Why adults are going back to summer camp

Remedy for loneliness and burnout?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.“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.Poswolsky’s career naturally grew out of his experience as an adult camp counselor at Camp Grounded from 2013 to 2017.“I think the idea of adult camp might initially produce an eyeroll. ‘Why would an adult need camp? It’s childlike; we’re too old.’ But it’s the exact opposite,” said Poswolsky, who met his now-wife, Ali, at Camp 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.”In 2023, Melanie Kelly, 44, felt burnt out from her work running marketing and ...