guys support me with that. So I’d like to thank you for purchasing right thank you for tweeting me the messages that I get and Facebook messages as well. I don’t even have a Facebook presence. I never push the Facebook following because I don’t like Facebook at all. Facebook was one of the really bad habits that I found was draining my mental health. The only Facebook presence for this site is a Facebook page, only to do some paid advertising, which doesn’t really work. No one wants to ads. So I much prefer to do podcasts and content and interviews and blog posts and that sort of thing. The Avengers of stress and adulting: Baby, House, Job I don’t know when our next year, like I say, a lot going on in my life at the minute, not meaning to brag or anything. It’s just, you know, sometimes these things just come at once. Here I am having a newborn, a new house, which is also a renovation in brackets, and also a new job. So it’s like the trifecta of stress. It’s like almost it’s almost the Avengers of stress, you know, you just bring in the fucking Super Villains together. And that’s what I’ve got going on at the minute. But I can see the way out. there are some times during all of this, where I was just like, What am we doing? Why are we doing all this at the same time and it didn’t really meant it was never meant to happen this way. But sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Eight MagPies Means for a Wish! Whoa, I’ve got seven magpies in front of me. I’m not one for superstitions, but the magpies man every time every time. 1..2…34567…8! No way. Oh my god, you’re getting this breaking news there. I’ve got eight magpies in front of me. So I’ve got one for superstitions but the magpies thing I don’t know why it’s stuck with me and this is gonna be a fun ending so I’m going to find out what eight magpies means. I bet some people maybe the Gen Z of you who have no idea what I’m talking about okay so I’m having a look let me just try this out Magpie meaning numbers. So you’ve got the one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, or four for a boy. Five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told… ah eight is for a wish. Okay, so what am I going to wish for? What would you wish for? Wish for summer camp? I don’t know. It’s good to hang out with you guys. Camp Wildfire – the UK summer camp for adults Speaking of wishing for summer camp. It dawned on me I’m sure I’ve mentioned it in previous episodes. For the Camp Wildfire, who was on Dragon’s Den? A couple of years ago now, but basically it was on the UK Dragon’s Den, someone came up with the idea of doing adults summer camp. experiences for people. And I don’t think they got funding in the end. Spoiler alert. But it’s always played on my mind, like, Ah, how nostalgic and how cool would it be? But it’s just full of adults. But summer camp for adults in the UK. There’s a part of me that wants to give it a try. So I went onto YouTube earlier and had a look at people that were there and the reviews and, man, there’s something about it that I’d love to give it a try. But at the same time, it’s not going to be the summer camp that I remember. Why I didn’t return for a third summer at Camp America And that’s part of the second book really, is why it was only to a summer camp, man. It’s a drug. And here I am, nine years later, since going to summer camp myself in here I am in a bus stop in Manchester, talking about summer camp. But yeah, I’ve got eight magpies here, my wish. My wish… I’ll tell you what I wish for. I know it’s bad luck to tell but its more about bonding with you guys. I’m going to wish for maybe Rosie to be healthy and happy. Something like that. Rosie to be healthy. I think the happy part would count as a second wish. In closing: I’m in a good space. A lot clearer headspace as well.  I say to get yourself into some healthy habits if you aren’t in the right place. Look at what’s not clicking for you at the minute. Meditation is one that’s really honed me in personally. I’m now more grounded and present. And comparing myself to myself and not to others. You should want to be happy for your friends when they are successful. You shouldn’t sat there with envy because they’re doing something that you’re not, or they’ve got something that you don’t have. That was a biggie for me, I used to be on Facebook all the time and I used to see people who were way younger than me were buying a house and I was here struggling having moved miles and miles away from Potters Bar. But I never considered how they got it, or the backstory that granddad and grandma died and then inheritance went to them, or they won the lottery, or the dad is always in America working his ass off and never sees the kids. You don’t know that. But on Facebook I just saw the glitz of showing off the keys. That took me a while to figure out. So if you are struggling, I’d say compare yourself to yourself. And maybe read Atomic Habits by James Clear, that’s a good book… And also read There’s no place like summer camp – its 51% off! Alright, guys. I’ll see you in the next episode. I don’t know when it will be. But I’m still around. I’m still alive. I’m still writing. I’m still talking. I need to end the episode. Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening to. It’s totally free. If you want to check out more about there’s no place like summer camp. Go to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com All right, I’m gonna love you and leave you finally, its been a good chat. Peace!

We return for a special episode! Going forward it’s special one-off episodes and we’re starting with Maisie Craddock. She’s got a fantastic YouTube channel full of Camp America and summer camp content. In this podcast episode, we talk all things summer camp, what it meant to her and the tips she took away from her experience. If you want to see when she interviewed me, go on to YouTube and search for Maisie Craddock. I hope you enjoy this episode and I’ll see you occasionally for more special one-off episodes in the future. If you want to be on the podcast, get in touch! I’m on Twitter androow09 or you can reach me by going to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/contact. Her channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MaisieCraddock/videos Maisie Interviews Me – EXTRA video Recorded For her channel: Transcript from this podcast: Andrew Waterhouse Hello everyone and welcome to There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. I’m Andrew Waterhouse, and in today’s episode, we’ve got a special interview lined up for you today. This is Maisie Craddock from YouTube. Nice to have you on. Come on into our tent, and I’ll spill the beans Maisie Craddock Hello, everyone. Andrew Waterhouse All right. Welcome back, everyone. It’s good to have you here. I’ve got a special episode for you today with Maisie Craddock. Maisie is someone that I found on YouTube while doing some research on summer camp YouTubers, she’s got a fantastic channel, and I would highly recommend watching her videos all about the tips and tricks and things that she’s learned the travels as well as what she’s gone through being at Camp America. So welcome, Maisie. Thanks for being our special guest on today’s podcast. Maisie Craddock Hello. I mean, thank you so much for having me. I’m really glad that we’ve been able to sort of collaborate because I feel like we’re on very similar pages about advising people about summer camps. So I’m very happy to be on and talking to you. Andrew Waterhouse It’s a very special privilege. I’ve gone months without doing a podcast episode. But I think from here on out, special interviews, such as this one, are going to make up the majority of the content. Very excited to have you here today. So I was just going to start the ball rolling with some questions just about yourself. So do you want to tell us about yourself? Where were you from? How old are you? Why should you do camp? How many years? Maisie Craddock Yeah, and so I’m Maisie and I live in the northwest of the UK. I’m 24 years old. But I went to camp when I was 19. So that was in 2018. And I went to a camp in Pennsylvania and a camp called Chestnut Lake Camp. And I don’t know what else about me. I currently work now in TV. And I obviously have my YouTube channel. So that’s all sort of my interests. And also at camp. My role was sort of related to that, which I’m sure we’ll get into as we go along. Andrew Waterhouse So you went to camp at 19? That’s a relatively young age to do camp, I think, yeah, how come you did it at that age?. Maisie Craddock I finished at college. And I just wasn’t ready to go to uni or anything. So I took a gap year. And I’ve always ever since I’ve been young just been obsessed with America, I think it was just growing up watching Disney Channel and Nickelodeon and all that. And I just have this American dream in my head. So as soon as sort of, I was old enough to do it, because you can be 18 and older. I was just that I want to go and do it. And doing it in my gap here was sort of a perfect time to do it. I do think that I was quite young because obviously the drinking age in America is 21. So that sort of came into play later on in the troubles, where some of my friends who were 21 could go out and I couldn’t. But I am quite a mature person, I would say so like I didn’t feel really young or anything like that. And I think that you sort of forget about everyone’s age just at camp. So I just went when I was ready to be honest. Andrew Waterhouse Perfect. So how come you thought of the idea of doing Camp America? Was there anyone you know? Or was it always an attraction with the TV movie Disney thing? Maisie Craddock I’d say that that was a big part of it. You know, I’ve loved films like Camp Rock and Parent Trap and stuff like that. So I’ve always heard about it. I did have a neighbour that did Camp America, maybe about three or four years before I went. So you know, I’d heard about that. And I just yeah, I’ve always just known about it. And I think I just wanted an experience of travelling and then as soon as you know the gap year hit that was just instantly the thing that I knew I wanted to do it wasn’t go to Thailand or go to Australia or anything like that. It was I want to do camp America. So I think it’s been going around for like 60 years or something camp America so I’ve just known about it. And that’s just Yeah, I just wanted to jump straight into be honest. Andrew Waterhouse Yeah, well Okay, so before we just get into the camp, I was just gonna ask you about the recruitment fair. How did you find that? Maisie Craddock So I, cuz I was so keen and knew that I wanted to do it. And I actually like applied online as everybody else does in like, nope, um, maybe it was September time of the like the year I, it was September 2017. And I went camping like or not August or May 2018. So September I applied and then had like your interview with somebody who then basically just says, you know, you’re okay even like they say that you’re, you’re suitable for camp basically. But you don’t obviously get them recruited by a camp until that point. And then I actually did go to a recruitment fair, because I just wanted to like, open my options up as much as possible. Obviously, my camp profile was live. So camps could sort of hire me via the app via the online application. But I also went to Leeds for the recruitment fair. You’ve just as we’ll get into, when you’re doing Camp America, you’ve just got to get yourself out of your comfort zone and just throw yourself in. At that recruitment, fair, I just went in, they told us prior, like, don’t stand on your phone, make sure that you’re sort of chatting to people around you because the camps have their eyes on you. Then I just approached the different camps, the ones that I had sort of researched online and thought that they sounded great. Initially, I was thinking of maybe doing more drama roles and stuff. But as I approached them, they all said, Oh, no, we’ve already hired that. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, what, what should I go for now? So I sort of winged it on the spot and was like, Well, I have got media experience. I’ve just made media a level. And then there was one camp that was looking for, like a web team, part of being part of the web team. And I just completely blanked it, and said, you know, and it is true, like, that is what I’m into. But I said, Yeah, I’ve done all this photography, and all this, I’ve only done a little bit. But she was like, yes, you sound great, you can be part of the web team. And I got hired on the spot, then by my camp, which, as I discovered, you know when I went to camp, it was one of the best roles I could have done. But at the time, I would say that you sort of have to just pick yourself up. And if you want to get hired there, then you have to just make sure that you’re like me, you know, saying that you’re the best person on earth, basically. But a lot of people didn’t get hired at the recruitment fair. So if you don’t get hired, I wouldn’t be so disheartened by it. Because, you know, there are other opportunities like you had Andrew, where you applied later on. And then you get applied, you get hired online. Andrew Waterhouse Yeah, absolutely. So was Chestnut Lake, were they the first table you approached? Had you gone in with like, a certain camp that he wanted to go to? And what type of camp was Chestnut like? Maisie Craddock So I had about five camps. That was hot. I can’t remember how many were there, maybe about 20 to 30 camps at the recruitment fair. And I had about five, written down that were my favourites. So Chestnut Lake wasn’t the first one that I approached, I actually approached one called Trails and which was next door to Chestnut Lake. But they didn’t have anything suitable for me. So then chestnut lake was the second sort of camp that I approached. So I was quite lucky in that sense. In terms of the camp that it was like, it was a pretty sort of standard camp, I would say. I know they have special needs camps. They have Jewish camps. They have underprivileged camps. I would say that mine was more on the privileged end of a camp, I found out that parents sending their children to camp for just their session was about nine grand. So it was quite an expensive camp. I would say a lot of the kids were from more wealthy families. You know, my camp had sort of it, you didn’t just stay at camp, you also had day trips or trips away with the kids as well. So that sort of represented sort of the money side of things. A lot of the kids were Jewish. But it wasn’t a Jewish camp. Like we didn’t do any sort of like you know, religious rituals or anything like that. It was all just sort of standing next to the pledge the allegiance to the flag every day other than that it was. Andrew Waterhouse So I was just gonna ask about being a photographer that’s kind of like a different sort of role that a lot of people would go to camp would have. How did you find being a photographer and being? What did you find a bit external to the day-to-day running of camp? Were there any kids, you had to like, sort of train or show how to use a camera? Or were you like more taking photos of the activities as kids would come? Come through? Camp? Maisie Craddock Yeah. Yeah. So as I said, Before, I had no idea sort of what being part of the web team would involve. But it ended up being probably one of the best jobs in my opinion, at camp because I was still part of I shared a bunk with the kids. And I was still part of sort of my own division. So at nighttime and stuff, I would like still look after them. And when we were doing activities in the evening, I would be with them and my fellow counsellors that are in that division. But in my actual job, I was slightly isolated from not isolated, I was just away from the kids that I was like, assigned to, which was nice, because I then would get a schedule each day, and it would tell me, so in the morning, you need to go and take pictures of the seven-year-old boys that are playing football, then after that, you need to go to take pictures of the older girls that are on an outdoor adventure. I would just go and spend an hour with each, like different ages of kids, and take pictures of them of what activities they were doing. Then at the end of the day, I would upload all those pictures onto the Chestnut Lake website for their parents to be able to see what they’re up to. So I loved it because it meant then that I would spend an hour with not only different kids, but also the counsellors that were looking after those kids, and also the specialists that were at that area as well. So it meant that sort of everyone knew me at camp, I was always sort of going around. And I would return back, you know, it wasn’t just, I’ve been with you one day, I’ll never come back to that group. Again, like I was obviously there for a long period of time. So it was really great. It was really sort of rewarding in the sense of like parents loving to see what their kids are up to. The kids being like, oh, take this picture of us, it was really fun. Also, on a personal level. It really improved my own skills, like photography and stuff like that. So it was a good role. Andrew Waterhouse Okay. I imagine a lot of other kids’ poses become favourites. Did you have any favourite kids that or side the other side, where they were just a pain? Maisie Craddock Yes. And it also depends on what age the kids are as well because we had kids from like, being about six. So they were tiny, all the way up to like teenagers, like 16-17 year-olds. And yeah, you would have it depends on their personalities. But it was always really important for me to get a picture at least one picture of every child. And there were some that were not interested at all in getting the pictures taken. They just wanted to be doing the activity. And I’d be like, that annoying person that’s like, Please smile for the photo, too. Sometimes I had to adapt to that. And if they felt really uncomfortable, I’d just get action shots of them doing what they were doing. But then yeah, you have the other kids that want to be in every photo. And it came to the point where I’m like, You need to not be in this photo now. Because you’re in every photo where you just sort of get used to it. And I think just warming to the kids as well. And just being like, Oh, come on smiling or just making them laugh. Always just sort of made it a bit easier. Andrew Waterhouse Great. So I was gonna just sort of touch on the culture of your camp. So you say it’s a traditional sort of camp with no religion, no special needs anything like that. But how did you find those first few days settling in? Was there a culture that you had to adjust to? How did you settle in and like, find friends? Because I imagine you went by yourself. You didn’t know anyone prior to going to camp? Maisie Craddock No. Yeah, I went by myself. I actually met one girl on Twitter when we both got recruited. And we’re both going to the same camp. So we actually like out of convenience travelled together. But we were like we got on and everything but we didn’t end up being like really close friends throughout camp. So and I also didn’t and it’s really important not to like just stay attached to one person. And that’s the thing that’s where I come from Eric always says like, don’t go with a friend. So yeah, the first few days, were a bit scary, but you’ve just got to throw yourself in there like I’m a really sociable person anyway. So straight away, I was just meeting people and met some people at the airport, which made things a little bit easier that will go into my camp. And then we all sort of shared the plane journey and the bus journey together. So straightaway sort of had people that you’ve sort of gone from the UK with, which made it a bit easier. But as soon as you got to camp, it was just like, where are my like, especially if I was in Pennsylvania, which was in the middle of nowhere. And you’ve then got all these Americans, which, obviously, speak the same language and everything, but they are different. They are like, just, I don’t know how to describe them. But they’re very dramatic, very over the top. They’re very, very friendly and polite, I would say most of them. And it was, it was fine. I think, luckily, obviously, you have your sort of staff week. And so that sort of settles you in before you’re overwhelmed with all the kids. But yeah, I think it was, it was a great experience. You’ve just got to throw yourself in there and just, you know, chat to everybody. And I think naturally, you just gravitate towards the people that are very similar to you, and you just make new friends. And it was absolutely fine. Andrew Waterhouse To just touch on that topic. Were there any other Brits that? Oh, you said there was one other prep was there a little collection of British people that sort of came to your camp at the same time? Because that’s how, at least in my camp, there were initial staff weeks, the Brits would all be their own group. The Israelis would be their group, the Americans would be their group. Did you find it was a little Clicky? In that respect? Maisie Craddock Yeah, I would say obviously, for the first sort of arrival period, we did all arrive together. So there were some Brits, but also there were some returners as well that were coming with us because we’re all sort of on the same flight or the same coach in and obviously those returners had American friends. So they were sort of great in merging those with them. And yes, I would say, initially, I guess there are cliques that form, but the Americans were just so great, and just approaching you and just chatting to you. We didn’t really have as you say, you had Israelis, we didn’t really have many people over than Brits and Americans at the camp. And there were like, Spanish people, and they, they were sort of stuck together. But they sort of worked in the kitchen and things like that. I genuinely I do think that everybody just sort of on the first few days just sort of threw themselves in and was all quite chatty, and then I think cliques do form. I think no one knows each other initially. So you’re just sort of finding your clique. But once you’ve found your clique, then there is there are definitely cliques. Andrew Waterhouse Great. So I was just gonna ask about your highlights of camp. Is there anything that stood out to you from your year? Being a photographer? Maisie Craddock Well, I mean, obviously, the highlight was my role. I loved my role at camp. But also just the friends that I made would be a highlight in itself. But I’d say just sort of the day-to-day is a highlight, you know, I don’t know if it is actually taken that back. I got to be honest, sometimes I struggled with camp. And, you know, it was very different to like the real world. So some of my highlights were when we sort of went on day trips out of camp because that was a day where we didn’t have the kids with us. And we got to sort of explore different cities, we’re sort of close to Philadelphia and New York and stuff. So they were like highlights, and obviously the travels after a highlight. But in terms of camp, I’d say the little things like your campfires, your cookouts, singing with the kids, all the sort of little activities that you did, and just those moments in the bunk as well, where you’re like bonding with your counsellors and the kids like doing their braids and their hair and just like sweet things like that. Were like the highlights, like the little things. And also eating too much food is a thing, but I love food. So, you know, Andrew Waterhouse when in America I think that’s how you sell into the culture. . Maisie Craddock Yeah, exactly. I just fit in everything. Yeah, literally. And the food account was okay. But you’re just hungry all the time because like the days were just so long and you’re on your feet all the time, so it just ended up being eating anything. But yeah, I like it. There were a lot of highlights, but I won’t lie when I say there were some down moments as well. Andrew Waterhouse Absolutely. It’d be wrong of us to pretend that camps just full of sunshine and rainbows, though it’s certainly days of my cup experience where I was like, Well, you know what? I’d rather be at home. Maisie Craddock Yeah, exactly. I remember, I think, maybe a week in I FaceTimed, my parents and just burst into tears. And they were like, it’s fine. Like, I think it was just the culture shock of like, just completely different environment from being at home. Suddenly you’re at camp and like, our bunks were really weird as well. I know it sounds like a little thing. But we had bunk beds, and all the kids were like, on the ground. But the counsellors that shared the bunk were like, above the kids in each corner of the room, but there was no barrier on the bunk bed. So it was literally just you could roll off and fall out of the bed. I think I didn’t, but I had a friend that did and broke his nose. I think things like that as well. When you’re first settling in, you’re like, I don’t know where I am. I don’t know anyone. I’ve also got this weird bed that I can’t even be comfortable in at night. And I’m like shoving myself against the wall. So it was all just things like that. But you know, once you sort of get settled in and you start making like those friendships that you know, true friendships. And it was amazing. On the whole. Andrew Waterhouse It’s funny you mentioned the bunk beds because we actually had a kid I’m sure it’s in the first book where they rolled off their bunk beds, and they broke their back, I think we ended up having an air ambulance come and pick them up. And that was like a big drama of camp. So Americans, you need to sort out your rails on what’s going on. Maisie Craddock I know I genuinely don’t get it. And they also didn’t have ladders or PPE either. So you’d have to like literally like scramble and like put your leg on, it was so weird. Andrew Waterhouse Right? So we’re coming up to the end of the questions I have for you. As we’re doing that, I’ll just keep it safe for work for the time being. The last question on that topic is What would you say to someone that’s thinking of doing Camp America? Maisie Craddock I would say go all in, you know, if you’re thinking about it, then just do it. If you can give up three months of your summer, and you come to America, you have to pay I think about 700 pounds ish, I think that’s what it’s like. But if you obviously can afford that, then great. Go for it. And you also obviously earn money once you’re at Campus well, so it sort of balances out it’s not loads of money. It’s just as they call pocket money. But I would just say, you know, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, go for it. Because for me, it was the best thing one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life, and I will never ever forget it. And yeah, I think that’s it. That’s all I would say really is just go for it. Andrew Waterhouse Okay, so more spicy questions. Now as we’re coming up to the end. In your the chat we’ve done on your YouTube channel, you mentioned that you were single at camp. How was that? Maisie Craddock And to be honest, it was I was glad that I was single camp, having got to camp and seeing people that were in relationships. Literally, the majority of the people that I was friends with that were in relationships at home, their relationships broke down. I think you know, I don’t mean that to scare anybody. But it’s also the reality of you go to camp, and you can’t really go on your phone and at my camp, we had to lock our phones away for most of the day. I was lucky with my role because I could sort of sneakily have it when I was like editing the photos and stuff. But otherwise, you couldn’t have it apart from on your time off. It’s very sort of you’re in your camp bubble. There are other sorts of distractions. There may be other temptations there. And I think I was glad that I was single because I didn’t have anybody to worry about back home. Now. I’m not single and the thought of going to camp now having no water it’s like that’s, that would really make me nervous. Just because it’s like it’s when you’ve got a loved one back at home. You’d be wanting to check in on them, you’d know that they want to check in on you. And like, especially the way that my camp was, I couldn’t like to have access to my phone, and then you’ve got the time difference as well. So I would say it’s definitely difficult, but it’s also doable. Like, if obviously, if you’re sort of secure in your relationship, then it will be fine. You’ve just got to communicate and pre-warn your partner that, you know, it might be difficult, but if you trust each other, then it will be fine. But personally, I was very glad that I was single. And I could just think and do whatever I wanted. Andrew Waterhouse I shouldn’t have really said this in the interview we had on your channel. But I think also the time difference, having, you know, approximately three months away from your loved one, that’s a long time, especially when you’re outside of camp, that not being able to speak to each other and not be able to, you know, go on a date night together. That’s a long time to be apart. And I think that definitely plays its part if you are going to camp when in a relationship. Maisie Craddock Yeah. 100% Andrew Waterhouse I was just going to touch on camp goggles, and the lack of privacy in camp. How did you find those two? Maisie Craddock So camp goggles is similar to what we’ve just mentioned. So you are in a bubble-like camp? And sort of what you see at Camp is probably not what you would see in real life. You know, I think for the majority of us, me and my friends that look back now we’re like, Why did I fancy that person or something like that? They were obviously great people. But I just think when you’re in your sort of normal life, headspace, you just wouldn’t even it wouldn’t cross your mind. But boot camp goggles were funny like I touched on in my video, like, I went to Camp thinking that I was going to find a cowboy. And as soon as I saw somebody with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, I was just like, Oh my gosh. But really like, yes, they were a great person. And nothing happened at all. But it’s just a stupid, like, I almost feel that camp was almost like going back to school. With the sense of it was very gossipy. Everybody knew things you had crushes on people like you fancied them and like it very, it felt like I was back at school with the sense of that. And what was the other or the lack of privacy? Yeah, and my, the toilet in my camp was so strange, because the doors, literally you would stand up and you would see the bottom half of your leg from like your knees down, and you would see your head. So the toilet doors were so short that literally like if people stood up, they could see you on the toilet. And straight away. I was like, Oh my gosh, like hat, like, how do I get used to this, but you just got to think I’m here for three months, I’ve just got to do it. Like, I’ve just got to go in there and just do what I need to do. And the same with the showers and just getting changed in front of people. Like I think at first you’re sort of like, you know, a bit. But you just get used to it. And you’re all in the same boat. And yeah, I think as well, you touched on it before in terms of lack of privacy as well. If you do sort of form a relationship at camp, and you want a bit of time on your own with that person. I think it can be quite difficult. You’ve got to be careful with where you choose for your private moments. And because for some reason people always seem to find out when something has happened. The latest gossip, it’s the latest gossip. It’s like, Well, what happened at the lake last night and all this, which is great. And it was it. That was you know, going back to highlights of camp. All of that is a highlight of camp because it’s just so entertaining and funny. Andrew Waterhouse Every day is full on I find every day is full of news full of activities. Yeah, got it. Maisie Craddock Yeah. But yeah, you do have to be careful because there were people that did get fired as well from my camp. Not really for things like that. I think if you did stuff like that and got caught a few times, then yes, you’d get fired. But also just being inappropriate or sort of doing wrong things like there were a few people that did like drugs and stuff that was completely, you know, that got found out and fired straight away. So you just got to you have in the sense of me saying it’s like school, you have got to be careful, like you’re in school like you don’t want to lose your job and you’ve got to sort of be sensible, as well. Andrew Waterhouse Absolutely. Okay, so we’re up to the final question. And this is a question that I asked everyone that’s come on the podcast Did you can have some time to think about what food or smell will bring you back to summer camp? Is there a particular food or smell that you like, that reminds you of camp? Take your time. Maisie Craddock There are quite a few foods to be fair. A really weird one, and no one will ever say this, is the lack of veg. The only veg we had was raw broccoli and I was like “I have to have veg!”. Every time I go to the supermarket now and do some cooking, chopping up broccoli, that brings me back to camp. It is dead funny! But another one is the classic smores, which remind me of camp. Especially the way done at camp with the Hershey bars and Graham Crackers, the smell of smoke and all of that, reminds me of camp. Andrew Waterhouse Wow I would never have put raw broccoli on my list of guesses for what foods people may bring up on that question. But there we have it! That is the end of this podcast and I want to thank Maisie for being a special guest. For more of her content, check out her YouTube channel above as well as our separate video recorded for her channel – also embedded above.  

Update: The podcast has since returned! Check out the latest episodes — and both books in the series are now available on Amazon. This episode we say goodbye to the podcast. It’s been great guys, but I really have to focus on getting the best out of my time. Expect to see me promoting There’s No Place Like Summer Camp on TikTok and other platforms to help spread the word on how good summer camp truly is. It’s not goodbye – I’ll come and go but for now its an adios to the podcast and on to other projects. Thanks for your support, kind words etc. I’ll be back, just don’t know when. Stay up to date on my whereabouts by following me on Twitter, @androow09. A Transcription from the Podcast… Hello, guys, and welcome to another episode of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. I’m outdoors today, and it’s a nice day in the middle of May. However, there’s a slight difference in the audio quality and background sounds because I’m on the road and feeling a bit out of breath. Today’s episode is a little different as I want to talk about the changes in my life that have impacted the podcast and where we go from here. Current Challenges and Confusion In the previous episode, I shared with you all about my house move and some changes in my life. However, my current living situation doesn’t allow me to continue with the weekly podcast episodes. I’m feeling a bit confused about where to take the podcast from here due to my living arrangements and work schedules. The podcast has always been a place to promote my book and build a community around summer camp, as well as answering questions and providing entertainment. It has been an enjoyable project for me, but with the recent changes, I need to reconsider the format. Reflecting on the Original Goals The goal of the podcast has always been to promote my book and encourage people to volunteer at camp America during the prime time for summer camps. However, with the current challenges, I feel the need for a change in approach to get the best out of myself and promote the book effectively. My living situation has made it difficult to record podcasts every week and come up with new ideas, so I need to find a solution. Considering the Way Forward As we are currently on Episode 84 or 85 of long-form discussions about summer camp and all the tips and advice I could think of, I realize that the podcast episodes will always be available for new and old listeners to revisit. The interviews and discussions about summer camp will continue to be there for everyone to listen to. However, I need to make some changes to keep the podcast alive and thriving. Finding a Solution Going forward, I have a vague solution in mind. I want to keep the podcast alive but adapt to my current living situation. I will continue to share my deep passion for summer camp and how it has changed me and others. But I might need to change the format and frequency of the episodes to accommodate my current challenges. This is a passion project, to provide valuable content and engage with my audience, but I also need to find a balance that works for me. Some Thoughts I want to thank all of you for your continued support of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. The podcast is not going anywhere, but there will be some changes in the format and frequency of episodes due to my current living situation. I will continue to share my love for summer camp and provide valuable content to my audience. I appreciate your understanding and look forward to the next chapter of the podcast. Introduction to Why I Wrote the Book: Have you ever had an experience that changed your life? For me, it was going to summer camp. It took me from someone who was sheltered and introverted to someone with a world of experiences and friends. That’s why I decided to create a podcast called “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp.” But now, after covering many topics, I think it’s time for a change. In this post, I’ll talk about my experience at summer camp and how it led me to my latest projects. How Summer Camp Changed My Life: When I went to summer camp for the first time, I had no idea how good it would be. I had only heard about how good it was from other people who had either done it or heard about it by word of mouth. It took a bit of a leap of faith to go, not knowing anyone or anything, and putting in about 1000 pounds. But I walked away with tons of stories, experiences, and friends, and my eyes were opened to the world. I knew I had to spread the word. Creating “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp”: One of the good habits I kept was keeping a diary, which I did from about age 16 to 23. Every night before I’d hit the sack, I’d sit on my phone typing away the notes of what had happened that day. I knew that I had to take what was such an amazing experience, from what was in my diary into something that the general public could really enjoy and educate themselves upon. And that’s how the idea for the podcast “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp” was born. I knew it was a passionate thing that I wanted to get out there, and I think it was such a niche that’s very untapped. I knew so many people who had done it, and I wanted to share the experience. From Podcast to Book: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp The project started from a dark place to be honest – a long-term relationship had come to an end shortly after my second stint at summer camp, and I needed a project to distract me. I had quality content in my diary entries, and I knew it was something that I wanted to get out there. That’s why I wrote my debut book, “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp.” I translated my diary entries into something that people could enjoy, adding dialogue that was never there in my diary entries, and more. Next Steps: A Children’s Book After my book was published, I found myself looking for a new project. I decided to break out of the routine of going back through diary entries and translating them into something that people enjoy. That’s why I’m working on a completely different kind of project now – a children’s book called “The Fly That Flew To High.” It’s a story that I’ve had in the back of my mind for about two years, and I’m excited to get it out there for a different kind of audience. It’s really weird how the story came about, but I’ll keep that for another episode. In Closing… Summer camp changed my life, and I hope that my book and podcast can inspire others to take that leap of faith and experience it for themselves. But now, it’s time for a change, and I’m excited to work on my children’s book and see where that takes me. Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and I hope you keep an eye out for “The Fly That Flew To Hi” and other projects in the future.

Two weeks ago I published the original five-year goals post from 2017 and did a podcast episode going through what I actually achieved versus what past-me had optimistically written down. This week, it’s the follow-up — looking forward rather than back, and setting out where I want to be by 2034. Yes, 2034. Not 2027, not five years from now — twelve years from now. Bear with me. Why 2034? Good question. The short answer is that five-year goals feel a bit short now. Five years goes quick — quicker than you think when you’re inside it. Twelve years is a horizon that actually feels like a horizon. It’s far enough away that you can aim for things that require real sustained effort, but close enough that you’re still thinking about a version of yourself that’s recognisably you. Also I’ll be approaching fifty in 2034, which is the kind of statement that makes you want to lie down for a bit, but also clarifies what actually matters. What I Want to Have Built by 2034 I talk through this in more detail in the podcast, but the broad strokes: I want to have built things. Not just one thing, multiple things. Writing is part of it — there’s more in the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp series that I want to get out into the world, and the summer camp stories don’t end with two books. There are other projects in the mix too, other ideas at various stages of being developed. The specific goals are in the episode because honestly they’re easier to explain in conversation than in text. But the underlying theme is pretty simple: do the work, make the things, don’t wait for a better time because there isn’t one. On Being an Author One of the things this whole five-year exercise has clarified is that “being an author” isn’t really a thing that happens to you — it’s a thing you have to keep doing. The book existing is great. Writing the next one is the work. And then the next one after that. If you’ve read There’s No Place Like Summer Camp and you’re wondering whether there’s more coming — yes, there is. The second book is already in the world, Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans covers the return summer, and there’s more where that came from. The Honest Version The honest version of goal-setting is that you don’t know what the next twelve years hold. You set a direction, you make decisions that move you toward it, and then life does whatever life does. The goals from 2017 were partially right and partially completely wrong, and 2022 is better than 2017-me imagined in some ways and different in others. That’s probably how 2034 will look too. But you may as well aim somewhere.

In this episode, we listen to the CEO of American Camp Association, Tom Rosenberg to hear how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. It’s an interesting listen as he is interviewed by Yahoo Finance and I give you my personal reaction too. Podcast episode transcript: Hello and welcome to There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. I’m your host, Andrew Waterhouse. And in today’s episode, I’m taking a look at how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. So coming into our tent, and I’ll spill the beans I believe this is episode 84. As we are quickly honing in on that magic 100th episode, in this episode is something a little bit different again. So…a bit about me is in 2020 onwards, I’ve been very interested in getting into the financial system, investing, crypto, short squeezes, and loads of different things. And it was one of those hobbies that I really picked up during the pandemic. Because I was sat at home, I’d always wanted to get myself involved in economics and make myself financially independent and learn the intricacies of stock markets and shares and growth and that sort of thing. Now, I shortly recently just say, I recently saw an article come up on YouTube from Yahoo Finance. And the title was how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. So in this episode, we’re going to be watching this interview on Yahoo Finance, and doing some commentary over the top. So let’s give it a watch. Now, before I start this, I know that your audio isn’t going to be the greatest I’ve done. Like everything I possibly can to try and catch the audio of this. Of course, if you want to go and check it out, you can go on to Yahoo Finance and search for how inflation is driving up the cost of some accounts, you can watch it yourself, otherwise, you’re going to be listening along with me. And I’m just going to be doing my commentary over the top. Okay, let’s see how this goes. This is Yahoo Finance and how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camp. Here’s the Yahoo Finance video: Speaking of COVID, we know they did affect a lot of summer camps over the past few years. In fact, according to the ACA, the average cost of Bandcamp now has more than doubled to $178 a day compared to about $76 last year. Now that’s a ridiculous stat from 2021 average cost of a day camp was $76. Fast forward to 2022, just one year later, that’s $178 a day. That’s mental. And that’s a day camp. That’s not someone like staying for days upon days upon days, that’s just like going to camp for the day. It’s like that’s ridiculous numbers I’m seeing across the board. Prices are going through the roof. I’m trying to get a house at the minute at the time of recording this, I’m trying to get a house. And we offered 10,000 pounds over the asking price and we still didn’t get it we got outbid by someone else. It just goes to show that at the minute, I think prices are very susceptible to a complete and catastrophic crash. Because it’s not sustainable to have prices more than double in a year. And the inflation rates at the minute are like mirroring double digits. wages aren’t keeping up, everyone’s going to have to like cut back on their non-essential spending, which is why you’re seeing things like Netflix’s share price, absolutely crater over one day, they lost about 40% over one day just because their metrics weren’t a lining up. So from $76 in 2021, for an average cost at a day camp to 178 in 2022. So let’s carry on with their interview and see where this goes. Let’s let’s bring in our guest Tom Rosenberg, the American Camp Association, President and CEO, thank you for joining us. So first of all the top expenses that are now driving some of these prices up and are there any ways to release with these parents in terms of perhaps financing? Well, yeah, it can cost the cost of providing camp just like everything else right now is really going up. We’ve had increases in labour. We’ve labour costs, food costs, program supply costs, and COVID-related costs, everything has gone up. So cancer are are trying to operate at scale this summer, which is different from the past few summers. So there will be an additional expense most camps have to pass along. Some price increases to families. We thought we found this specific on how much day camps have increased, almost doubled. How about sleepaway camps? And what’s been the biggest challenge? Why are those prices increasing so high? I would say labour is one part of it. Certainly, there’s a shortage of qualified staff to work in camps. And so we’re trying to hire as many staff as we can to operate. So just to give it a pause there, the average cost of a sleepaway camp has tripled year over year. So currently, we’re sitting at $449 a day, on average to have a sleepover to have your child at a sleepaway camp. Now, that is ridiculous. I thought prices were ridiculous when I was volunteering at summer camp because parents were paying so much money and it was like 1000s upon 1000s of dollars to make sure their kids had the time of their lives. And it is quite a project. And when you consider how much how many staff there are, how many resources there are, how many activities you have to put on for these kids. But at the end of the day, a lot of these summer camps are businesses too. They have to be self self-sufficient. They have to self-fund themselves to increase the availability and excitement of their summer camp, adding new features and that sort of thing, which I touched upon within the second year of my summer camp because I returned for a second summer. Now that book isn’t even written yet is it the raw material is there but have yet to start actually converting that into a book. But anyway, let’s get back to this interview and see where this goes from here. $449 a day for the average cost of a sleepaway camp, which has tripled over 2021. Now is that sustainable, let’s see. Right as it scale as possible, but also the cost of insurance, think about property casualty insurance. And within a youth market, the very hard market right now, it has been for some time, and it’s only getting worse. Also, we have, you know, windstorm and fire and things like that, that are affecting camps across the country. So, but also, they’re just, you know, this summer, camp directors and overnight camps, for example, are really hoping that they can count on getting the food that they order on time so that the menu they plan will actually happen. So last year, they were juggling a lot of things to make that happen with the supply and logistics challenges that were occurring. So it’s the good news is, Camp is going to happen at scale as far as it scale as possible. So millions of children can once again, go to day camp and overnight camp like typically pre-pandemic that was 26 million boys and girls. And demand for campus soaring right now. So we’re doing so that’s really good to say that demand for camp is soaring, you have to bear in mind that 2020 and 2021 will have heavily affected by COVID. Of course, COVID is still a thing as you can hear my voice, I’m actually COVID-positive at the time of recording. And it’s very interesting to see 26 million campers, on average go to summer camp in the year and they want to grow that number. They don’t want to stifle it. And that’s the problem that summer camps do have it and it’s often glossed over. Problem. When you look back at volunteering with Camp America is the swathes of kids and families that don’t actually get the chance to take their kids to a summer camp and have the time of their lives is very much of a dream for many families, many kids that they want to go and have these crazy once in a lifetime experiences. And there are so many kids and families that are able to budget themselves over the course of a year. So every year they can go and work or shall I say enjoy themselves summer camp, your best to manage costs as well as we can. But prices are going up. And I would say demand is outstripping supply in a big way right now. We’re going to ask them, What do you have this sort of the labour shortages and these other pressures? How much has it changed pre-pandemic worsens. Now in terms of the people trying to get into camps, and just how much you’re able to accommodate people? Well, you know, they’re 74 million school-aged children in the United States, I believe, and a pre-pandemic, we were serving about 26 million of them. But a lot of children out there who have not yet had the privilege of attending a day camp or attending an overnight camp that’s a shame. We’re very much aware of that we’re working really hard to find funding for. For more kids to go to camp. We also need to build more camps and grow camps make the increase their capacity. Even the United States Department of Education has provided summer learning dollars available for you Have you been most disproportionately affected by the pen? See, it’s quite interesting to hear that the amount of kids that don’t go to summer camp is actually larger than those that do. As he said, I think it was roughly about so 70 million was it 70 million kids that they could get. And then there’s the 26 that actually end up going. So there’s quite a big gap between those two. And it makes me think that if I was like a billionaire if I was a philanthropist, I would love to be able to put in or own different camps. Why is that not a massive thing that billionaires and millionaires do pull their money together literally give the kids the experience that they remember, and make it affordable? It’s really hard. And a lot of the time you people see summer camps as sort of like a charity. But at the end of the day, they are business. And they do take substantial risks by having so many activities, and they need all this insurance and all this coverage and legal protection. And then there’s all the staff as well. And this guy here from the ACA, he’s the head of the ACA, what’s his name? What’s his name? Tom Rosenberg, the American Camp Association. He touched upon the labour law, he touches upon the labour shortage really hitting the summer camps, which is forcing the higher wages. So you have to think that often, when I’m browsing through sub Reddits, or I don’t know online news, you get to see, I don’t know, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Starbucks are all offering these really higher wages than they used to previously offer back in 2020, or 2021. Because there’s a market at the minute of labour that really sees their time is valuable. And they don’t want to be working at these really menial jobs. Especially after having that break with COVID, where everyone was able to go back home, they had to stay away from work, they didn’t have to work at McDonald’s all that time, and they were able to upskill themselves. And that really does have an effect on the wages that these companies have to offer to entice people back into the stores and doing those sorts of menial jobs I use with air quotes. Now that obviously has its own impact on summer camps too, because while it’s not a menial job, it’s definitely a different tangent from working the nine to five that most people like to do. So it’s quite interesting to see that the summer camps are having to increase their wages, in line with all the other inflation that’s going on. As for the food, that’s not something that I’m overly familiar with. But personally speaking from the UK, when I go to the supermarkets now, or if I go to a takeout joint, I do really notice the increased price that all of these foods are demanding. And it’s really, it doesn’t really feel sustainable to me. So as a man, then as a millennial, I’m really hoping for a market crash sometime soon. Endemic through as your funding through the State Superintendent and the local superintendents. So we’re trying to create summer learning opportunities like camps for all kids. But there right now we’ve got lots of new families who’ve never had their children attend camp, lots of families who have been sending their kids to camp for years, everyone wants to go to camp this summer, there’s never been a more essential time for children and youth to have access to summer learning experiences like camp. So you have to remember that in 2020 and 2021, these camps were closed. So for the families that were always sending their kids to camp, that’s really only added to their desire to get their kids to camp while they still can, because their kids are two years older. So you can understand that. At the same time, these parents that have been staying at home saving the money on the family holidays that they used to have, now have this opportunity to actually send their camp their kids to camp for the first time, which is only adding to the increased demand send what business 101 is supply and demand, the supply has roughly stayed the same. Obviously, there’s not been many new camps that have popped up around the USA. But the demand for Spaces has really increased and therefore the prices reflect that. Yeah, a lot of kids have not had any socialization in the last two or three years. You get a sense of how much the pandemic is still factoring in at both day camps and sleepaway camps and we talked about masks, social distancing, and limited numbers, are we back to pre-pandemic camps? Yeah, that’s a great question. Camps must prepare for whatever comes to summer, no one that I know has a crystal ball and understands what variant might or might not affect this summer. So we, you know, camp directors are always prepared to the best of their ability to manage communicable disease. So this summer, you know, we know from two summers from summer 2020, and the summer of 2021, we know that you know how to operate day and overnight camp safely. And this is time-tested research from outside researchers. So this so the interesting graphic that they have on the screen at the minute are showing the number of summer camps that were open in 2020 versus 2021. In 2020, only 20% of summer camps were open 20% in 2020, in 2021 67% of camps were open. So you have to understand there’s still a substantial margin of summer camps just last year that were still closed because of the uncertainties of the pandemic. Now, in 2022, what they’re estimating is, is that number is going to be substantially higher than 67% As people are vaccinated wearing masks, following good protocols, and everyone just wants to go back to normal life. And the pandemic seems to be more accepted, accepted within society rather than feared. So people are saying that we’re potentially over that worse hurdle. And we’re sort of treating it as a secondary, cold or flu nowadays. So it’s interesting to see those differences. And that’s a particular reason why there’s no place like summer camp wasn’t released back in 2020. When I initially had hoped, because no one was travelling, no one would be able to see or find out about this podcast, see the book, and want to travel. So now it’s out. Now it’s available for everyone, make sure you go and pick it up. It’s available on Amazon and other book retailers. So let’s see how the rest of this interview plays out. Over we have access to the vaccine, and many camps are asking parents to please make sure that their kids are vaccinated if they’re eligible. They’re asking their staff to please consider being vaccinated if they’re eligible. There’s also pre-camp testing. We’ve seen this in schools, where basically, pre-camp testing and also for like a day camp, there may be opportunities during different parts of the day camp experience when they’re asked to be tested as well. But in addition to that, you know, depending on what we see this summer, they should be ready with all of the multilayered mitigation strategies that we employed in the summer of 2020. For those camps that did operate, which about 20% of overnight camps operated in the summer of 2020. And about 40% of day camps operated in the summer of 2020 and 21, we had closer to 100. Most overnight camps were able to operate, and most day camps were able to operate. But they didn’t operate at scale. This summer, we hope they’ll operate at scale. But we’ve got to have those multi-layered mitigation strategies like masking behaviour change before you come to camp. All kinds of these different layers of strategies have to be read through ready to implement them. Tom, how much? How much are they still making up for losses in the pandemic? And that is a result of these prices? That’s a good question. That’s a great question. He said himself. Right now camps are really just trying to ameliorate the effects of their cost this year, cancer really hurt and the summer of 2020. Many overnight camps did not operate and day camps did not operate and went a whole year without revenue. And so through PPP and other programs, they were able to get some relief. But there has been no industry-wide relief like there has been for restaurants or for Broadway shows and other or industries like that. To see that that’s a bit sad to hear. But I think that’s always going to happen with the sorts of businesses when something so unexpected as like a fucking global pandemic happens. Not all industries are going to get that government support because there are lobbyists for the bigger entities out there. And there are more obvious more obviously hurt enterprises than summer camps that spring to mind like you say, the restaurants the takeaways, the theaters, events and theatricals and all of these other things. I’m very much taking the centre focus which you can understand, but the summer camps are taking that backseat and therefore that prices really have to make up a substantial gap that’s been had in 2021 and 2020. But it’s kind of a difficult situation because we’re at, we’re being asked to scale as much as possible to serve as many kids across our country as possible, yet cancer or have been really hurt in the pandemic. So, to a great extent right now, they’re just trying to manage the increasing costs of operating in this year. But they also have working capital challenges, they also have improvements, they would like to make their camp, but probably you’re gonna have to pause on those improvements. Because of the other challenges that are facing at the end of the day. The key to a high-quality camp is having highly qualified staff, who are well-trained, who really love working with kids and who understand how, how to do all of that. It’s also about having a safe and healthy facility and having a high-quality program to really keep the kids engaged and help them sort of re-ignite their 21st-century learning skills. All right, Tom Rosenberg, American Camp Association, President and CEO, appreciate your time. Thank you. Hey, go. So that’s the American Camp Association, Director, or CEO, shall I say, Tom Rosenberg, it’s very interesting to hear his take on why summer camp prices are literally going through the roof. You saw earlier about the prices, literally tripling in some cases, compared to what they used to be like in 2021. And even in 2021, and 2020. Even back when I used to volunteer at summer camp, I thought that summer camp prices were ridiculously high. So to see that now, with those increased prices, and everything, you can totally understand their point of view of why they’re being increased by such a substantial margin. And you also have to remember that a lot of these camps actually do take a lot of voluntary donations from parents to help fund the sustainability of their summer camps. So wherever they want to create new activities for the kids, or maintain their camp or anything like that, to really help the running of the day-to-day of summer camp. The summer camps really do rely on the income that’s being generated. And you can see that they’re having to make up the lost ground of 2020 and 2021. So personally speaking, I wouldn’t want to be in any summer camp director’s shoes at the minute, but I think these testing times, they’re probably the most rewarding and satisfying, when 2022 would come to an end of summer camp, and you can look back and think you know what, the world’s coming back. And it’s great to have summer camps alive and kicking again. So it’s been great to hear from someone that’s so senior at a summer camp Association. I’m going to try and keep an eye on any further developments, especially from someone so high up as the American American Camp Association, anything to do with summer camp in the news. I’m going to be doing these sorts of episodes a little bit more. And yeah, I hope you enjoyed this episode. It was different. It’s just an interesting take to see what it’s like in these pandemics sort of times on how some accounts are being affected, you can totally understand all the different aspects that have combined together to really squeeze these prices through the roof. So we’ll see how it ends up. Hopefully, 2022 is going to be another memorable year for you guys that are either going over to summer camp to volunteer or for these campers that are having their return to summer camp or even their first time at summer camp. Anyway, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I shall see you in the next one. Have a good one.

In 2017, I wrote a blog post asking where I saw myself in five years. It was a genuine stab at putting some goals down in writing, at a time when I was fresh enough out of my summer camp adventures to still be absolutely buzzing off them, and ambitious enough to think that five years was loads of time to sort everything out. Reader, it was not loads of time to sort everything out. What Did 2017 Andrew Actually Want? The 2017 version of this blog post is sitting somewhere in the archives of andrewwaterhouse.com, preserved in all its aspirational glory. I won’t go through every line here, because some of it aged about as well as a Camp America campfire singalong being remembered five years later — warmly, but with the specific embarrassment of hearing your own old voice. What I can say is that there were some goals in there about writing, about building things, about figuring out what kind of person I was going to be. The specifics aren’t the point. The point is that 2017 Andrew thought five years was a long horizon, and 2022 Andrew is sitting here thinking where did five years go. What Actually Happened in Five Years The book is the big one. There’s No Place Like Summer Camp has been in some form since 2016, went through multiple names and revisions, survived a global pandemic and a couple of false starts, and is now — as of this week — actually out. On Amazon. A real thing that real people can buy and read. That’s not a small thing. That’s the kind of goal that takes a very long time to feel real even after it’s happened. Beyond that: life happened. In the way it tends to. Things I expected to happen didn’t; things I didn’t expect appeared from nowhere. If you want specifics about where things stand and where they’re headed, this episode is worth a listen — because it’s easier to explain in audio than in text, and also because hearing my own mild bewilderment at how quickly five years passes is funnier than reading it. Setting Goals for 2027 The interesting part of this exercise is that going through old goals forces you to write new ones. So in the podcast I also lay out where I want to be by 2027, which is — spoiler — further along than I am now in a few specific ways I won’t entirely give away here. What I will say is that the goals are anchored in the same things they’ve always been anchored in: writing, building, and trying to make something worth people’s time. The summer camp books are part of that. The podcast is part of that. Whatever comes next is part of that. The Takeaway (If There Is One) Five years is both a long time and no time at all, which is an annoying thing to say but is demonstrably true. Write the goals down anyway. You’ll either hit them or you’ll have something interesting to read back and cringe at in five years, and both outcomes are worthwhile. One of the 2017 goals that actually made it: the book is on Amazon. Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans

Two things to cover this episode. One is a genuinely useful piece of advice about preparing for Camp America that I don’t see talked about enough. The other is that I had COVID again, which is less useful but is at least topical. Let’s start with the useful one. Why Your Time in the Scouts Matters More Than You Think If you were a Cub Scout, Scout, or Young Leader growing up — or if you’re still involved in Scouting now — you are already better prepared for Camp America than you probably realise. And I say this from personal experience, because the dots only really connected for me once I was actually at camp and thinking: oh, this is just Scouts but in Georgia, in significantly more heat, and with more bears. The Outdoor Skills Are Directly Transferable This one’s obvious in retrospect. If you’ve been camping, built fires, navigated in the woods, and generally spent time outdoors in an organised way — all of that applies directly to camp life, and especially to outdoor specialist roles like the one I had at Camp Honeystone. Camps don’t just want people who are enthusiastic about the outdoors. They want people who have actually done things outdoors. The difference when it comes to a recruitment interview is significant, and a Scouting background is one of the clearest signals you can give a camp that you’re not going to freeze up the first time someone asks you to lead a hike. Working with Kids Is Not as Instinctive as People Assume A lot of first-time camp counsellors underestimate how different it is to be responsible for children versus just being around them. If you were a Young Leader in the Scouts, you already know: managing a group of kids requires patience, authority without being a tyrant, the ability to keep things moving when attention spans start wandering, and the specific skill of making something sound exciting even when you personally are not feeling it. This is exactly what camp asks of you, every single day. Scouts teaches it in a low-stakes, home-country environment before you’re dropped into it 6,000 miles from home. Camps Notice It on Applications When you’re filling in your Camp America profile or sitting in a placement interview, relevant experience is what gets you placed in the roles you actually want rather than whatever’s left over. Scouting backgrounds get noticed. They signal character — independence, teamwork, outdoor confidence, youth work experience — in a way that a lot of other CV lines don’t. If you have it, don’t undersell it. If you don’t, it’s worth considering before you apply — some areas have leader shortage and will fast-track you through Young Leader status relatively quickly. The COVID Update (Less Fun) Right, the less edifying update. I had COVID again at the time of recording this. The voice in the podcast may give it away slightly. It is what it is — by this point in 2022 most people had had it at least once and were approaching round two with a kind of weary familiarity, and I was no exception. I’m fine. The episode got recorded despite it. And the book still came out, which is the main thing.   To read my hilarious summer camp experience, check out my books on Amazon:  Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans

I provide a sneak peak of what There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is like, as I read the experience of being at my first day volunteering at summer camp. If you want to grab yourself your own copy of the book – head on over to your favourite retailer of choice and pick up a copy!