As a kid, Joelle Riding didn’t want to go to summer camp.
Every summer, she remembers not wanting to leave her Lexington home or her mom to hang out with a bunch of strangers.
But every summer, she ended up ultimately glad she did go. Those few days at camp stayed with her well after summer ended.
“I feel like the things I learned at summer camp, I still use today,” Riding said. “I learned how to make friends with a whole bunch of different people and be confident in myself. I feel like I carried on that spirit as an adult.”
As an adult, she carried on the tradition of what adults do: She went to college, got a job, traveled, and moved away from her Kentucky home.
And around the time Riding moved back to Lexington, the 28-year-old started thinking about what the next decade or two would hold for her. One question kept popping up. “What did I enjoy doing as a kid?”
Riding wasn’t asking herself about a career, necessarily, but something extra. After studying marketing and international business at University of Kentucky, she started her own web design business, Dope Magic.
That self-reflection resulted in a rear-view look at summer camp and another question. Why isn’t there something like that for adults?
When she first got the idea in May, Riding said she felt goosebumps. She knew she had to follow the feeling. She wanted to start a summer camp for adults.
Adult Wildnerness Camp founder Joelle Riding (bottom) and director of operations Marjorie Amon (top). Photo by Mick Jeffries
“Once I get an idea, I will do anything,” she said. “I’m like a Duracell bunny.”
Part of that included some TikTok research, which showed video footage of Camp Rahh, a Seattle-based camp promising a world where “capture the flag, scavenger hunts and campfire sing-alongs aren’t just reserved for children.”
And she found other similar camps on Google.
“Yes, they exist,” she said. “There’s not many of them yet, though. And many of them are in bigger cities.”
One called Camp No Counselor started 10 years ago and now has offerings in New York, California and Texas.
The concept was also romanticized by a book-turned-Netflix movie, “Happiness for Beginners,” released on the streaming site in August. It follows a group of adults on a hiking excursion along the Appalachian Trail.
Riding decided early on where she wanted to hold her camp: Kentucky.
“I’m so excited to bring this to Kentucky, because I want people to know you don’t have to leave Kentucky to have a good life and good opportunity,” she said. “You don’t need to go to Colorado or Oregon or California to experience awesome things. They’re right in your backyard.”
She planned to get the first installment going by 2025 or so, but once Riding and her team – all volunteers – got to work, they pulled together a plan and found an available campsite in time to host the first camp this year.
Billed as Kentucky’s only all-inclusive summer camp for adults, the inaugural four-day Adult Wilderness Camp, or AWC, is set for October 5-8 at Camp Horsin’ Around in Perryville.
An online entry describes AWC as the “perfect blend of summer camp nostalgia and a wellness retreat.”
The camp is open to 50 guests, aged 21 and up, who might participate in activities such as woodworking, herbology, tie dye, archery, meditation, silent disco or yoga. Attendees will of course not be forced to participate in any specific activity, but organizers encourage folks to go beyond their comfort levels a bit.
Riding has organized what she believes to be Kentucky’s “only all-inclusive summer camp for adults.” Photo by Mick Jeffries
Not on the list of options? Scrolling on Instagram or drinking a beer.
The camp is intentionally technology-free and substance-free. Counselors will have a system for keeping phones stored from campers, but phones will be accessible for small windows of the day and for emergencies.
Riding said she wanted to create a space without technology to help people “get back to their roots.”
“With Covid, we were forced inside and a lot of the time got on social media because that was the only way to feel connected to people,” she said. “We’ve gone too far down that road where we’re just watching other people live their lives.”
And she wanted to provide a healthy outlet for people to connect in a sober setting.
“This camp is for the people who, for one weekend, are willing to put away their phones, meet themselves a little bit more than they have before,” the website reads. “And most importantly, are brave enough to go up to a stranger and say ‘Hey, can I play?’”
Adult Wilderness Camp
Camp Horsin’ Around Perryville, Ky., Oct. 5-8