There's No Place Like Summer Camp: Stories, Tips, and Laughs from Camp America, Camp Counsellors and Beyond – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

 

Right, so this is a big moment. Not book-release big, but still quite exciting — the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp merchandise shop is officially live. You Can Now Own a Piece of the Tent I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: Andrew, I already listen to the podcast, I’ve pre-ordered the book, and now you want me to buy a t-shirt as well? And to that I say: yes, basically, yes. The shop is live over at https://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/shop and it has got a proper range of stuff on it. We’re talking t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, towels — the kind of thing that lets you subtly announce to the world that you once listened to a podcast about summer camp and it had a meaningful impact on you as a person. Why Merch? Look, the honest answer is that anyone who runs a podcast, a YouTube channel, or basically any kind of creative hobby project eventually ends up with a merch shop. It’s practically a rite of passage. I held out for a while but I’ve got to say, seeing it all come together and having actual physical items with the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp branding on them feels genuinely cool. If you’re someone who went to camp — Camp America, Camp Leaders, BUNAC, whatever — then you know how much those memories stick around. The merch is a bit of a nod to that. A way to carry a little bit of the camp spirit around with you in hoodie form, which let’s be honest is exactly what you want in a British winter. The Early Bird Discount If you get in before the book launch, there’s a 10% discount using code EARLYBIRD at checkout. One word, all caps, very on-brand for a site about summer camp enthusiasm. The discount is running up until the book launch week, so don’t hang about if you want it. After that it reverts to full price, which is still perfectly reasonable, but ten percent off is ten percent off. What to Get If you’re after my personal recommendation: the hoodie. It’s the right move. You’ll wear it, it’ll be warm, and at some point someone will ask you what “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp” means and you’ll get to tell them about the podcast and the book and the whole thing, which is really just free marketing for me, but also a genuinely interesting story for you to tell. Everyone wins. Go check out the shop at https://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/shop and report back. While you’re shopping, the books are here too: Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp on Amazon Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans

Hello and welcome to “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp”. I’m your host, Andrew Waterhouse. And in today’s episode, we’re doing a review. And the review is of the “Unplugged Summer”. So, come into our tent and I’ll spill the beans.

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. Like I said at the start of this episode, this is a review of the Unplugged Summer. Which is a book by George Horner. So, I hope you enjoy this episode.

Now, I have to start with how did I come across this book? Being a part of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, and releasing my book very soon, I always keep an eye out for new summer camp related books on Amazon. This happened to turn up and it piqued my interest because it’s an Englishman’s perspective of life at an American summer camp. Now, if that’s the subtitle, that’s going to hook me in. It is pretty much the whole point of my book. So, it piqued my interest. And I had to order myself a physical copy, whenever I do get the chance to order a book, especially those around summer camp.

I don’t want to get an eBook, I want to get the physical copy and see what it’s like, as the author intended, and all of the work that they’ve put into it. So, what I have here is a copy of his book. And if you’ve followed me on Instagram, you would have seen a couple of months ago that I received this and I let it die. I didn’t do any follow-up episodes, I didn’t comment any further on this book. And the reason for that, and I do apologise if George is following this… I didn’t post anything about this, because it’s a book that I don’t like. But we’ll get into that.

Competition

So, before we begin, I just want to remind you guys that there is a competition at the minute. If you go to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/competition, you can win yourselves a copy of my book. Now there are two books available as eBooks. And there’s one paperback available as well. Whoever wins, I might get in touch with you to see if you want it signed, which I can do, which will be pretty cool. So, if you want to enter, all you have to do is go to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com, all you have to do is click on the links. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you get yourself some entries, but you have to go to that page to enter. I think you get an entry for following me on Twitter and an entry for following us on Instagram. And you also have a chance to sign up for a newsletter as well. All you have to do is type in your email address, and you have an extra entry. So, you’ve got until the 1st of April, if you want to get in with a chance of winning a book. It’s only open to the UK only because I have to post it myself. And it’s going to cost a bit of an arm and a leg to send it anywhere else. But if you are interested in picking up There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, it does release on the fourth of April. So, it’s not that far away now. And I hope that the people that are listening to this, in the very far future. Know that the books sort of out now. If you’re listening to this beyond the fourth of April 2020. So, it’s out it’s available on Amazon. But if you’re listening to this at the time of upload, it’s not so let’s crack on with the rest of this episode.

Okay, so I’ve talked about how I found this book in the first place. I like to keep an eye on the latest published months of summer camp books. And it piqued my interest and Unplugged Summer and Englishman’s perspective on life at an American summer camp. Now, I want to start with the back of this book, because it’s going to give you a lot of perspective on what to expect from this.

Back of the book

So, it was in September 2014 when George Horner began his quest of spending the following summer in America. He’s hoping to work at an American summer camp, a place of unfamiliarity with limited access to social media, and with numerous kids to supervise. This memoir reveals the challenging journey for the Englishman in his pursuit of being welcomed on board by a summer camp director.

We were working at an America Can summer camp become his destiny? Will he be embarking on the most memorable summer? George is from Hampshire, England. His enthusiasm for sport led him to achieve a BA Honors Degree in sports development at the University of Chichester in 2013. He then focused his career progression in the health and social care sector. And in February 2019, he completed a two-year Postgraduate Diploma in adult nursing, based at the University of Southampton.

This has enabled him to become a registered nurse at the NHS. With all his achievements in his life so far, including the writing of this book, perseverance was the key.

The premise

So that’s the whole premise of this book. And you have to understand that the angle of this book that it tries to take you down is how technology is not evident, or very much in the background of volunteering at summer camp. And it’s a different angle from the other ones that I’ve read. Now, George here goes to volunteer at Camp Ace Invaders. And it’s through a programme called Wild Packs, which I hadn’t heard of before. But Wild Packs are like what Camp America is Camp Leaders and all that good stuff. That’s something I’ve only really noticed since doing this podcast, by the way, and getting balls deep into the summer camp stratosphere sort of thing is. How many different programmes there are? But I’d never heard of Wild Packs until I read this book. But it’s similar to Camp America, I think he goes for this programme because they pay slightly better than Camp America. But anyway, I’m beside the point.

Full of problems

So, at the start of this podcast, I said that I wish there was more from this book. So, I have to start with the shite points of this book. So, the first thing that gave it away to, me was there were 73 pages before he’s even at summer camp. It’s so much rambling. Like I say, if George is listening to this, it’s not personal. It’s not envying, jealousy. It’s just a guy behind a microphone trying to do a bit of a review, I like to read a lot. And I think I’m considerably older than you as well. So, don’t take it personally. But this is just my opinion. I think it’s good to have these dialogues. I can recommend things to my audience because I think some people may click with this idea. They might think, oh, you know what, that’s quite a good angle. Actually. This is just my personal opinion,.. So, take it with a grain of salt.

The 73 Pages before actually at camp

But yeah, The Unplugged Summer is all about how technology is disconnected from summer camp. And why straightaway found was this so much rambling in this book, 73 pages before you’re actually at summer camp, you hear so many times, where camps come and go during the interview stage that is so laborious and boring, you go through quite a few chapters, where you just look back and go, Why the fuck was that in? Like, why are we talking about this interview that he had with the summer camp and then fell through? It kind of gives you a bit more of the background of what it’s like to go and apply for summer camp. But I don’t think it needs to be in there when you’re talking to say four or five or six different summer camps. And then you finally land that position.

There’s a whole chapter in there as well about how monotonous the stages are for camp. And at one point, he kicks off with the director, because there are so many stages that he’s just getting frustrated. I just found it quite funny in a way because that shouldn’t be in the book. I can understand the frustration of someone that’s young going into camp, and maybe it’s their first job and getting frustrated with the number of stages there are because there certainly are loads of stages to go into summer camp. But I didn’t understand why he kicks off – maybe he has some sort of bad day. And that’s the problem with this book throughout is that there’s no context and there’s no development of the page. There’s a lot of telling to the reader rather than showing them. And that’s a skill that I’ve had to try and pick up in the six years now that I’ve been working on, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, but I’ll get onto that a little bit more in a second.

There’s a whole chapter in this book that’s based on him passing a driving test. Now, I don’t know what the hell that has to do with being in an Unplugged Summer camp. But I guess it gives you a bit of background to this guy and the run-up into summer camp. For me, it started way, way too soon. Because I wanted to get to the meat, I wanted to get to the time that he’s actually at summer camp and seeing that effect of no technology while they are at camp.

Lack of structure

The writing, I didn’t get like, the structure of this book, I didn’t understand. And that’s a real, real core problem of Unplugged Summer. It’s not in a structure where it’s day by day, it’s not in a structure where it’s chronological. And it’s not even in a structure where it’s like, week by week, it’s or like a summary of events. Sometimes it goes from one day to the next and there’s really mundane things there. At other times, it just skips over whole loads of weeks, especially when he’s actually at camp, which is funny enough, because the whole point of the book is to be about summer camp. But I was frustrated as a reader, especially as someone that was outside of this summer camp, because reading this, it was such a mishmash of people timeframes and tenses were made it hard for me to read. I can kind of take that with like a pinch of salt, because I know it’s a self-published book he’s done through the KDP programme. But when I was reading this, I was just so frustrated because it just needed a bit more care and attention and a bit more time. I didn’t know for instance, who’s who, who’s friends with who. And that’s a really hard problem to try and sort of fix as an author of a book.

That’s why it took me so long to get There’s No Place Like Summer Camp up to its release where it is today. Getting it to a point where it can be released to the public, and it’s going to be readable for the Average Joe, it’s not just going to be readable for those that are at my camp. It’s a lot more work to it than just throwing something together based on memory, and jumping all over the place, especially with the tenses and the rhythm of the book.

There’s a whole chapter in this book as well on a rainy day where George has played some football. And then he goes on a Skype call. Now, that’s a fucking chapter of the book. I don’t like to swear, but what is the point of that chapter. I’ve summed up a whole chapter of this book, where he’s saying, I’ll play some football, it rained today, and I went on Skype. What’s that doing in there? I don’t care that you did those three things that such mundane things that I could easily do at home. I didn’t understand the connection of why the unplug summer, sort of tied in with stories like that, where Skype calls, you had a Skype call. Okay, cool. Tell me a bit more. Tell me. What does that mean? So what I found that there was way too much description of really mundane boring things like the setup of an icebreaker, rather than the people that he’s meeting.

Summer camp is about the people

Surely when you go to summer camp, the people are the most important part and the relationships that people have and meeting strangers for the first time and becoming friends with those people. That’s the whole core of summer camp to me. And I’m sure that resonates with a lot of you have been to summer camp yourselves. It’s not about what are the exact rules of the icebreaker and did it rain today? Or did I have a Skype call to home. Now this is a cutting review. And I do apologise. But I think it gives you some perspective on the amount of work it takes to try and get a book that’s out there that’s going to be entertaining, educational and insightful. And that’s what I have tried to do with There’s No Place Like Summer Camp now.

A note from a fellow self-published Author

I’m not criticizing this book like I’m saying There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is going to be perfect.

Because I could see a lot of connections when I was reading George’s book here that remind myself of my time applying through the story and I’m getting myself through those processes and sort of, you know, I could see a lot of connections between our story and his or my story in his short essay. But I think it just needed a lot more work. And I was surprised actually to see at the end of the book, there’s a lot of thankyous to the people that sort of helped him to get to where he is now. And I was surprised to see that there were two editors on this.

Now, I saw a lot of issues with I think what you he needed was sort of an overall big picture, zoom out of the book, see what’s the problems with the overall rather than the spelling. I think, where the problem is, with this book is the spelling is perfect. I can’t fault the spelling. I can’t fault the grammar or anything like that, I can only follow the overall story because it’s so hard to read, and the structure is all over the place. And I’m really surprised that two editors couldn’t point that out to George.

So, like I say, there’s a lot of skimming over the details that you wish you’d learn a bit more about. Like, I want to know more about the camp, I want to know how big it is, what sort of people are there. I want to know about the specialties like there’s times during this book where I was just so frustrated, but I kept going through it because, I’m writing a book on it, I need to see what “the competition” do. But I was struck. It’s an uphill read. If you get this book, it’s going to be an uphill read. And like I say, I’m not trying to slag anyone off. I’m not saying that my book is going to be perfect. I expect reviews like this for my book. And I think constructive criticism helps.

The Book is a Circus Specialty

I’m not trying to get personal. I’m not saying George is a bad person. I’m not saying anything like that. I’m saying this project for me, personally, it didn’t connect with me. I wish it could have been better because there were some real ingredients there. That could have been so good. Like, he skips over partway, about walking past the circus specialty. And I’m like “Circus specialty!? Tell me more about that!” I would have loved to have known more about this circus specialty. I didn’t know circus was a thing that summer camps teach. What is that? Like? Did he ever have a go? It sounds so cool. But yet, it’s just skimmed over. It’s just like, oh, yeah, walk past this circle specialty. When I was taking the kids back to the cabin. Okay. You’ve just missed a real opportunity there to tell me more about your camp in particular. And I think Michael Eisner does quite well in his book. Something that I’d recommend, I did enjoy his book, a lot more than this.

Glossing over the entirety of camp

Similar to the circus speciality, also skimmed over is speed boating. One of the characters he introduces is a speed boating teacher or specialist. I want to know about speed boating. That sounds cool. Did George go on speed boating? I don’t know. Was it something that he just cut out from the book? Or is there a reason he didn’t go on the speed boating himself? Did he ever take the kids speed boating? This is frustrating because I can’t answer that and other read the book. But it’s something that The Unplugged Summer I wished delved into those details. I wish he went into a bit more about how George was thinking at the time. I think the overall bigger picture of this book is so hard to pinpoint what he’s trying to achieve here. Because it’s not so much a diary. But it’s not so much a story either. It’s nothing, there’s no base there’s no structure, there’s no thought that’s been put behind. This is exactly what I’m going to tell and why. But I have to say that adding the detail to the behind the very start of going to some accounts. That was quite cool. I have to say it’s “quite cool”, but it just went on for way too long 73 pages before you get to summer camp. Now I can tell you, that’s way too much.

Okay, I’ll finish on my last beef with this book, okay? There’s more conversation with the camps that George didn’t get into, than his first two days at camp. Now, that does sum up this book because I don’t care about the camps that he talked to one time and didn’t get in. I care about the camp that he’s going to. When I look back and think about my summer camp experience. I don’t remember exactly all of the camps that I spoke to, the process that I went through and how frustrating it was. Or even almost quitting because there’s too many steps. I don’t care about that. I care about the time spent account, the admin and boring side of paying, going for an interview, going to the doctors, getting a CRB check. That’s such mundane stuff, that it was just like I say, it was frustrating. And to see that there were more conversations with the people that he got interviewed for and then didn’t get the positions. Or he decided the camp wasn’t for him. I don’t care. I care about those first two days at camp a lot more because they’re the people that you can be at camp with. And I think it missed the mark on that one.

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The good points

So, I’ve gone over the bad points of this book. The good points. Like I say there’s a lot of there’s a lot in this book that I could kind of see myself connecting the dots from my story to his. There’s a lot in this book about mental health, which is cool. He opens up quite a bit. And for some reason he goes on he goes on these random tangents like talking about Robin Williams his death. I don’t know why that’s in the book, but he touches upon it. But he goes into mental health quite a lot. And I think this may have been written a time where now I’m completely guessing here. This may have been written at a time where he’s trying to reminisce and I don’t know what I’m trying to say. But I like how he opens up in this book. He opens this up. He’s opens himself up well.

Obtaining the visa

There’s a whole chapter in this book about him going to the London embassy getting the visa. And he paints that picture well. I enjoyed that chapter. That was the first chapter and that’s probably about page 50 that I thought are finally we’re starting to get into summer camp. He’s not doing a driving test. He’s not bored at work. He’s not applying and passed finding and applying for all these different summer camps. He’s getting his visa. And I was like Jesus Christ this time. But I enjoyed that scenario. I even had the same problem that George had, when he went to the embassy and he had missed out printing a certain document and had to go to some Cafe down the road, I had to do the exact same thing. So, seeing that in his book is cool. Because as a complete noob, to travelling myself, I didn’t have all the documents and I remember what it felt like when I had to go to this cafe down the road thinking, oh my god, I’m a complete idiot. No one else does this, who goes into a shop and asks to use their printer for fuck sake. But to see it’s a common thing. And quite a few people do it. It was cool to see.

The Four Loko connection

There’s a point in this book where he talks about Four Loko, which is a drink that I had at camp. And that was a cool touching point for me where I thought, you know what, there is something here, there is something here, I do like this. Now, George does a lot of the sleeping with the kids, because I think he’s a counsellor, if I remember rightly so, he sleeps in the kid’s cabins. And there are a couple of funny moments. But the one that stood out for me is when he’s scared of their sleepwalking. They just like stand up in the middle of the room and just like look down on him, and he’s just like, Oh, my God, what the fuck? And he just sat there like do I did do I disturb him? Do I wake him up? Now, you’re not supposed to do that it’s a real bad thing to do for someone that sleepwalking. That was quite funny.

Colour War

And also liked the end of colour war, he summarized colour war quite well, especially with the closing point of the two sides of the camp, finally, finishing that war, and now coming together as one and celebrating the end of colour war. That’s something that I think a lot of summer camps will relate to..

Conclusion of Review

So, like I say, this book, I have to say, I can’t give it a great score. It reads well, there’s no spelling problems. But the strange focus on the technology side, the tenses that are all over the place. There’s a lot of telling in this book, rather than showing the reader and letting them use their imagination to like paint the picture of the things that you don’t tell the person. There’re way too many adverbs I found it was just hard to read. And it’s disappointing because I want to see other people’s stories. And I think one of the dreams for there’s no place that summer camp is to inspire other people to tell their story. Because 1000s of people do this all the time. And everyone comes back saying it’s the time of their lives. And now I’m going to publish my story of why summer camp for me was the time of mine. It took a lot of work to get my book to that point. And there’s going to be people that think its shit, there’s going to be people that love it, I hope. And I hope it inspires people to tell their own story. But I just couldn’t see that with this one.

I think there are a lot of fundamental issues, especially when there are two editors on board. I don’t know if he just hired ones that do spell-check. And that’s disappointing. But overall, a half, I can’t help but give a harsh score, because I want to stay true to myself, Okay, I don’t want to give fake scores out there. And then people go and buy a book because I recommend something. And then they’re like, actually, this is complete crap. So, I think as a score, I’m going to have to give it 2 out of 10. That’s as high as I can go. To be honest. The reason it gets 2 rather than 1out of 10 is that the Summer Camp Association because it’s a genre I like and I like to see new books within that genre because I think like I say, it’s interests me. I like to see how my camp compared to others. I just really hoped that there was there was a lot more and a lot more strategy around the book. I think it needed a lot more time in the workshop, to sort of think about how it’s written. Why is there this massive 76 Page start to this book? Why is there no telling of the story after camp and travelling with friends and that sort of thing?

Finishing notes

I just think it missed the mark. And now I know that this comes across as in a review. That’s just absolutely slugging a book off. I know that it’s not a good look. And that’s why I’ve taken this time to go away. Think about if I want to upload this book review, and I came to the decision that I should, because if I’m not true to myself, then I don’t know what this podcast will be. And like I say, this podcast, this book that I’m writing myself, it’s a self-passion. It’s a self-starting project a side hustles you may or may think, and a lot of the podcasters and podcasts that I listen to say, you have to be true to yourself, you can’t lie. You can’t hide the truth. How are you going to grow personally, if you just keep lying to people, and you’re going to get yourself tied in knots. But also, it’s good for the person that’s not being lied to. Because I think deep down, I think in a few years, he will look back on this book and think I shouldn’t have released that. Because it feels half-finished. I think the angle that he was trying to go for with the Unplugged Summer was an interesting one.

When I saw it on Amazon, I thought that’s an interesting take, like no one’s talked about how the lack of technology is like a summer camp. But it doesn’t touch upon that at all. And it rambles far too much. And the subtitle of the book is an Englishman’s perspective of life at the American summer camp, but it’s a sort of a nothing eBook. So, like I say, two out of 10. For me, it’s harsh. If I had to give out a five it would be one out of five. And it’s not a nice thing to say. But I think you know, if I’m reading these books, I should give my opinion on them. Because I want there’s no places like summer camp to be sort of like a good place for people that are passionate about summer camp, and a good place of reliable information for my opinion on things. I don’t want to be lying on my own content.

So anyway, I’m going to wrap up this episode. I hope you enjoy it. There are other summer camp books I have read. And I haven’t done a review of on the podcasts. I can imagine people that have written a book about summer camp, or they’re like, oh, fuck, after all that off there, all that review, you’re going to go and read mine. And I’m like, hell yeah, I’m going to go read yours. But like I say, I have read, I think two other summer camp books that haven’t reviewed on the podcast yet. And I’ll be interested to try and get the people on the podcast. So, George, if you’re listening, I have nothing against you. I have nothing against anyone that I sort of talk about on this podcast. I want to have open dialogue on a reminisce about your time at summer camp. So, if you want to come on, get in touch. I’m available on Twitter at Andrew WO9. You can also enter the competition as well. theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/competition.

It’s been a long podcast, okay. All right, guys. I’ll see in the next week’s episode. Who knows what it’ll be but yeah, I hope you enjoyed this one. It’s I can’t recommend Unplugged Summer. It’s a different angle for sure. But it’s not an angle that worked with me.

Right then. I’ve got two bits of news and both of them are good, which makes a refreshing change. The Book Has a Release Date There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is officially launching on 4th April 2022. I know, I know — I’ve been building up to this for a very long time. Some of you have been here since the early podcast days when I was recording in a room that sounded like a broom cupboard, talking about a book that felt like it might never actually happen. Well, it’s happening. 4th April. Mark it in the calendar, tell your friends, shout it from the rooftops if you’re that way inclined. The book will be available in paperback, ebook and hardback from launch day. The audiobook is also in the pipeline, but that one’s coming slightly later — recording yourself speaking for hours is, it turns out, a very specific kind of experience. More on that when it’s ready. What Is the Book, Exactly? For anyone stumbling across this episode without much context — There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is a true memoir of my time volunteering with Camp America in 2014. I packed a bag, flew 6,000 miles to Atlanta, Georgia, and spent a summer as an Outdoor Living Specialist at a Jewish summer camp called Camp Honeystone. What followed was three months of chaos, campfires, incredibly loud American children, a bear encounter or two, Jewish traditions I absolutely did not know before I arrived, and some of the best friendships I’ve ever made. The whole thing was documented in a diary at the time, and that diary became the book. It’s funny. It’s honest. It does not glamorise volunteering at summer camp while also making you desperately want to go and do it yourself. I think that’s the right balance. The Competition — Win a Free Copy Now for the second bit of good news. I’m running a competition to give away free copies of the book before launch day. Because why not. You’ve all been along for the ride and the least I can do is try and get some of you a free copy. To enter, head to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/competition and follow the instructions. It involves following along on social media, which I’m aware is a big ask, but it takes about forty-five seconds and you might win a book, so I’d say that’s a reasonable deal. The competition closes on 1st April — which I’m aware is April Fools’ Day, but I promise this is not a joke. The book is very real and so are the prizes. How to Buy It If you don’t fancy your chances in the competition (or just can’t wait), the book will be live on Amazon from 4th April. You’ll find it by searching There’s No Place Like Summer Camp, or by heading to the https://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/books/. Thanks for being here, genuinely. This has been a long road and the support along the way has meant a lot. Now go and enter the competition. Update: The books are out now: Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans

Right then. We’re in the home straight.

If you’d told me back in 2014, standing in the Georgia heat covered in bug spray and surrounded by extremely loud children, that I’d one day be sitting here with a finished book about to drop — I probably would have laughed, tripped over a root, and blamed it on a camper. But here we are. The book is actually happening. And it’s happening soon.

One Month to Go

At the time of recording this episode, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is one month away from being on Amazon. One. Month. That’s not very long at all when you consider the thing has been in the works since 2016, has had approximately four different names, two cover redesigns, and one very long pandemic in the middle of it.

I’ll be honest — I thought I’d feel more prepared than I do. I thought by this point I’d be sitting in a high-backed chair with a cup of tea, smugly admiring a finished product. Instead I’m recording this and mentally listing all the things I still need to do before launch day. It’s fine. It’s totally fine.

What’s Actually Left to Do

Without giving too much away (because that would be telling), the final stretch of any creative project is basically a long game of whack-a-mole. You fix one thing and three more pop up. I’ve been going back and forth over cover details, making sure the formatting looks right across ebook, paperback and hardback, and doing all the boring admin that nobody ever tells you about when you decide to become an author.

The audiobook is also in the works, although if you’re holding your breath for that one at launch, don’t. We’ll get there. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither, it turns out, is a narrated version of a summer camp memoir.

Why I’m Taking a Short Break from Episodes

I need to go heads-down on this. The podcast isn’t going anywhere permanently — I just need to stop talking about the book and actually finish getting it out the door. If you’ve ever had a massive deadline coming up and someone keeps asking you to do other things, you’ll understand the vibe.

So for the next few weeks, it’s going to go a bit quiet on the episode front. But when we come back, it’ll be with something worth shouting about. Namely: the book is out. Which, if you haven’t gathered by now, is kind of a big deal to me.

The Backstory (For Those Who Are New Here)

In case you’re new and wondering what this is all about — There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is a memoir of my time volunteering with Camp America in 2014. I went to Camp Honeystone in Georgia as an Outdoor Living Specialist, which is a fancy way of saying I ran campfires, led hikes, and spent three months being absolutely bossed around by eight-year-olds who knew far more about American pop culture than I ever will.

The book is the full story. The good bits, the hard bits, the bits that probably shouldn’t be repeated in polite company, and everything in between. It’s been a long time coming and I am incredibly proud of it.

See You on the Other Side

Right. I’m going to stop recording and go and make this thing happen. If you want to know the moment it goes live, follow along on Instagram or sign up to the newsletter. And if you want to get yourself a free preview of the first chapter before you commit to buying it, that’s available over at theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/free-preview.

See you on the other side.

The books that came out of this is now available:

Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America – Second Summer Shenanigans

Look, I love summer camp. You know I love summer camp. This entire website, podcast, and book series exists because I love summer camp. But in the spirit of honesty — and because I think it actually does prospective volunteers a disservice to make it sound like three months of non-stop magic — let’s talk about the bits that were, shall we say, less than ideal. This is episode one, because there are definitely more where these came from. It Is Never, Ever Quiet This sounds obvious in retrospect. You are going to a place specifically designed to keep large numbers of children active and entertained from morning until night. Quiet was never really on the agenda. But I don’t think anything truly prepares you for the relentless noise of a summer camp. It starts at breakfast and it does not stop. Kids shouting, laughing, crying, singing songs you’ll have stuck in your head for the rest of your life. If you’re the kind of person who needs peace and quiet to recharge — which I somewhat am — this hits differently by week three. You start treasuring any five minutes of genuine silence like it’s a rare natural resource. Privacy Is Basically a Myth You are living with people. All the time. In the same cabin, the same dining hall, the same activities. There is no getting home at the end of the day and decompressing on your own. The same people you work with are the same people you eat with, sleep near, and spend your days off with. For most people this becomes one of the best things about camp — you form friendships at warp speed because of this constant proximity. But there are absolutely moments where you would give a significant amount of money for one hour entirely by yourself. It doesn’t happen. You just get used to it. You Are Permanently Tired The schedule at camp is long. You’re up early, you’re responsible for kids all day, you have duties in the evenings, and then by the time you’ve actually got a moment to yourself it’s already late and you need to be up again in a few hours. Sleep deprivation becomes your default state by about week two. It’s a particular kind of tired too — not just physically tired from the outdoor activities and the heat, but socially and mentally tired from being constantly “on.” You’re someone’s responsible adult all day. You can’t really switch that off until the kids are asleep, and even then, not entirely. The Pay Is Not the Point — But Still First summer pay at Camp America is low. There’s no way to dress it up. Andrew covered this in the Pros of Returning to Camp America episode — first year pay is kept down partly because the camp covers your transatlantic flights, but when you’re in Walmart trying to budget your days off, you feel it. This isn’t a reason not to go. It’s really not. But walking in with eyes wide open about the financial reality means you don’t arrive expecting a summer salary and leave disappointed. Take some spending money. Budget for your days off and any post-camp travel. It goes further than you think when your accommodation and food are covered. You’re a Very Long Way From Home Six thousand miles, give or take. In a country that, for all its similarities to the UK, does things quite differently in ways that catch you off guard at unexpected moments. There will be a point — usually around week three or four — where you just want a familiar face or a familiar place and you can’t have either. Camp does an incredibly good job of becoming its own world, and the people around you become your family faster than you’d expect. But homesickness is real. It hits at odd times. And the fact that you’re in such a structured, busy environment doesn’t always give you the space to sit with it properly. So Why Go? Because all of the above is real, and the experience is still worth every bit of it. Knowing the hard parts exist doesn’t make them go away, but it does mean you’re not blindsided by them. Go in informed. Go in prepared. And then go. The full story — the good, the bad and the Georgia wildlife — is in the book: https://amzn.to/3LVc9BC. Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp”. I’m your host Andrew Waterhouse. And in today’s episode, we’re taking a look at and reviewing Michael Eisner’s Camp Book. So coming into our tent, and I’ll spill those juicy, juicy beans.

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp”. I hope you’re doing well. It’s a nice summery day, which feels very out of place for January. And I’ve just spent the last probably week or two reading Michael Eisner’s Camp Book. Now, this was touched upon in a previous podcast where I was looking at the celebrities that have gone to camp, or famous people should I say? And Michael Eisner stood out because he’s the former CEO of Disney. And what stood out even further was, as I was recording the podcast, I found out that he released a book all about his time at summer camp, which is cool to see. Of course, if you’re brand new to this podcast, you may not know this. There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is all about summer camp, of course. But there’s also the book that’s been in the works for a long time. So let me just start with that.

 

So the book is coming on well. I am so close to finishing it. I’m not sure if I should give you the full ins and outs. But let me just say, some very progressive stages have been completed now. And the release date will be very imminent. I’m getting some author copies just to double-check that the book looks right and feels right in the hand. I can’t say too much more. But “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp” is not only just a podcast, it is a book as well. So when I stumbled upon any summer Camp book really, I always make sure to give it a buy, and try and give it a review. I think I’ve only done one of these reviews before, but I have read a fair few. So look out for those future episodes. But anyway, let’s crack on with Michael Eisner’s Camp.

Who is Michael Eisner?

So who is Michael Eisner, that’s probably a good place to start? Because maybe you’re not all familiar with who he was. But when I saw his name and my research, it stood out to me, because he is the former CEO of Disney. And that’s a big name if I’ve ever seen one in business. He had volunteered at a camp called “Keewaydin” for many years. So he volunteered at camp as a staff member for four years, but he had gone to camp as a camper for many years too. He once told in an interview, obviously, as a CEO, you get interviewed quite a lot by the press and the media and that sort of thing. One of the questions that came up to him one time was, where was the place that you learned everything you needed to become the CEO of Disney? He pondered about this question for a little while, and then came back with summer camp Keewaydin. The interviewer sort of like chuckled, and I think the rest of the room did too.

Ex-CEO of Disney

But the more he thought about it, the more he was assured that he learned the most for becoming a CEO of such a great company as Disney at summer camp rather than school, university college or any of that, and that was telling. I might butcher the name, but I’m gonna stick with Keewaydin as the name and that was something that I’ve found with this book. There are so many different names and funny names for things. So not only have you got a strange name for the camp Keewaydin. There are so many funny things or terms for things that I was reading in his book where I was sort of like, what’s this? So he’s got a thing called by, this is probably common lingo for someone in America but I’d never heard of beds referred to as cots. So throughout the whole book, he was talking about sitting on their cot, and I was like they’re caught this. There are all these campuses are sleeping in cots because obviously, a cot in the UK is sort of like a baby bed, very small baby bed is the best way I can describe it as like sort of gated sides. So the bed you drop the baby in, you put the baby to sleep, you can look over, should they’re still in the bed, they can’t roll out or anything like that. And that’s what a cot is to me. But during this book, they seem to be using a cot as a bed a lot of the time.

Americanisms make the book great

So I don’t know if that’s just an American thing, and I was just getting confused. But they also have words like coupe, which is like their version of certifications and getting some recognition for the stuff that they do around camp, which was pretty cool. Week wham, which is the night which is the word for the names of the units. And they refer to their staff as staff men, they don’t call them counsellors or specialists or anything like that. They call them staff men. And that was interesting. That was cool. Just to get a bit of perspective into how different summer camps run and their terminology of things was cool. And right at the back of the book, you do get a camp dictionary, which I kind of wish at the start of the book, they said that the dictionary was there because it wasn’t that well spelt out. And another little minor point, this is where I’m touching upon some poor writing. I’m talking like I’m a fucking JK Rowling over here. It’s not the case, trust me. This is just my first venture, but I like to review books. I’m an avid reader, and this genre appeals to me. But just when I was reading the camp dictionary at the end, as well, there were so many times in there that weren’t referenced in the book. And I get that there’s a lot of nostalgia for Keewaydin. And the terminology that he may have used around camp, but when I was reading that camp dictionary, I was just like, you haven’t even mentioned half of these words. But that’s just a minor point. I’m talking like, I’m JK Rowling. So I need to get off my high horse and continue with the rest of the review.

Keewaydin Summer Camp Book Review

So, what is Keewaydin? Well, Keewaydin, and this is what I really liked about reading this book. It offers you a different perspective on what different summer camps are like now. You will know that the summer camp that I volunteered at for two years, was a Jewish summer camp. And coming from an outside perspective, with no Jewish upbringing, no knowledge about Judaism or anything like that, and not being religious myself at all. I sort of came into the summer camp that I went to, with sort of open eyes and learning a new culture. Keewaydin it’s a different type of camp. It’s not a religious one. It’s a canoeing camp, and it’s only for boys. So that was interesting, just to get a different kind of camp. One of the things that they often do, Keewaydin is tripping. Now, this is a big part of their camp where they take a few days out of the camp schedule to take campers canoeing and going on massive canoe trips, camping outside of the normal camp bounds of Keewaydin. And sort of getting that independence to cook your food, make sure you get there in one piece and make sure you’re sort of surviving in a way.

 

So going to read about a different camping experience was cool. And I think if you have the passion for summer camp a little bit over the top as I do in a way, I think you’ll enjoy reading this book, it gives you a different perspective and how different camps can run. I loved this book, how he talks about a lot of the firsts, like the unease of growing older, taking responsibility, being a bit of a counsellor, and staff men for these kids, and feeling like an adult for the first time and making the sort of mistakes as you do as you’re growing up. But I have to say, it’s a completely different experience to what my camp was like. Now, of course, my background when I was volunteering at my summer camp was as an outdoor living specialist. So I was responsible for taking the kids out on their campouts and it was similar in a way too there. So the Keewaydin way of taking kids out on their canoe trips and staying away from camp for a little bit. I can see there’s a cross similarity there. But what likes baffled me was hearing about these spa sessions, these staff men would set up for these kids so they’d be doing their campout stuff and they’d be doing a campfire and the tents would be all sort of like, maybe a bit wet, maybe their clothes are a bit wet. So what these staff members would do, would put rocks within the campfire. Cook up some rocks, get them to really hot temperatures, pick them up with like a shovel or something and dump them into a tent. And what essentially that would create is sort of like a spa inside the tent. And that was ringing so many alarm bells for me. As someone that took kids out on camp trips, I would never put boiling hot rocks within the tent to try and create a sparse theme room sort of atmosphere.

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Michael Eisner at Summer Camp

Now this story is all about Michael Eisner and his perspective of summer camp. Now I’ve touched upon how you get a different perspective with this book because this is coming from a CEO of Disney for number one, is coming from someone that’s had many years of being a camper number two. And number three, he’s been a stockman, that’s number three. Number four is, that he’s also got the perspective of after camp now. And after his Disney times and being a parent and sort of having the scholarship schemes where he can take camp unprivileged underclass, I don’t know if that’s the right term, but unprivileged sort of campers to camp. So you’re getting a very mixed perspective on summer camps, you can tell that this is someone that has camp running in their DNA. So you get a lot of different stories and a lot of different time jumps within this book, and that’s where I found the writing hard to read. And sort of understanding why certain chapters were in there entirely. I think that is a tricky challenge to try and do when you’re fucking CEO of Disney for Christ’s sake.

This is sort of a side hustle like a hobby ish type of book. So I understand why it was quite a hard book to write. And it would have been very hard to reminisce about summer camp without hopping all over the place because he wasn’t someone from what I could tell that wrote about summer camp while he was there, similar to what There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is all about. So it was cool to get that perspective of those four different stages of where he has had camp run through him. And a lot of this book, he dedicates to one individual called Waboos. And this gentleman is a Camp Director that has camp running through their DNA. He’s been running the camp for like 80 years and he’s sort of the heartbeat of this camp, and he means a lot to Michael Eisner. It’s sad to see that Waboos has passed away since this book has been released. But I’m sure Keewaydin gave him a very good send off as well as sort of like the flower bed they created when his wife passed away shortly before he did.

A dedication to Waboos

So, there’s a big part of this book dedicated to Waboos. And how this Waboos guy was very involved with all of the kids would recognize all of their faces, all of their intricate stories. And he’d be doing it year after year after year after year, and he would live and breathe summer camp, and this person that sort of kept them going as well. So they did have some tricky times, like back, I think it was just shortly after World War II, they were struggling with finances, and they potentially were going to sell the camp off. And he was one of those rescuers that came to the camps aid and has been with them ever since. And he’s been with camp since he was about eight years old, from what I could tell. So he did live and breathe Keewaydin. And a big part of this book is dedicated to him. So I’m sure a lot of us listening to this podcast today can sympathize and also understand that there are those characters where you go to summer camp, and you have those people that just literally live and breathe it and bring such an energy to your summer camp that makes it so special for you. So I appreciated how in detail, he went with Waboos and also dedicating the entire book to him.

 

Now, midway on from this book, not only do we talk about Waboos, but we touch upon two campers. So there’s two campers called Que and Pepe. Now, these are campers that are going through Michael Eisner’s scheme, where it’s like a charity foundation sort of type of thing. They bought two campers in from California. And they’re from dodgy sort of backgrounds where they can’t afford to do anything. The Disney program, I think it’s called growth or something like that. Accelerate or power, Disney something, there’s a Disney program that sponsors kids to do these sort of things, which is really cool. And these two kids that went to, that are focused on in this book, I’m sure there’s hundreds of kids that go every year. But for particularly this book, Que and Pepe are focused upon. It’s cool to see how these two particular campers grow and become familiar and make so many friends and the inner workings of what camp is like how they become these outsiders to intermingling with the people that have been coming for some time or a local to the area. It’s just really cool to sort of see two different perspectives because you have I think it’s the Que that’s very outgoing, very sporty, very cool, gets all the girls. Then there’s Pepe who’s a little bit more reserved, but they both come from these backgrounds, where all of their friends back home are sort of getting into drugs, drinks, and violence and that sort of thing. So I think Michael here has sort of demonstrated that camp does have a touching effect on so many people. And this is just to campers that he particularly singled out because they go on such a transformative journey by the end of it.

 

Now, I previously touched upon how there’s like four different sort of sections to this book, how he was combat himself, how he was a staff man, how he’s a dad with his own son going to camp and how Michael has this foundation bringing these kids through the camp scholarship sort of program. And the one of the other really interesting parts was the part where his son is going to camp for the first time. I think his name was called Breck or something. And what he’s done is, he sort of keeps all those nerves and excitement in this. Breck, son of Michael Eisner knows at the age that he’s going. I think he was about eight years old when he was going to come for the first time. He understands that this is an important place to his dad, his granddad and all the generations before have been going to this camp. And when Michael Eisner is taking his son there and dropping him off, Michael in his head sort of knows that this is going to be a transformative experience for him. And it was cool to see how Michael was not trying to cover him in candy floss, and make him safe with bubble wrap and that sort of thing because he knows that there’s going to be ups and downs and it’s sort of the first time that Breck is going to be, I was gonna say Brock, but that’s someone from Pokemon.

 

Breck is going to have his ups and downs on the roller coaster at camp, and he’s going to miss home because it’s the first time that he is living away from his parents and that sort of thing. And I’m not, I don’t know if you know this, but I don’t have any children yet. But when I was reading this book, I was like, Oh, that’s a different perspective, or something I wouldn’t have thought about. And because I’m not a parent, I don’t understand yet the anxieties of having your child and sort of trying to bring them up, but also not trying to close them off from having their own experiences and understanding things in their mind without being told how to experience things by their dad sort of thing. So that was cool as well.

Summary review of Michael Eisner’s Camp

In closing, this review, I think that “Camp” by Michael Eisner is a great book. It’s by someone that has camping their DNA. And it’s coming from someone that is very high up as you’d like to say, I don’t know if you know the ins and outs of the Disney story and that sort of separate to this book. But Michael Eisner is no longer with Disney. He left as this book was being published, which was a bit strange, but this was always a side project and something that he would always sort of like come back to reset his mind. He’s no longer with Disney. But he’s still very successful. He’s currently owning many different businesses. And the one that stood out to me was Portsmouth Football Club, which is pretty crazy. So he is in the UK, which is a bit strange, or at least he occasionally visits to come and support that team. But like I say, it is a great book, you get a lot of different perspectives, coming from someone high up as well is cool to just sort of tell that story in the passion that he has for summer camp. And he touches upon a lot of firsts within the book as well, which is something that I’ve tried to do with mine, because summer camp for me, I could kind of relate.

Relatability of volunteering at camp

There was a lot of things that I did at camp where they were first for me, and the amount of responsibility that you’d have and the growth that everyone goes through not just the staff, but also the campers too, it’s cool. And he does come across that well. The only thing that I didn’t like about this was the writing it had, it has to deduct some points for this for me. It was really hard to read. And I think that is a shame because there is so much there that comes across well. But it’s just told, it’s told in a clunky sort of way, the time hopping doesn’t help. And I think that could have just been a bit more polished in my opinion. But I think this is a good book. I like after say this, because I am jealous of the inner design work of the first, like the hardcover, you open the book and the first pages you see a map of the camp, and that’s cool. That’s something that’s always going to be there for years and years to come. And that’s something that sticks with me as my book is about to be published. I’m going to be long gone, and my book is still going to be around.

Hopefully it’ll be in people’s homes, hopefully, it’ll be in charity shops and available online. That’s something that happens with these books, they’re always going to be available. They’re going to outlast you and having this dedication to Keewaydin and Waboos and how formative the camp was, and having that image of the map just sort of show how it all comes together, and that sort of thing is cool. It’s touching piece. So anyway, it’s a good book. I did enjoy it. I have to say it’s not probably going to be for everyone, but I think if you really enjoy camp and you like Disney particularly, it’s going to be an interesting read. It gives you a lot of different perspectives like I say, there are plenty of worse books out there. So in my review, I give this 7/10. Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode that was “Camp” by Michael Eisner.

 

I’m excited to try and like see where this podcast goes. Because this wasn’t an episode that I planned at all. I think the sort of episodes can come up and come from the blue. So Michael, if you’re listening, I’m always here. You can reach me on Twitter at @androow09. We’re also available in Instagram, theresnoplacelikesummercamp, or you can go to theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com/contact. And there’s like a contact form there. But I think interviewing celebrities, man, I call him a celebrity. I don’t think that celebrity is the right term. It’s a CEO. It’s an ex-CEO, it’s someone that’s famous. It’s someone that’s been successful celebrity to me, it’s someone that’s appeared on a reality TV show and that’s not the case for this guy. So we’ll see what happens.

 

Anyway, guys, I hope you enjoyed this one. It was certainly different. Camp is available on platforms like Amazon and eBay and that sort of place you’d be out. I think you’d be able to get them secondhand by now. Because this was released in 2005. I don’t know if they’re still printing this, but have a look. I don’t think it’d be too expensive. For anyone that’s interested in Camp, for anyone it’s interested in Keewaydin, especially if you’ve been there, 100% the one for you. Give it a read. It’s going to be going on my bookshelf, and hopefully, mine will be alongside it very soon.

 

Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please subscribe. Please like the podcast. Tell your friends. Tell your mom, and I’ll see you next Tuesday. All right, bye.

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