How to Plan the Ultimate Camp Reunion
This time of year is all about school breaks, traveling, and celebrations, which means it’s the PERFECT time to plan a reunion with your camp friends!
We’re about at the halfway point between last summer and next and we know you’re missing your people, so we’re coming to you with our best tipe for getting together with the people you love. Whether you arrange a reunion with your whole cabin, or just jump on Facetime with a bunkmate, it will be time well spent, we promise!
Preparing for the Reunion
- Start dreaming! Who would your ultimate reunion include? Do you want to go big and invite the whole upper and lower? Would it not feel right without your counselor? Are you more of a small group person? Maybe you just want to get together with your penpal or bunkmate. Close your eyes and picture your ideal group, and then reach out to them to get the planning going!
- Pick the perfect location. With friends scattered all around the country (and even the world!), how on earth do you pick a place to meet? Are you all within driving distance? Meeting in the middle might be a good way to go. Will some people need to fly in? Make sure to pick a place with a big airport! Think about what you want the reunion to look like as well. Do you guys just want to hang out and watch movies and catch up? Anyone’s house would work great. Or are you wanting to go to a concert together, or explore a new place? Pick a city with lots of options of things to do!
- Get the word out. There’s nothing like regular old snail mail (and what could be more appropriate for a camp reunion?), but to get things going faster, we love Paperless Post. Text your group chat and get excited watching those RSVPs roll in!
It’s finally here!
- Put down your phones! This may be our number 1 tip!! You love each other so much because your relationships are real and Christ-centered and untethered from technology, so don’t let it run the show when you’re back together. Take a few selfies and then put your phones in a pile and leave them alone. You will be glad you did!
- Recreate something about camp together. Watch the Banquet movie, write letters to your friends who couldn’t make it, cook up a camp recipe, or do your favorite camp activity together! (rock climbing gym anyone? Paint your own pottery?) There’s something so fun about bringing a little slice of camp heaven to the real world.
- Call your counselor! Believe us, she’s wishing she were there in person, but she would love to Facetime with you!
- Watch camp videos. Relive your favorite moments and get excited about next year by binge-watching all the camp videos you can!
- Just enjoy being together! Most of all? Just soak up being with your favorite people in the world! Have those DMC’s, take pictures, laugh a lot. The time will go quickly, so just treasure it!
After you hug goodbye
- Write a thank you note. Not to be Miss Manners here, but it’s appropriate to express gratitude to all the people that made your reunion happen, and extra points go to a real, old fashioned thank you note! Say thanks to the parents who hosted you, the friend who arranged everything, and your parents for letting you go. That’ll lay the foundation for many more reunions to come!
- Print out your pictures. All those pictures you took to Instagram while you were together? Don’t just let them sit on your phone! Print them out and hang them up where you can see them every day to keep those good reunion feelings going into a new semester.
- Keep in touch! Even though you may not be able to see each other in person every day, the technology we have now is so useful for keeping in touch with your camp friends. Make a pact to call each other once a month, or send funny memes to your group text when you see them. It is possible to keep those relationships strong until you see each other again!