After dinner, the marshmallows came out.
asserted
marshmallows → come → dinner
A group of nurses and support staff from a New York City clinic gathered around the campfire, sharing stories about childhood and how they got into the field.
asserted
they → gather → field
For a few hours in July 2026, the clinical titles and workplace hierarchies that normally defined this group of US health professionals disappeared.
asserted
that → define → professionals
Aleksey Aronov, CEO of VIP's IV, had brought his team to Camp No Counselors for a four-day weekend to unwind and bond.
asserted
Aronov → bring → weekend
“A lot of my staff members were new, and some were quite shy,” Aronov said.
asserted
Aronov → say → members
“But after the camp experience, everyone felt comfortable around one another, got to know each other better and bonded seamlessly.”
His team had arrived together.
asserted
team → feel → other
Other campers go looking for a group to belong to.
asserted
campers → look → group
For adults heading to summer camp, the draw goes beyond childhood memories.
asserted
draw → head → memories
Some are turning to camp experiences to network or mitigate burnout, while others are seeking a way to make new friends.
asserted
others → turn → friends
Whatever their reason, an increasing number of people around the world are finding that the summer camps of their youth are the perfect antidote to the pressures of modern adult life.
asserted
camps → increase → life
Mia Morin, 29, of Toronto and her husband attended YMCA Camp Queen Elizabeth on Beausoleil Island in Ontario, Canada in May 2025 to meet new people.
uncertain
Morin → attend → people
“We wanted to gather around interesting people, exchange ideas and do things together,” Morin says.
asserted
Morin → want → things
“Going to YMCA Camp Queen Elizabeth was easy because nobody there was random.
asserted
nobody → go → Elizabeth
Since everyone has already selected the same thing, you have a starting point with something in common.”
asserted
you → select → something
Once a niche getaway for nostalgic campers, adult camps have exploded in popularity, offering weekend and weeklong retreats where grown-ups trade screen time and their comfy beds for campfires, sports, arts and crafts, and bunk beds.
asserted
ups → explode → campfires
Unlike the children’s day and overnight camps, however, today’s adult versions often include grown-up perks, such as open bars, wine tastings, chef-prepared meals and wellness programming.
asserted
versions → include → bars
Yelp’s 2025 Trend Forecast showed searches for “adult camps” were up 347 percent from September 2023 through August 2024, compared with the previous 12-month period.
asserted
searches → show → period
The online directory of the American Camp Association (ACA) lists 85 adult camp programmes in the United States, and while the ACA does not track the number of adult camps year-over-year, it confirms that there has been positive growth in adult camp programming over the last decade.
asserted
it → list → decade
As of 2026, the concept has expanded well beyond the US and Canada, with camps launching in destinations ranging from the Swiss Alps to the United Arab Emirates.
asserted
camps → expand → Emirates
“The rising popularity of adult camps reflects a larger movement toward meaningful, in-person experiences we’ve been seeing through Yelp,” said Yelp’s trend expert, Tara Lewis.
asserted
expert → rise → Yelp
“People are looking to unplug and foster connections in shared physical spaces.
asserted
People → look → spaces
These camps give adults the chance to go analog, rediscover favourite activities, focus on wellness and make genuine connections," she added.
asserted
she → give → connections
Just how much has the concept grown?
asserted
concept → grow → ?
When founder Adam Tichauer pitched Camp No Counselors to the reality TV contest Shark Tank in 2016, the sharks didn’t bite.
asserted
sharks → pitch → 2016
Fast forward 10 years, and all the Camp No Counselors dates through 2027 have waitlists.
asserted
dates → fast → waitlists
Adults across generations — from Gen X to Millennials to Gen Z — are embracing camp life as a remedy for two major ills of modern life: loneliness and burnout.
asserted
Adults → embrace → life
“Hundreds of millions of people every day feel a gap between their level of connection and where they want it to be, for a variety of reasons: social media and AI leading to feeling disconnected, not going into the office, living far away from their families, not having connected neighbourhoods,” said Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky, a keynote speaker and author who specialises in human connection and workplace culture.
asserted
who → feel → connection
Poswolsky’s career naturally grew out of his experience as an adult camp counselor at Camp Grounded from 2013 to 2017.
asserted
career → grow → 2017
“I think the idea of adult camp might initially produce an eyeroll.
uncertain
idea → think → eyeroll
‘Why would an adult need camp?
asserted
adult → need → camp
It’s childlike; we’re too old.’
asserted
we → ’ → ?
But it’s the exact opposite,” said Poswolsky, who met his now-wife, Ali, at Camp Grounded.
asserted
who → ’ → Grounded
“It’s the very thing many adults are missing the most — this chance to play and opportunity to connect with people that’s not related to networking, your career, your title.”
asserted
that → ’ → networking
In 2023, Melanie Kelly, 44, felt burnt out from her work running marketing and communications for a solar company.
asserted
Kelly → feel → company
A former painting major, she signed up for a weeklong art-making camp at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado in the US, to see if she could rediscover the “flow state” she remembered from painting that she rarely experienced at work.
uncertain
she → sign → work
Overnight, Kelly’s days went from being spent answering emails and staring at her computer screen to creating tangible art and sharing workshop space with like-minded campers.
asserted
days → go → campers
“I was always trying to be more productive in a work sense or seeking professional development aligned with my work,” said Kelly.
asserted
Kelly → try → work
“It feels like there’s a bit of release in these types of moments or activities because you’re allowing yourself to rest,” she said.
asserted
she → feel → moments
The opposite of work isn’t sleep; it’s play.”
asserted
it → ’ → work
Outside of workshop time, the art programme at Anderson Ranch also organised meals and activities for attendees to make socialising as frictionless as possible.
asserted
socialising → organise → attendees
…and 86 more, not listed.
The Aporia
