Hi!

Just my camp counselor/ Girl Scout side blog. All are welcome here ❤️. This will hopefully evolve into a safe space/comfort/advice for all. Working on becoming more active here and my own content! (My main is thorns-witchy-garden)

[flames-campfire-chats]

If you say you’ll be an alternate camp director be prepared to be camp director.

[flames-campfire-chats]

My apologies for disappearing. It’s been interesting the last couple of months.

Next week I am running an April vacation camp. I have kids from ages 5-11 both boys and girls.

Should be interesting! I’ve personally worked at a lot of girls camp and I have very little experience with boys.

And the age range? Yikes!

Stay tuned!

[flames-campfire-chats]

It was indeed yikes!

Had to ban the word “balls”! 🙃

[flames-campfire-chats]

My apologies for disappearing. It’s been interesting the last couple of months.

Next week I am running an April vacation camp. I have kids from ages 5-11 both boys and girls.

Should be interesting! I’ve personally worked at a lot of girls camp and I have very little experience with boys.

And the age range? Yikes!

Stay tuned!

[flames-campfire-chats]

Heyo! Going through something personal so that’s why the name/ profile change. Please bear with me as I figure this out!

[flames-campfire-chats]

Final name change for now! I wasn’t sure what I wanted and was making decisions very quickly. I loved Campfire chats as a name but I wanted to still be identifiable so another minor change.

So for clarification

Flames-camp-land to Campfire-chats now to flames-campfire-chats.

Thanks for bearing with me!

-Flame

[flames-campfire-chats]

Exciting news! I have landed a job in outdoor education where I’ve been volunteering. I’m very excited to start this journey and see what is to come.

~Flame

[camp-counselor-life]

What's something counselors often overlook when packing for camp but really makes the experience better? I'm starting to amass everything I'll need for this year. I just discovered I can seal my pillows in protective cases, I knew I you could do it for mattresses but I think this is cool and I don't want camp bugs and the like in my pillow no thanks. For Christmas I even got a tree hammock to use at camp

Hi friend,

I think that there's a lot of things that are easy to overlook, like various toiletries or extra socks. But a few big ones that are a little unusual that come to mind are:

Decent pajamas - you never know when you'll need to bust out the pajamas for PJ day or when you'll have an early night and want to be extra cozy. I know quite a few people who didn't wear PJs at camp but I always did, to have that cut off of "new day."

Stuffed animal - if you sleep with a stuffed animal and think, oh, I don't need to bring that, you are kidding yourself because you will miss it. I also recommend bringing not your favorite one (unless you absolutely can't do without it) in case something happens to it.

Beverage treats - 10/10 would recommend things like coffee creamer and water flavor packets. I love a good chocolate as well, but drinks are what really kept me going.

Those are probably my top ones. Add on your favorite "ooh, I almost forgot to pack that" items.

[flames-campfire-chats]

A lamp! The camp I worked at didn’t have electricity in the cabin I lived in. I was aware of that and it just never occurred to me that it would be dark in there at night.

Gold bond is a personal favorite for shoes and feet.

Also personally I would make a little sick kit, things you personally enjoy when you are under the weather. There has never been a summer I worked at camp where I didn’t end up with a cold, kids are germ factories. Sure they might have the basics but sometimes you want what you like.

[flames-campfire-chats]

Heyo! Going through something personal so that’s why the name/ profile change. Please bear with me as I figure this out!

[flames-campfire-chats]

I’ve been volunteering at an outdoor education place and running a couple programs. My first solo one was with these two:

Tom and Henrietta.

Well Tom escaped on me during that program and we got him back no problem. Everyone is all good.

But this weekend I’ve been helping with their Christmas program and some lady recognized me and goes “ Hey! Your the girl the turkey escaped from”.

Whoops.

~Flame

[flames-campfire-chats]

I got the opportunity to apply for an outdoor education job really close to me annnnd I submitted the wrong cover letter 🙃

[flames-campfire-chats]

Made it to and through the first interview!

Hoping to get to the second one!

[flames-campfire-chats]

I got the opportunity to apply for an outdoor education job really close to me annnnd I submitted the wrong cover letter 🙃

[powerbottombrucespringsteen]

The problem with putting s’mores as a technical challenge is that baking your own s’more from scratch defeats the purpose of s’mores which is of course to spend ten minutes trying to get a crappy store bought marshmallow the perfect golden brown color before going “fuck it” and letting it catch fire then frantically putting it on a graham cracker with hershey’s chocolate before it falls off of the stick you found on the ground

[roach-works]

the main ingredient of s’mores is chaos. the secondary ingredient is open flame. only after that do you break out the cheapest possible ingredients and go to town.

[the-rain-monster]

Definitely want a cookbook where the first two ingredients of every recipe is chaos, then open flame. Although, really that could be any recipe if you're ok with chewing ashes while your house burns down.

[camp-counselor-life]

Today, my old council announced that they are selling off my old camp. The camp that I was a PA at, ran a Just Juniors camporee at, did my Bronze Award at, and spent my first two years as staff at.

The council spent years allowing my camp to fall into disrepair. When I worked there (2013-14), things were falling apart and every year when I visit it’s no better. It is a good little camp - day camp and troop camp.

I’ve spent the afternoon thinking about this. After coming to the conclusion that I cannot express my disappointment publicly to GSNWGL, I can express it here.

They are selling off 3 camps and 2 office properties in favor of expanding a more limited number of facilities and creating a mobile unit. In their email it sounds much nicer, they’re “divesting” from properties. This is a fancy way of saying that it isn’t worth it to them to maintain these resources. My boss says this isn’t uncommon right now.

So I am sad. Sad for my loss, and sad for the loss of generations of Girl Scouts to come. This camp isn’t my home now, but it was a place I felt at home.

[flames-campfire-chats]

I felt the exact same way when GS closed the camp I grew up and started at. They put no money into it and let it fall apart and then it “wasn’t worth fixing”. Terrible that it seems to be a habit of Girl Scouts.

[camp-counselor-life]

I feel like those outdoor cooking videos give unrealistic expectations of cooking with a campfire. Especially if you’re going to do it with children. So here is my disclaimer for new camp staff:

Your campfire cooking process will absolutely not look like the videos. Children are messy and chaotic and that transfers to cooking. So be prepared - cookouts are an adventure in camping.

[hlahlahlahlahly]

And it will always take at least twice as long as you think

[camp-counselor-life]

Always, leave plenty of time.

[flames-campfire-chats]

I highly recommend a backup plan too!

(We made s’mores cones once and they burnt so bad 🥲)

[flames-campfire-chats]

Ticks are alive and well! (At least where I am.)

Only place I’ve been today is my front yard and I found one cruising around on me about 2 hours later.

I remember to check if I’ve been hiking but apparently anytime you go outside is necessary!

[flames-campfire-chats]

Things I wish I brought to camp with me Thursday!

Dish sponge/soap

While we did have a water bottle sanitizing system with the kitchen I still preferred to wash my own water bottle and my coffee thermos.

[camp-counselor-life]

Reblog or reply with what you call this. My camp calls it boondoggle, my old state called it luster lace.

[flames-campfire-chats]

My first camp called it one thing, my second camp freaked when I called it that because apparently to the international staff it was a derogatory word so they called it Scooby doo. (I hadn’t a clue!) My third camp called it what the first did. I won’t repeat it because I’m unsure of the words standing at this point? Kinda interesting how words can evolve though.

So I kinda wait for someone else to say it’s name before I pop in.

[toastchild]

what is it about hiking that just makes you feel like the happiest you’ve ever been, like wow i love my body i love my friends, i love trees and grass and little crayfish hiding under rocks in the river. wow dude i just love hiking.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

In all seriousness, this is like 90% of ecotherapy practice. Getting outside has a number of measurable physiological effects that can also boost your mood. Your blood pressure drops, your resting heart rate drops, and the exercise boosts endorphins. Plus stress chemicals in the brain like cortisol drop and your sympathetic nervous system quiets down while ramping up your parasympathetic nervous system, and you get a nice dose of serotonin and dopamine. Outdoor activity can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as help with overall stress relief and fighting fatigue. If you have memory issues, to include due to depression, being outside can improve working memory.

And here’s the thing–some of these effects can kick in as quickly as after ten minutes outside. You don’t necessarily have to be hiking or doing something else physically strenuous; sitting and enjoying what’s around you also gets you some of these benefits. If you’re unable to get outside, having a window with a view of a natural scene is beneficial, and if all else fails, even pictures of nature can help. (Florence Williams’ book The Nature Fix has a lot more information on the benefits of being out in nature, and a good solid bibliography for even more reading.)

Obviously this requires a person to have access to greenspace of some sort, and the time and ability to get to it. But if you are able to get outside, whether hiking or walking or just sitting in a nice spot, it can really help achieve the wonderful “everything is marvelous!” feeling the OP is describing (I know it very well myself!)