The summer between training camp in June to today (July 27th) I’ve been at summer camp, working as one of the directors of our trips program. Just about every week my friend & co-director Devyn and I would pack up the bus with equipment, food and campers and go on an adventure around Michigan.
Today is my last day at this camp I’ve spend the past five years working at every summer. Today is also my 22nd birthday and so we have…
22 things I learned working Trips at summer camp the summer before the World Race
I learned…
- You can surf on Lake Michigan. The surf culture is super supportive and chill.
- Imagine the most mosquitos you can think of… there are more on South Manitou Island. The bug net hat looks silly but wear it. Also bug spray. Lots of bug spray.
- How to make pancakes.
- How to play basketball (played my very first game at our campsite one evening before dinner)
- Chipmunks are crafty. Use hammock straps to hang food off the ground.
- Raccoons are craftier. Put all the food on the bus at night INCLUDING the cooler with all the lunch meat.
- If you happen to delete an entire end of the week video on the bus ride back to camp the day its meant to be shown to all the parents… you can still recover. Let your co-director drive and snag photos and clips from campers’ SD cards.
- Check that the fruit is on the bus BEFORE you leave on the trip. 3 milk crates full of fruit… left in the staff kitchen.
- A soccer ball can be rescued from a body of water with a lifeguard tube in a pinch.
- Sometimes you’ll slip up- like drop a blood sugar meter in a river while testing a diabetic camper or not quite make it up the hill while jeeping on sand dunes or refer to the laundry bag with sports equipment as the “ball sack” ONE TIME and it’ll be ok. It makes when you’re extended grace just that much sweeter. Except that last one, was not extended grace… never have really heard the end of it. Teen campers man, they’ll take it and run with that sort of thing.
- Sleeping on the floor can be fun… with the right sleeping pad. Sleeping arrangements might be ever changing. Tents. Hammocks. Cots in basements. Beds that are missing boards that lead to slowly sinking to the ground in the night. It’s ok. Make the evening count with deep convos by the fire and the mornings sweet by cooking breakfast with a great friend.
- Be Third. Put Jesus First. Other Second. Yourself Third. (Don’t forget about yourself either. You’re better able to serve others if you at least have enough to get by most of the time)
- There are more stars than I ever dreamed possible.
- Vulnerability is contagious and honest brokenness can be a common denominator that deepens relationship.
- “I trust your judgement” can be both frustrating and freeing. (I couldn’t tell you the number of times Devyn would respond to a question I posed with this phrase)
- Celebrate the little moments and the in betweens and the Plan Bs. (Like the movie instead of paddle boarding gin the rain or cooking creatively when you run out of gas for the lil’ stove)
- The #4 shower at the Riverview campground goes for like 4 minutes with each press of the button (which was significantly longer than the 30 second buttons on all the other showers there)
- Even if you don’t think your singing voice is all that great- singing at the top of your lungs on bus ride adventures to Meijer at midnight with the campers or around the campfire will be celebrated not mocked.
- To consider campers complexly. That maybe the one rubbing most everyone the wrong way with the way they communicate- maybe that’s the only way they feel heard at home or maybe there’s something more to a camper’s perceived laziness. Take a moment. Give the benefit of the doubt. Give empathy away freely.
- Hiking fast gets you there fast but slower leads to hiking stick contests and singing and noticing new flowers.
- The value of a good nap. If late evenings and early mornings are the pattern, finding space to nap- even a short one is crucial.
- Devyn Johnston is far from perfect but an absolutely incredible partner and friend. He listens and communicates well, leads with integrity and love. And is an excellent go-to for late night convos, early morning breakfast making and mid day misadventures.
It’s been a summer for sure. Not one I would change for anything.
I’m feelin’ 22,
Caitlyn Buell
(If you’re feeling some kind of way and want to gift me on my birthday- feel free to donate to my World Race fund! There’s an orange button on this page that says “donate” if you’d like to. Or if you just wanna leave a comment or shoot me a text- I would love love love to hear from you!)
