Can you do Camp America with a friend?

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This one comes up constantly and it’s an understandable question. You and your mate both want to go. You’ve talked about it for months. The idea of doing it together sounds brilliant. So can you just both apply and end up at the same camp?

Technically: sometimes. In practice: it’s complicated, and this episode explains why Andrew actually thinks going with a friend might not be the dream scenario it sounds like.

How the Placement Process Works

Camp America, Camp Leaders and BUNAC all work by matching you to a camp based on your profile, your skills, and what camps need. You don’t just pick a camp like booking a hotel. Camps select you from a pool of applicants, or you get matched through the agency’s system.

For two people to end up at the same camp, both of you need to be wanted by the same camp, in the same summer, for compatible roles. That’s a lot of variables to align. It’s not impossible, and agencies do sometimes accommodate requests from people who want to be placed together — but it’s not guaranteed, and trying to force it can limit your placement options.

The Case Against Going With a Friend

Here’s the argument Andrew makes in this episode, and it’s worth taking seriously: going alone is part of what makes camp so good.

One of the most commonly reported things by people who’ve done Camp America is how quickly you make friends. The shared experience of being thrown into a completely new environment with a group of strangers accelerates bonding in a way that normal life rarely does. Within a week, people you’d never met before start to feel like family.

If you arrive at camp already attached to a person you know, there’s a genuine risk that you:

– Spend your time gravitating toward each other instead of pushing yourself to meet new people
– Miss the full experience of having to find your feet independently
– Create a dynamic that puts you slightly outside the natural group-forming process

The discomfort of going alone is basically the mechanism through which camp works. Removing it removes some of the magic.

If You Really Want to Go Together

If going together is genuinely a hard requirement for you, contact the agency directly and ask about their policy on placing friends together. Some agencies will note the preference on your applications and do their best to match you. Go in knowing it might not be possible and that if it’s not, that might actually be fine.

Also consider: even if you end up at different camps, you’re both in America for the summer and will likely have time to meet up afterwards during the travel period. People do this all the time.

The Honest Take

Go. Whether together or separately. The experience is worth it either way. But if you’re on the fence about going alone — don’t let that be the reason you don’t go. Solo is the better bet.

 

Read about how Camp America was for me as a solo traveller in my two books:

Book 1: There’s No Place Like Summer Camp Book 2: Camp America: Second Summer Shenanigans