There's No Place Like Summer Camp: Stories, Tips, and Laughs from Camp America, Camp Counsellors and Beyond

There's No Place Like Summer Camp: Stories, Tips, and Laughs from Camp America, Camp Counsellors and Beyond
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Looking for a podcast that offers an entertaining and insightful look into the world of American Summer Camps? Look no further than There’s No Place Like Summer Camp! Hosted by Andrew Waterhouse, this podcast features 101 Summer Camp Tips, Funny Stories, and Chats that capture the magic of volunteering with top organizations like Camp America, Camp Leaders, and BUNAC. Whether you’re a seasoned camp counselor or just starting out, this podcast is sure to provide valuable insights and inspiration. And with new episodes released every Tuesday, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is the perfect way to stay connected to the summer camp community all year long. Visit http://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com or https://andrewwaterhouse.com to learn more and start listening today!

  1. 05/23/2025 · VIDEO

    Special Episode - Camp America Book Release | Video Podcast!

    Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans Is Here! The wait is over. After months of anticipation, Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans has officially launched. This bold, hilarious, and heartfelt follow-up in the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp series is now available worldwide. Whether you are a former Camp America counselor, a fan of backpacking memoirs, or just someone who loves wild travel stories with heart, this book is for you. A Celebration of Chaos, Campers and Change Following the success of the first book, Andrew Waterhouse is back with more behind-the-scenes tales from one of the most unique summer jobs in the world. Second Summer Shenanigans explores what happens when a returning counselor arrives at camp only to discover that everything has changed. New faces, bigger responsibilities, and even more outrageous escapades fill every page. This book dives deeper into the emotional highs and lows of life abroad. From laugh-out-loud moments in the mess hall to vulnerable reflections under the stars, it captures the spirit of summer like never before. The Video Podcast: Behind the Scenes and Between the Lines To celebrate launch day, we have dropped a special video podcast episode. Andrew Waterhouse sits down to reflect on what inspired this second book, what readers can expect, and why this one feels different. You will hear about: The return to camp life and how it impacted Andrew personally Fan-favorite characters making surprise reappearances Why this book means more than just storytelling Advice for future Camp America counselors and aspiring memoir writers Whether you are reading the book or tuning into the video, you are in for a treat. Why You Should Read It If you ever wondered what it is like to spend a summer working in America, this book gives you the real story. It is equal parts funny, cheeky, emotional, and inspiring. Expect: Camp gossip that could only be shared after leaving the country Honest reflections on friendships, identity and growing up Late-night adventures that belong in a movie A raw look at the mental health struggles that often go unspoken This is not just a camp diary. It is a coming-of-age travel memoir set in the most chaotic and beautiful place imaginable. Available Now Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans is out now in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats. You can grab your copy on Amazon (check your own country if not from the UK) and other major retailers. Make sure to check out the full video podcast and join the celebration. Share it with fellow counselors, leave a review, and follow Andrew’s journey as the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp series continues to grow. Thank You Thank you to everyone who has supported this series so far. Your messages, reviews and stories mean the world. This book would not have been possible without your love for camp and all its madness. Here’s to another unforgettable summer… in book form.

    31 min

  2. 03/19/2025

    Audiobook is out now! - Free Chapter Preview

    Behind the Scenes of Recording the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Audiobook Hey there, fellow adventurers! I’m beyond excited to share a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of my latest project – the There’s No Place Like Summer Camp audiobook. This project has been a labor of love, and now that it’s all recorded, I wanted to give you a sneak peek into what goes into turning a book into an audiobook, as well as the special preview podcast I’ve put together for you. Why an Audiobook? For me, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is all about energy, fun, and those unforgettable camp moments. Writing it was one thing, but recording the audiobook took it to a whole new level. I wanted to capture the vibe, the excitement, and the chaos of camp life, but also the friendships and growth that happen in those spaces. A lot of people enjoy audiobooks for their convenience, but also for the personal connection you get with the narrator – so, who better to bring the story to life than me? The Process Recording the audiobook was one of the most exciting yet challenging experiences I’ve had. I spent countless hours in the studio (aka my makeshift home recording space), perfecting each chapter, making sure the energy was right, and ensuring that the laughs, heartaches, and shenanigans translated well. It wasn’t just about reading the words; it was about embodying the emotions, pacing the story just right, and of course, making sure I kept you entertained the whole time. I have to admit, there were a few moments where I tripped over my words or had to redo a line for the perfect delivery. But that’s all part of the process, right? It’s all about getting it just right. Free Preview Podcast To give you a taste of what the audiobook has to offer, I’ve recorded a special preview podcast. It’s a little teaser of the wild camp stories, the humorous interactions, and some of the best moments from the book that you’ll hear when you dive into the full audiobook. I hope it gets you as excited as I am to share the whole thing with you! You can listen to the preview podcast for free, and I’d love to hear what you think. Whether you’re already a fan of audiobooks or this is your first foray into the world of narrated stories, I think you’ll enjoy the vibe. What’s Next? The full audiobook will be available soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the preview and get a glimpse of what’s coming. Keep an eye out for updates on the full release and, as always, thank you for your continued support. Until next time, happy listening, and I hope There’s No Place Like Summer Camp brings you just as much fun as it did for me to create! Listen to the Audiobook here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0F1W79XL1/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-439530&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_439530_rh_uk Feel free to leave a comment or share your thoughts – I love hearing from you all!

    32 min

  3. 07/10/2023

    51% and Massive Life Updates

    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 f*****g 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 t

    40 min

  4. 11/13/2022

    Special Episode – Maisie Craddock YouTuber Interview

    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 o

    32 min

  5. 05/24/2022

    The End of the Podcast For Now

    This episode we say goodbye to the podcast. It’s been great guys, but I really have to focus on getting the best out of my time. Expect to see me promoting There’s No Place Like Summer Camp on TikTok and other platforms to help spread the word on how good summer camp truly is. It’s not goodbye – I’ll come and go but for now its an adios to the podcast and on to other projects. Thanks for your support, kind words etc. I’ll be back, just don’t know when. Stay up to date on my whereabouts by following me on Twitter, @androow09. A Transcription from the Podcast… Hello, guys, and welcome to another episode of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. I’m outdoors today, and it’s a nice day in the middle of May. However, there’s a slight difference in the audio quality and background sounds because I’m on the road and feeling a bit out of breath. Today’s episode is a little different as I want to talk about the changes in my life that have impacted the podcast and where we go from here. Current Challenges and Confusion In the previous episode, I shared with you all about my house move and some changes in my life. However, my current living situation doesn’t allow me to continue with the weekly podcast episodes. I’m feeling a bit confused about where to take the podcast from here due to my living arrangements and work schedules. The podcast has always been a place to promote my book and build a community around summer camp, as well as answering questions and providing entertainment. It has been an enjoyable project for me, but with the recent changes, I need to reconsider the format. Reflecting on the Original Goals The goal of the podcast has always been to promote my book and encourage people to volunteer at camp America during the prime time for summer camps. However, with the current challenges, I feel the need for a change in approach to get the best out of myself and promote the book effectively. My living situation has made it difficult to record podcasts every week and come up with new ideas, so I need to find a solution. Considering the Way Forward As we are currently on Episode 84 or 85 of long-form discussions about summer camp and all the tips and advice I could think of, I realize that the podcast episodes will always be available for new and old listeners to revisit. The interviews and discussions about summer camp will continue to be there for everyone to listen to. However, I need to make some changes to keep the podcast alive and thriving. Finding a Solution Going forward, I have a vague solution in mind. I want to keep the podcast alive but adapt to my current living situation. I will continue to share my deep passion for summer camp and how it has changed me and others. But I might need to change the format and frequency of the episodes to accommodate my current challenges. This is a passion project, to provide valuable content and engage with my audience, but I also need to find a balance that works for me. Some Thoughts I want to thank all of you for your continued support of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. The podcast is not going anywhere, but there will be some changes in the format and frequency of episodes due to my current living situation. I will continue to share my love for summer camp and provide valuable content to my audience. I appreciate your understanding and look forward to the next chapter of the podcast. Introduction to Why I Wrote the Book: Have you ever had an experience that changed your life? For me, it was going to summer camp. It took me from someone who was sheltered and introverted to someone with a world of experiences and friends. That’s why I decided to create a podcast called “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp.” But now, after covering many topics, I think it’s time for a change. In this post, I’ll talk about my experience at summer camp and how it led me to my latest projects. How Summer Camp Changed My Life: When I went to summer camp for the first time, I had no idea how good it would be. I had only heard about how good it was from other people who had either done it or heard about it by word of mouth. It took a bit of a leap of faith to go, not knowing anyone or anything, and putting in about 1000 pounds. But I walked away with tons of stories, experiences, and friends, and my eyes were opened to the world. I knew I had to spread the word. Creating “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp”: One of the good habits I kept was keeping a diary, which I did from about age 16 to 23. Every night before I’d hit the sack, I’d sit on my phone typing away the notes of what had happened that day. I knew that I had to take what was such an amazing experience, from what was in my diary into something that the general public could really enjoy and educate themselves upon. And that’s how the idea for the podcast “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp” was born. I knew it was a passionate thing that I wanted to get out there, and I think it was such a niche that’s very untapped. I knew so many people who had done it, and I wanted to share the experience. From Podcast to Book: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp The project started from a dark place to be honest – a long-term relationship had come to an end shortly after my second stint at summer camp, and I needed a project to distract me. I had quality content in my diary entries, and I knew it was something that I wanted to get out there. That’s why I wrote my debut book, “There’s No Place Like Summer Camp.” I translated my diary entries into something that people could enjoy, adding dialogue that was never there in my diary entries, and more. Next Steps: A Children’s Book After my book was published, I found myself looking for a new project. I decided to break out of the routine of going back through diary entries and translating them into something that people enjoy. That’s why I’m working on a completely different kind of project now – a children’s book called “The Fly That Flew To High.” It’s a story that I’ve had in the back of my mind for about two years, and I’m excited to get it out there for a different kind of audience. It’s really weird how the story came about, but I’ll keep that for another episode. In Closing… Summer camp changed my life, and I hope that my book and podcast can inspire others to take that leap of faith and experience it for themselves. But now, it’s time for a change, and I’m excited to work on my children’s book and see where that takes me. Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and I hope you keep an eye out for “The Fly That Flew To Hi” and other projects in the future.

    28 min

  6. 05/10/2022

    A Response to my “Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years’ Time?” from 2017

    This episode, I respond to my 2017 five year goals and outline the goals I have for 2034. It’s a different kind of episode, but you get to hear my way of thinking and get a bit more about the author of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp.

    20 min

  7. 05/03/2022

    How Inflation Is Driving up the Cost of Summer Camp

    In this episode, we listen to the CEO of American Camp Association, Tom Rosenberg to hear how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. It’s an interesting listen as he is interviewed by Yahoo Finance and I give you my personal reaction too. Podcast episode transcript: Hello and welcome to There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. I’m your host, Andrew Waterhouse. And in today’s episode, I’m taking a look at how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. So coming into our tent, and I’ll spill the beans I believe this is episode 84. As we are quickly honing in on that magic 100th episode, in this episode is something a little bit different again. So…a bit about me is in 2020 onwards, I’ve been very interested in getting into the financial system, investing, crypto, short squeezes, and loads of different things. And it was one of those hobbies that I really picked up during the pandemic. Because I was sat at home, I’d always wanted to get myself involved in economics and make myself financially independent and learn the intricacies of stock markets and shares and growth and that sort of thing. Now, I shortly recently just say, I recently saw an article come up on YouTube from Yahoo Finance. And the title was how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camps. So in this episode, we’re going to be watching this interview on Yahoo Finance, and doing some commentary over the top. So let’s give it a watch. Now, before I start this, I know that your audio isn’t going to be the greatest I’ve done. Like everything I possibly can to try and catch the audio of this. Of course, if you want to go and check it out, you can go on to Yahoo Finance and search for how inflation is driving up the cost of some accounts, you can watch it yourself, otherwise, you’re going to be listening along with me. And I’m just going to be doing my commentary over the top. Okay, let’s see how this goes. This is Yahoo Finance and how inflation is driving up the cost of summer camp. Here’s the Yahoo Finance video: Speaking of COVID, we know they did affect a lot of summer camps over the past few years. In fact, according to the ACA, the average cost of Bandcamp now has more than doubled to $178 a day compared to about $76 last year. Now that’s a ridiculous stat from 2021 average cost of a day camp was $76. Fast forward to 2022, just one year later, that’s $178 a day. That’s mental. And that’s a day camp. That’s not someone like staying for days upon days upon days, that’s just like going to camp for the day. It’s like that’s ridiculous numbers I’m seeing across the board. Prices are going through the roof. I’m trying to get a house at the minute at the time of recording this, I’m trying to get a house. And we offered 10,000 pounds over the asking price and we still didn’t get it we got outbid by someone else. It just goes to show that at the minute, I think prices are very susceptible to a complete and catastrophic crash. Because it’s not sustainable to have prices more than double in a year. And the inflation rates at the minute are like mirroring double digits. wages aren’t keeping up, everyone’s going to have to like cut back on their non-essential spending, which is why you’re seeing things like Netflix’s share price, absolutely crater over one day, they lost about 40% over one day just because their metrics weren’t a lining up. So from $76 in 2021, for an average cost at a day camp to 178 in 2022. So let’s carry on with their interview and see where this goes. Let’s let’s bring in our guest Tom Rosenberg, the American Camp Association, President and CEO, thank you for joining us. So first of all the top expenses that are now driving some of these prices up and are there any ways to release with these parents in terms of perhaps financing? Well, yeah, it can cost the cost of providing camp just like everything else right now is really going up. We’ve had increases in labour. We’ve labour costs, food costs, program supply costs, and COVID-related costs, everything has gone up. So cancer are are trying to operate at scale this summer, which is different from the past few summers. So there will be an additional expense most camps have to pass along. Some price increases to families. We thought we found this specific on how much day camps have increased, almost doubled. How about sleepaway camps? And what’s been the biggest challenge? Why are those prices increasing so high? I would say labour is one part of it. Certainly, there’s a shortage of qualified staff to work in camps. And so we’re trying to hire as many staff as we can to operate. So just to give it a pause there, the average cost of a sleepaway camp has tripled year over year. So currently, we’re sitting at $449 a day, on average to have a sleepover to have your child at a sleepaway camp. Now, that is ridiculous. I thought prices were ridiculous when I was volunteering at summer camp because parents were paying so much money and it was like 1000s upon 1000s of dollars to make sure their kids had the time of their lives. And it is quite a project. And when you consider how much how many staff there are, how many resources there are, how many activities you have to put on for these kids. But at the end of the day, a lot of these summer camps are businesses too. They have to be self self-sufficient. They have to self-fund themselves to increase the availability and excitement of their summer camp, adding new features and that sort of thing, which I touched upon within the second year of my summer camp because I returned for a second summer. Now that book isn’t even written yet is it the raw material is there but have yet to start actually converting that into a book. But anyway, let’s get back to this interview and see where this goes from here. $449 a day for the average cost of a sleepaway camp, which has tripled over 2021. Now is that sustainable, let’s see. Right as it scale as possible, but also the cost of insurance, think about property casualty insurance. And within a youth market, the very hard market right now, it has been for some time, and it’s only getting worse. Also, we have, you know, windstorm and fire and things like that, that are affecting camps across the country. So, but also, they’re just, you know, this summer, camp directors and overnight camps, for example, are really hoping that they can count on getting the food that they order on time so that the menu they plan will actually happen. So last year, they were juggling a lot of things to make that happen with the supply and logistics challenges that were occurring. So it’s the good news is, Camp is going to happen at scale as far as it scale as possible. So millions of children can once again, go to day camp and overnight camp like typically pre-pandemic that was 26 million boys and girls. And demand for campus soaring right now. So we’re doing so that’s really good to say that demand for camp is soaring, you have to bear in mind that 2020 and 2021 will have heavily affected by COVID. Of course, COVID is still a thing as you can hear my voice, I’m actually COVID-positive at the time of recording. And it’s very interesting to see 26 million campers, on average go to summer camp in the year and they want to grow that number. They don’t want to stifle it. And that’s the problem that summer camps do have it and it’s often glossed over. Problem. When you look back at volunteering with Camp America is the swathes of kids and families that don’t actually get the chance to take their kids to a summer camp and have the time of their lives is very much of a dream for many families, many kids that they want to go and have these crazy once in a lifetime experiences. And there are so many kids and families that are able to budget themselves over the course of a year. So every year they can go and work or shall I say enjoy themselves summer camp, your best to manage costs as well as we can. But prices are going up. And I would say demand is outstripping supply in a big way right now. We’re going to ask them, What do you have this sort of the labour shortages and these other pressures? How much has it changed pre-pandemic worsens. Now in terms of the people trying to get into camps, and just how much you’re able to accommodate people? Well, you know, they’re 74 million school-aged children in the United States, I believe, and a pre-pandemic, we were serving about 26 million of them. But a lot of children out there who have not yet had the privilege of attending a day camp or attending an overnight camp that’s a shame. We’re very much aware of that we’re working really hard to find funding for. For more kids to go to camp. We also need to build more camps and grow camps make the increase their capacity. Even the United States Department of Education has provided summer learning dollars available for you Have you been most disproportionately affected by the pen? See, it’s quite interesting to hear that the amount of kids that don’t go to summer camp is actually larger than those that do. As he said, I think it was roughly about so 70 million was it 70 million kids that they could get. And then there’s the 26 that actually end up going. So there’s quite a big gap between those two. And it makes me think that if I was like a billionaire if I was a philanthropist, I would love to be able to put in or own different camps. Why is that not a massive thing that billionaires and millionaires do pull their money together literally give the kids the experience that they remember, and make it affordable? It’s really hard. And a lot of the time you people see summer camps as sort of like a charity. But at the end of the day, they are business. And they do take substantial risks by having so many activities, and they need all this insurance and all this coverage and legal prot

    24 min

  8. 04/26/2022

    Where Do I See Myself in 5 Years – A Response to 2017

    This episode you get to know more about me, Andrew Waterhouse, the author of There’s No Place Like Summer Camp. In 2017 I wrote a blog post about where I see myself in five years. And its been five years since. So have I achieved my goals? Listen to the pod and find out…

    24 min
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About

Looking for a podcast that offers an entertaining and insightful look into the world of American Summer Camps? Look no further than There’s No Place Like Summer Camp! Hosted by Andrew Waterhouse, this podcast features 101 Summer Camp Tips, Funny Stories, and Chats that capture the magic of volunteering with top organizations like Camp America, Camp Leaders, and BUNAC. Whether you’re a seasoned camp counselor or just starting out, this podcast is sure to provide valuable insights and inspiration. And with new episodes released every Tuesday, There’s No Place Like Summer Camp is the perfect way to stay connected to the summer camp community all year long. Visit http://theresnoplacelikesummercamp.com or https://andrewwaterhouse.com to learn more and start listening today!

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