Last month I went to a feminist summer camp, The Compact Camp, in a Redwood forest south of San Francisco. My friend Meg of A Practical Wedding and her team piloted the event and invited me to come. I had no idea to expect, but it felt like a giant hug I’m still grinning from…
All I knew was this:
1. Three and a half days in the Redwoods south of San Francisco.
2. Cabins with bunks full of woman I didn’t know (bunk beds-for real).
3. Yoga, dance, and meditation. Hikes, crafts, swimming, and singing around the campfire.
4. The only other person I knew going was my friend the organizer, Meg. Who clearly was going to have zero time to hang out with me. Turns out this was exactly true.
5. No cell phone or internet service (yup!)
I’ve been to a lot of events and retreats in this industry, a whoooole lot. In fact, I’m totally sick of (most) of them, and all the expectations. The same expectations of perfectionism and performance that are magnified in this work of content creation + influencer marketing. They’re usually manageable on a daily basis (from the comfort of a screen between myself and the real world) but can be toxic in real life, in concentrated dosages.
The Compact Camp was completely different. I’ve never felt as whole heartedly accepted for myself, just as I am, as I did at Compact Camp. Not the photoshoot me with 1/50 photos deemed acceptable to my perfectionist eye. The real, raw me.
Meg and her team had this incredible gift of building community. I mean, it’s not super surprising. A Practical Wedding is a huge, top ranking wedding site with one of the most engaged, diverse, and inclusive communities on the web. So Meg knows a bit about building community, and she knocked it (once again) out of the park with The Compact Camp. There was a level of respect, intelligence, down to earth, humor, love, and attention to detail that blew my mind.
Not to mention the camp-style night life like movie night (Now and Then), a dance party with your most EXTRA outfit (mine had all the sequins), and campfire singalongs compete with a song book + fancy s’mores.
When I first got over being anxious about not knowing anyone, it felt kind liberating. No one to answer to (!!). I could wander away in the woods without anyone trying to find me or wondering where I was (at least for a while). In fact two mornings I slept through breakfast and didn’t have to give anyone an explanation or excuse. The truth is I just really love sleeping and don’t care much for breakfast. If I didn’t feel like dancing in sequins, I could just leave without making arrangements for when/how I would see others again or possibility be talked into staying even if I didn’t really want to be there. It was liberating and empowering.
So, many of you have asked about this feminist camp, and many more of you have already committed to going next year. If you can, come. You’ll come away a different person. More whole, grounded, connected person. I certainly did. Thank you, Meg and team for creating such a special space for babes in the woods. Planning on making The Compact Camp a yearly pilgrimage, will you join me next year?
Photography of event by Annapolis-based photography Madison Short (with photos 9, 13, 17, 18 by myself)
The camp sounds wonderful! No connection or internet though – I don’t think I’d be able to handle, haha! Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
So glad to have been your cabinmate. You’ve expressed camp perfectly! Everyone had their own experience, but a lot of what you wrote captures my list of highlights too. It was wonderful to meet you and be real people in the woods together.
Absolutely! xoxo, L
Liz, this piece is so great. I loved the writing here and your honesty (and yes social media spaces are soooo unhealthy i think especially for women)
In doses, I think it can be okay as long as you acknowledge that often social media is just a highlight reel of ones life and doesn’t show the underbelly. It was so refreshing to step away from that all into real, raw spaces
Great write up. I’ve been curious about this camp seeing it on instagram from others I follow. Also, the crowd looks super diverse which I really appreciate
I agree, it feels icky to be in white washed spaces. I really appreciated the diversity as well
Wooooaaahhh I need this in my life. Is it hard to get tickets? Did people come from the bay area mostly?
People came from aaaaallll over. Most flew in. There was a shuttle bus from SFO down to the camp (about an hour from SFO). Judging from the overwhelmingly positive response I think tickets will go fast, but get on their email list and I bet you can snatch one up if you’re committed to wanting it!
Sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing this.
Omg this sounds so incredible! Thanks for sharing about it
Thank you so much for sharing – I have been waiting to hear about this amazing camp. I grew up going to camp in the summer and then leading summer camps. When I catch up with camp friends we long for that experience again. My soul aches for this. I hope to be there with you next year and hopefully, I will have some sequence of my very own.
I hope to see you there next year!
ty for sharing, why is THEY world did you ever accept or gain the idea you HAVE to do any of those things in the ‘real world’ either? For me those things were all about control and trying to wear a mask so no one could see ME. YUCK! When i stopped doing such things, did folks appear to want to keep me in my lying lane YEP but I did that, So, I was honest and I told them. Those who didnt’ want me to be me, and wanted transactional relationship they went into the garbage bin GOOD riddance woohoo!
It’s true. NOT into transactional relationships!