As a child, Raquel Reichard dreamed of the summer-camp adventures she watched in films such as The Parent Trap and It Takes Two: outdoor games, toasted marshmallows and late-night conversations with new friends. Her Puerto Rican mother refused to send her, explaining that men she did not know would be there and that she could not protect her daughter from miles away. Reichard says she does not blame her mother, but the missed experience remained a childhood longing.
As an adult, Reichard decided she could make that choice for herself. In July, she joined Camp Elevate, an adult camp trip organized by Chase and Marriott Bonvoy. The experience took place at Trailborn Highlands, a mountain lodge set among wooded grounds in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
The trip included a guided hike in Nantahala National Forest to Glen Falls, where the group learned about local plants and the American chestnut. Back at the lodge, Reichard had a massage and took part in a cyanotype workshop, making prints of leaves and flowers on light-sensitive paper. The evening also included making s’mores around an outdoor fire.
The following morning, she joined a guided forest-bathing session in Dixon Woods, focusing on the sights, sounds and scents of the landscape. The group later travelled to Rosman for dinner at Rachel’s by the River, where a live Appalachian bluegrass band played alongside a meal that included vegan dishes.
For Reichard, the experience offered more than the camp activities she had imagined as a child. She described the connection with her fellow campers as communal rather than romantic, and recalled the group singing Camp Rock’s “This Is Me” together on their final night.
Sources: Refinery29.