Adult sleepaway camp and the high cost of feeling like a kid again
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 October 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
Who doesn’t like a weekend getaway? A nice hotel room, spa treatments, room service, sure – but a cabin with strangers? Adult sleepaway camps are having a moment, but what’s driving the boom? These retreats promise connection in a time when many adults feel lonelier than ever. Are adult sleepaway camps a good way to make genuine connections or are they just a bit of fun? USA TODAY Mental Health reporting fellow Rachel Hale packed a bag and set off for luxury camp Camp Social, where the tagline is “99% arrive solo, 100% leave as friends.” She joins USA TODAY’s The Excerpt to share her experience as an adult camper.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co. |
| 0:05.5 | That's audible.co.uk slash wondery. |
| 0:14.8 | Who doesn't love a weekend getaway? Nice hotel room, spa treatments, room service. I wouldn't say no to that. |
| 0:21.6 | But a cabin with strangers. Adult sleepaway camps are having a moment, but what's driving the boom? |
| 0:28.0 | These retreats promise connection in a time when many adults feel lonelier than ever. |
| 0:32.6 | Our adult sleepaway camps, a good way to make genuine connections or they just a bit of fun. |
| 0:41.3 | Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excert. I'm Dana Taylor. |
| 0:45.4 | Today is Friday, October 24th, 2025. |
| 0:49.1 | USA Today Mental Health Reporting Fellow Rachel Hale packed a bag and set off for luxury camp, camp social, where the tagline is, quote, 99% arrived solo, 100% leave as friends, end quote. |
| 1:03.4 | She joins me now to share her experience as an adult camper. |
| 1:07.2 | Rachel, thanks for joining me. |
| 1:08.4 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:09.8 | Before we dig into some of the reasons why adult sleepaway camps are gaining popularity, |
| 1:15.4 | I want to lay out what they are. |
| 1:17.2 | You camped at Camp Social. |
| 1:19.1 | Can you give us the brochure overview of the camp? |
| 1:22.2 | So this weekend kind of builds itself as a place for women to unplug, connect, and as you mentioned, come solo and leave |
| 1:30.2 | his new friends. And so for the price of $884, $450 other woman join me in the Poconos for what |
| 1:38.6 | is supposed to be the camping experience at summer camp of your youth, but without the mosquitoes and bad camp food. |
| 1:46.1 | It isn't summer camp without cabins. What were the sleeping arrangements like? |
| 1:50.8 | So we were split into bunk arrangements by our age group. There's also an option for an additional |
| 1:57.5 | $500 plus dollars to be put into a private room. So I was with other women who were all |
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