Camp Sick

Ok, I’ve totally been feeling camp sick.

As you may or may not know, I resigned from my full time camp job in February (actually I resigned in Nov or Dec, but I finished working in February) and while I’m happy with my decision and SO excited about the new adventures I’m embarking on, I can’t help but miss camp at this time of year.

 

I was fine, I was looking forward, excited, not thinking about my former camp a whole lot… then they posted a photo during staff training.

They only posted one photo and it wasn’t anything super special… in fact, here’s the photo. (I’m ‘borrowing’ it from the camp fb page… is that legal? I feel like I get a pass because I created the fb page… and that used to be “my” fire pit… rationalization!)

 

Anyway, like I said, nothing too special about this photo.

But it totally sent me on a spiral of missing camp, it hit me, “oh, they’re at camp right now… having campfire… without me…”

It’s important to note that I knew they would have campfire without me… hahahaha
I wasn’t expecting camp to shut down once I left or anything (see my post the cult of the director for my thoughts on that) but it just hadn’t occurred to me how HARD it would be.

Within the next few days I wore all of my old staff clothes, looked through all of my old camp photos (if you follow me on Instagram, you may remember me posting five years of camp photos… yup, it was a cry for help) and chatted with my former ED a few times (which isn’t super unusual, cause we’re friends, and I sincerely adore her).

And I let myself be sad for a few days. I let myself be nostalgic.

I always liken leaving a camp to breaking up with someone.
It’s a similar emotion I think, you have all these wonderful memories, and had such good times, it was an important part of your life but sometimes you have to move on and it’s ok to mourn that a little bit.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to.

Feeling emotions like a human being.

Then I reminded myself of all the reasons why I decided to move on, texted the new director a “happy day 1” on the first day of camp, wished him luck and spent a little time in nature (which is a funny story and I’ll tell you about it in my next blog post), and now I’m back to feeling like myself again.

Whew. What a rollercoaster!!!
Human emotions are exhausting, friends!! haha

Have any of you experienced campsickness before?
I used to get it every year around February when I was a seasonal staff, but camp sickness due to not returning is a very different experience.

What did you do to help combat your campsickness?
I’m sure it’ll rear it’s head at least once or twice more this summer, so I’d love to hear your words of wisdom in the comment section below.