Is Holt Day Camp worth a long trip?

[njfamily]

My dd is old enough to attend the 1 day camp portion of Holt camp and I just went online to register to attend this summer...but it looks like there's no longer a camp in NJ

The one in PA is about 4 hours from us, but my inlaws live halfway, so we could make it into a 2 hour drive.

If anyone's attended the one day camp, would you travel this far for it? We were really excited to go.

Thank you

[Linda in NJ]

My daughter has not attended the Holt Camp. But we do go to the Camp Friendship in NJ.

Holt Camp is for all adoptees and focuses on adoption
Camp Friendship is a Korean culture camp and focused on the culture.

Linda

[Sam's Mom]

Our girls have not attended the 1-day camp alone, however the 1-day camp is the second to last day of the sleep away camp that they have attended the last few years. The camps have been something they have absolutely loved and I cannot say enough good things about them. However, I just asked them whether they think the younger kids who come for the 1-day camp like it as much as they do, and they said some of them do but "the little ones don't get it". So given your long drive, I might consider waiting until the year before she is old enough to attend the sleep away camp, to give her a taste of camp, (and meet the staff that returns year after year). Just my opinion and I really do love those camps.

[Minmom]

Hi Rebecca - I definitely think it would be worth the trip. My son has gone to Holt camp for four years. There was no one-day camp when he started, and I wish there had been. It would have eased my mind if he could have gone to a one-day camp when he was younger. His first year going to the sleep away camp was hard for me, but if I had had a chance to expereince the camp for a day, I would have known there was no need to worry. Steve Kalb & Michael Tessier are absolutely great and care so much about their campers. Four hours is a long time in a car, so I'd say if you have a halfway stopping point, that would make it better. The Pennsylvania camp is three hours from my home in New Jersey. I'm guessing you must be more South in South Jersey than I am (Burlington County). The NJ camp was 2 1/2 - it doesn't seem like much, but I do wish camp was still in NJ. It's okay though - both locations were good.

Good luck with your decision. Something else to look into - you might want to check with the NJ Holt office. Sometimes they have an information session about Holt camp during the Holt picnic, which I think is coming up around 6/23. If my son doesn't have a baseball tournament that day, we hope to be at the picnic.

Kathy

[elfkin]

YES IT'S WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVED ADOPTEE DAY CAMP, MY ADOPTEE LOVED IT TOO! IT'S A LONG DRIVE FOR US TOO, SOOOOOO WORTH IT!

[henry&tessmom]

Hi Rebecca - I definitely think it would be worth the trip. My son has gone to Holt camp for four years. There was no one-day camp when he started, and I wish there had been. It would have eased my mind if he could have gone to a one-day camp when he was younger. His first year going to the sleep away camp was hard for me, but if I had had a chance to expereince the camp for a day, I would have known there was no need to worry. Steve Kalb & Michael Tessier are absolutely great and care so much about their campers. Four hours is a long time in a car, so I'd say if you have a halfway stopping point, that would make it better. The Pennsylvania camp is three hours from my home in New Jersey. I'm guessing you must be more South in South Jersey than I am (Burlington County). The NJ camp was 2 1/2 - it doesn't seem like much, but I do wish camp was still in NJ. It's okay though - both locations were good.

Good luck with your decision. Something else to look into - you might want to check with the NJ Holt office. Sometimes they have an information session about Holt camp during the Holt picnic, which I think is coming up around 6/23. If my son doesn't have a baseball tournament that day, we hope to be at the picnic.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

How old is your son? My DS is 12 and he and his buddy are going to the PA Holt camp for the first time this year. Maybe they will meet each other there! PM me if you want to chat!

Thanks...

[njfamily]

Thank you all for your replies...I'm signing us up