Hiking, skipping rocks through fresh waters, and s’mores by a crackling fire—but rather than ghost stories, there are scary stories about the shared perils of big city dating in your 30s. Arguably the the biggest wellness trend to come out of this past summer? Sleep-away camp for grown-ups.
As technology brings us further from each other and ourselves, more people are attempting to make new friends and date the good old-fashioned way. We’ve seen a growing popularity of meeting people in person via social clubs like run clubs and IRL event series, but sometimes weekly meetups aren’t enough. So, they’re going camping with strangers.
“People come. They come alone, they come skeptical, they come scared, and they come curious,” Michael Washington, founder of the modern nature enthusiast group, Usal Project, said. They’re based in Los Angeles but have done camping retreats nationally in both California’s Redwoods and New York’s Catskill Mountains.
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Itineraries full of summer camp activities like swimming, natural dye workshops to replace childhood t-shirt tie-dying, yoga, and group meals around the fire under the stars allow people to microdose being outdoorsy while making new friends and learning new skills. The barrier to entry is simply a fee—no new gear, no location scouting, trip planning, or extra grocery store runs in remote towns where Uber doesn’t exist.
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And there are options for nearly every person varying in price point, location and itinerary. Beyond Usal Project, Camp No Counselors hosts weeks in New York and California, Pennsylvania has a women’s only version called Camp Social, Maine’s ‘Camp’ Camp is the go-to LGBTQ+ adult summer camp, and more are popping up throughout the country year round.
Camp Yoshi started in Portland in 2020 by Howard University graduate Rashad Frazier, his wife Shequita, and brother Ron. Initially, they focused on inviting Black campers. Always food forward with Frazier’s culinary background, they’ve evolved into diverse excursions from day trips to week-long retreats. While the region is shared, the exact location is always kept a secret. Frazier says they attract people who are “curious, gregarious, and ready to touch some grass.” Their attendees are 35 to 45, mostly women, and very open-minded.
Frazier said people are coming for the views, the vibes, and the gear. Obviously, their socials support their brand and give campers and would-be attendees a look at what happens on their trips. Both Camp Yoshi and Usal partner with Japanese camping and outdoor gear brand Snow Peak, bringing their thoughtful, minimalist design to the campsites and subsequent social activities. This affords a change in location for every trip and a refined, consistent aesthetic, whether there’s a bathhouse at the campgrounds or a tent over a hole in the ground for when nature calls.
High design may not be synonymous with “roughing it” for the non-camper, but Camp Yoshi is also casually serving everything from freshly made salmon patties and fried eggs to choc au pain French toast with berry sauce for breakfast. Not only are these trips about exposure to the outdoors and building connections via nostalgic experiences, it’s about affording campers an aspirational foundation to build on. Camping can be comfortable and chic with titanium flatware and stainless steel fire and grill pits that have won design awards (especially when someone else buys it and sets it up).
“I think, deep down, a lot of people come with the same story: ‘I really wish I had more outdoorsy friends,’” Washington said. For those without an established relationship with nature, adult sleep-away camp covers all the bases.
Kevin Claiborne is a New York-based artist who had never been camping (or glamping, for that matter) before, yet has been making an effort to be more intentional about spending time in nature. He learned about the trip at Usal’s bouldering event in Central Park just over a month prior.
“The thought of leaving the city, sleeping outside in a tent, and slowing down really drew me in. Life has been busy, and I knew I needed space to reset,” he said. “I’m not great at planning—I usually do things spontaneously, whether that’s a trip abroad or a night out in the city, so the fact that Usal handled the logistics made it easy to commit.”
Organizers of these trips and camps have found the special sauce in curating itineraries that champion connection. Easier access to the outdoors, introduction to the lifestyle, nostalgic experiences, and quieting everyday life’s distractions, all while making space for rest. It’s harder to doomscroll or not be mindful of others hiking over tree roots up a mountain or crossing a creek to the best spot for a swim.
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Newly sober, Cherie Camacho has lived in New York for nearly 20 years, and she’s been looking to broaden both how she socializes and her community. Although she isn’t a “big wellness retreat” person, she attended the September Usal Catskills trip.
“When they sent us what we needed to know before the trip, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is roughing it,’ and it wasn’t that at all. It was a really elevated and educational experience in a really refreshing way,” Camacho said. (Though she also points out that yes, they slept in tents, and there were only two toilets.)
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And unlike how it feels in the bars, she said the wide range of ages—mid 20s to early 40s—she met on her weekend made no difference, as it seemed everyone was there for a similar purpose. None of her conversations were centered around what everyone did, and everyone seemed to show up with the same attitude.
The range of lived experience brings more in these settings specifically. On a recent Camp Yoshi trip, somehow Atlanta strip clubs á la Magic City became the topic around the fire. Frazier said Jason, the eldest of the group—a very cool Japanese man—shared his experience at Club Cheetah in the ‘80s. “He was so unassuming and it was the funniest thing ever—a great icebreaker! It really unlocked a new energy for the group.”
Whether that chemistry comes from surprising shared experiences with strangers under the stars, or the camaraderie of stepping outside your comfort zone to try something new alongside people you’ve never met, it’s driving a lot of people to sign up solo for camping trips.
Washington says it’s a time for our worlds to get smaller—in a good way. “You get a bunch of seemingly random people around a fire pit and the conversation always leads to these moments where people realize, we’re really not so different.”