I Went to an Adult Summer Camp for Women: Here’s How It Went

Courtesy of Camp Social

Walking up to a sprawling property in rural Pennsylvania on a Friday afternoon with a roller bag in tow, I was greeted by several young men who directed me toward the picturesque oasis beyond the gates. My eyes lit up at the sight of the small private lake in the center of tree-lined grounds that played host to Camp Social — the adults-only summer camp that’s meant for women who want to make friends.

Located just outside of the Pocono Mountains in Equinunk, Pennsylvania, the camp typically hosts children and teens throughout the summer. But instead of kids with braces wreaking havoc, more than 400 adult women from across the world flooded the property, drinking unlimited cold brew and gladly waking up at 6:30 am to cold plunge into the lake. Attendees paid nearly $700 for two nights in shared cabins that promised a wide array of traditional camp activities like swimming, campfires, hiking, and most importantly — new friendships.

The concept of Camp Social comes at a time when young people are searching for connections in a post-pandemic, social media-exhausted world. Single people are trading in dating apps for in-person meet-ups, joining run clubs, and picking up any hobby to avoid the endless swiping on their phones. And based on the popularity of this camp, it seems people who desire genuine friendship are in the same boat. Jaye Taylor, a 30-year-old Londoner living in California, told me she came to Camp Socialto “live out” her “Parent Trap dreams.”

“We don’t have camps in England so this is literally what you see in the American movies,” she said.

As I walk through the camp and up to my cabin, the scenery does, in fact, look like Hallie’s camp in The Parent Trap — mixed with the fictional Kellerman’s Resort in Dirty Dancing. Almost every woman who walks past me smiles and says hello, and in the first hour of being there, I notice that nobody is on their phone.

When I told friends and family about being invited to Camp Social and described it as best I could, a few were skeptical and asked if I was entering into a cult-like situation a la Nine Perfect Strangers.

“It's not a woo-woo retreat,” Camp Social founder and influencer Liv Schreiber assured me. “It is a weekend at camp.”

Schreiber walks me through the campgrounds as we talk about how this whole thing started, periodically stopping so she can hug and greet other campers — most of whom are on their way to go rock climbing, play pickleball, swim in the lake, paddleboard, and more. At one point she makes sure the group walking with her stopped to get coconuts to drink from.

A former PR professional based in New York City, Schreiber’s energy is nothing short of infectious. She remembers people’s names, lets campers know which of the staff are single, and bounces around, asking if there’s something we want to do that we haven’t yet. But starting a sleepaway camp in 2023 took more than just good energy.

“I'm fueled by connection and I'm fueled by friendship,” Schreiber tells me, adding that she has spent the last year sending countless emails, getting brand partnerships with Amazon, Skinceuticals, Saucony, and Dig Inn, among others.

But Camp Social isn’t her first foray into the business of human connection. Before the post-pandemic rise in events meant for people to meet each other (romantically or not), Schreiber started an event company called Hot and Social. The company’s purpose is for people to show up solo and leave having clicked with at least one person.

“Everyone thought I was so weird [when I started Hot and Social] and probably still do,” Schreiber said. “I always just thought about how I can't be the only one that wants this.”

Based on the influx of campers that descended onto Camp Social, she would be right.

On Friday, after a full afternoon of checking in and getting past awkward small talk with other hesitant campers on a tour of the grounds, the nervous energy shifts as soon as we get to cocktail hour. This is when I happened upon a group of women cracking jokes who I meshed with immediately. I soon found out that they had all met just a few hours before, some sharing a cabin, despite acting like they had years of friendship between them. They adopted me into their group without hesitation.

“One thing that surprised me is that you can literally sit anywhere and people will be like, ‘Hey what’s your name? Where are you from? What cabin are you in?’” Becca Pineda-Sholl, a 29-year-old camper from Minnesota says. “Everyone is super friendly and we all come from different walks of life and everyone is just accepting.”

The energy at Camp Social felt very first-day-at-college, when people show up to this foreign place, without friends or family (for the most part), aching to connect with just one person. Many people that I spoke to explained that coming to Camp Social solo was a big deal for them and a major step outside of their comfort zones.

“I’ve struggled my whole life to make friends, especially girls because I compare myself to people all the time and think, ‘I’m never gonna look like them, I’m never going to be as fun as them, no one’s gonna pick me to hangout with over them,’” Emily Raymond, a 28-year-old from Connecticut tells me through tears. “Everyone has been so accepting and zero judgment and it’s just been so nice, so I’m so happy I came.”

As she’s speaking, a group of surrounding women flock to Raymond to hug her and comfort her as she speaks openly about her vulnerabilities. You would never know that she had only met them less than 24 hours ago.

“At no point have I thought about leaving,” she continued. “Even if you meet just one person, everyone is here to make friends, so just put yourself out there.”

Looking around at the hundreds of women at the camp, you’ll certainly find every walk of life. There are sporty women, musical theater women, introverted women, sober women, mothers, lawyers, former child stars, artists, influencers, and teachers.

“I feel like I didn’t expect to form such actual connections with people so fast,” Meghan Tuccitto, 28, from Minnesota, tells me. “Last night, it was like I’ve known these people for six hours and I’m like, ‘I love you, I’ll come visit you.’”

She continued: “In real life, that doesn’t ever happen because everyone is so busy but you’re forced to just be together [here] and it just naturally gets so deep so fast.”

The camp offered a sort of, “choose your own adventure” scenario — giving people the choice of more calming activities like bracelet-making, meditation and journaling, paint and sip, while also giving other options like tubing, a morning HIIT class, yoga, or going down the massive slide into the lake (I did it twice).

Camp Social at times seemed like it was working in real time to accommodate the influx of women that came this year. Schreiber tells me that the camp only had 180 people last year, compared to the 400+ that came this year, and the rumored tens of thousands on the waiting list for 2025 — “Our Instagram unexpectedly went viral,” Schreiber said. Many of the offered activities were only available via a sign-up sheet, which quickly filled up. After campers complained that activities should be open to all — including the morning hike and the cold plunge off the slide — counselors loosened things up without missing a beat.

The complaints I heard around camp mostly centered around having time constraints on open activities and instead asking campers to participate in a three-hour-long, Olympics-style activity on Saturday afternoon. Some people told me they left the activity to lie down or take a walk, while others said they wished they had that free time available to swim in the lake or try their hand at archery — among other activities.

Aside from the small hiccups, the schedule was followed down to the minute and most of the women I came across were still just delighted to be there. I continued to be amazed that almost no one was scrolling on their phones throughout the weekend — myself included.

As I shared clips from my three days at Camp Social on TikTok, a few commenters said they’d be worried about “mean girls” and drama within the camp. Stereotypes about women not getting along aside, that couldn’t have been further from the reality that I observed. Maybe it’s because these women paid money to be there and meet others, or maybe because it felt like a girlhood utopia without trying, every woman I spoke with was approachable and excited to get to know each other.

“All of a sudden you blink and you’re an adult and it’s a crazy feeling,” Mary Beth Wydro, 28, from Hoboken, New Jersey. “I found my sense of girlhood that I’ve been missing and a part of me that I didn’t even realize needed to be found.”

I’ll admit, in the first few hours of being at camp, I was skeptical that anyone could form a true friendship in just over 48 hours. But when I left on Sunday, I found myself in a new group chat, had dozens of new Instagram followers, and an invite to a birthday getaway in Minnesota.

As someone who would consider herself more extroverted, I even drove up to Camp Social with some anxiety — my only airbag being that I was there first and foremost to write this story. Still, I was nervous about not finding a group, not finding anyone to joke around with, nervous that it would end up being a Fyre Festival situation. But there wasn’t one moment that I was ready to leave or spend time by myself.

For those who have similar worries and hesitations, Schreiber urges people to just push through those feelings.

“Don't believe everything you think. Don't believe your fears. Just get on that bus, and I promise you, the second you line up, you see smiling faces around you and you feel like you're walking into a hug.”

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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