If I am asked where my favorite place in the world is, I say Not Back To School Camp. Specifically, Not Back To School Camp in Vermont.
Unfortunately, I don’t often get the chance to say that, because people are usually asking me what place I’ve lived that I like the most, because I’ve lived in seven countries and people get curious about that. But this I only mention to underline the fact that my favorite place to be is NBTSC Vermont. And I clearly have a lot of options! It’s just that nothing has ever come close to the happiness I’ve felt in those woods, the connection and camaraderie among the people there, the way I always feel totally free. Completely at home. I lie in bed at night remembering the sounds of the woods that always surround you at camp; I take a shower and remember the way the autumn leaves are soft under your feet in the showers at camp. I think about Vermont camp regularly, and I haven’t even been there since 2019.
None of us have, actually. Covid kept us away from those woods, and then low enrollment numbers took their toll. I’ve aged out of being a camper now, graduated last year, and so have most of us who went there. And that? That is a tragedy, but one that can be easily turned around by a group of new campers learning the woods of Vermont. You, maybe, the person reading this. You could be one of those new campers.
“But Valentina,” you say. “It’s already July. I can’t get ready to go to a September camp in time!”
Well you may think that. But guess who else thought that? Me.
Let’s tell a bit of a story (as though I haven’t already been doing that). Picture Valentina, a small fifteen year old unschooler. She lives in Serbia (somewhere in southeastern Europe), and has never traveled alone in her life. In late July, her mother calls her over and shows her these pictures. This website. All this information about this fascinating looking camp, and it starts in barely over a month. Can Valentina prepare and get there, alone, in that amount of time?
Well, the alumni and staff of NBTSC Vermont 2016 can attest that she can and did, and it was the best time of her life. So no, July is not too late to register, July has never been too late to register, and there is still space! So much space. Space for you, and all your friends.
But okay, perhaps I am rambling too far off track, like the path that tumbles down the hill by the lake at camp. You know that I love Vermont camp. But what is it actually like?
Well, to start off, there are so many trees. Big New England trees that turn pretty colors and drop their leaves all over our paths. There are the wooden cabins that look like they’ll never be warm enough but are somehow the coziest place to sleep. There’s the lake, and the possibility of canoeing or swimming (though only if we have a lifeguard!). There are of course the people, my favorite part. I think that being at camp brings out the softest version of everyone, like each person wants to weave themselves and everyone else into a tapestry of camp and connection that makes us all happy. Not that soft means boring, though! There are chaotic and fun games: frisbee and crate-stacking and tag and even more unique and silly ones. There are wild ideas and laughter and music. All those are part of the tapestry too.
There isn’t much more I can tell you. I can show you, if you’ll follow me to the photo albums. Those are what I looked at, back when I was fifteen and looking for any way to understand this place I wanted to go to. They capture some of the magic I’ve been trying to describe here with my words. The rest lives there, in the woods.
So try it out! I won’t be there this year; age and college caught up to me. But there will hopefully be a whole horde of teenage unschoolers, just out there waiting to weave that tapestry together. Maybe I can join you as staff in some future year. But for now, make it yourselves.
That’s what NBTSC is, after all.
PS: If you want more perspective on what Vermont is like, you can read this blog post, also by me, from 2017. I wrote it because I wanted other people to know what I wished I had known going into camp, so it has some good notes.
PPS: Here are some direct links to the Vermont photo albums, for the easiest access:
