2024 update:
Odyssey Teen Camp: Transformative Journeys Begin Here
Piecing together the recipe for a truly unique summer camp experience, Odyssey Teen Camp (OTC) lays down a foundation built on kindness, compassion, and the celebration of diversity. Born in 2002, OTC aimed to cultivate a space where judgment and competition bow out to make room for an environment that radiates acceptance and understanding. The legacy stretches beyond a ‘just another summer camp’ experience to a transformative journey.
Embrace Your Best Self
Crowning the camp’s greatest asset is its absolute absence of judgment, a sentiment echoed repeatedly over the years. As camp founder and executive director, Adam Simon states, “When teens are freed from judgment and emotional stress, they have the opportunity to relax and become their best selves.” This mantra fuels the core essence of OTC, making it a million miles more than a mere summer retreat.
A Look Back: The Odyssey Journey
Quickly blooming from a modest gathering of 70 campers in its inaugural year, OTC ascended to averaging 250 campers annually under Simon’s dynamic leadership. Never faulted from its mission, OTC prides itself on offering teens the best summer of their lives. The camp represents more than summer fun—it’s an arena where teenagers can find their own tribe, leave self-doubt behind, and walk away as a more confident version of themselves.
Camp Life: More than Just Activities
Each session brings together approximately 150 campers from ages 13 to 18 for 2- or 4-week sessions, with over half being first-time campers. Within the camp’s safe fold, the custodianship of two full-time, experienced registered nurses ensures holistic care right from dispensing medications to addressing emergencies. Housing accommodations respectfully consider each camper’s unique identity, helping everyone feel right at home.
Embracing the ‘Unplugged’ Experience
OTC distinguishes itself by adhering to a no-electronics policy, encouraging face-to-face connections amongst campers over the convenience of tech-led communications. Amid the cacophony of a digital-age life, campers thrive in the tranquility of simplicity, fostering genuine relationships and creating memories that last a lifetime.
Find out more about how OTC can transform your teen’s summer experience today!
Original blog 2020:
Odyssey Teen Camp, a sleep-away camp in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, offers a safe, judgment-free summer home for teenagers to blossom and have fun.
Many teens with social anxiety have found a healing community at camp where they are loved and supported exactly as they are. Odyssey is welcoming to teenagers of all genders and boasts a diverse enrollment with a large LGBTQ+ community and many gender creative teenagers. Odyssey helps all teens feel more confident, make new friends, try new things and enjoy camp on their own terms.
‘Camp Kids’ thrive at Odyssey
Many teenagers who may not see themselves as typical ‘camp kids’ thrive at Odyssey, with its welcoming community and diverse choices of activities. Leanna, a 17-year-old camper, says, “Like any teenager going to camp for the first time, saying I was hesitant to go would be an understatement. Little did I know that pushing through that initial fear would benefit me for years to come.”
Design their own schedule
Teens design their own schedule each day, choosing from over fifty activities. Typical camp activities like art, dance, sports, music, nature, swimming, and boating are offered in addition to unique Odyssey activities like firewalking, trance dance, discussion groups, hip-hop appreciation, sacred geometry, political discussion groups, tarot, henna, and more.
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Current Odyssey counselor and former camper Venice describes camp as a “choose your own adventure… The goal of camp is for everyone to have fun and do things that make them happy which is kind of a rarity for teenagers. So [Odyssey] is one of the best places in the world.”
Adam Simon founded Odyssey Teen Camp eighteen years ago to provide teenagers with a summer home where they would feel included, honored, and safe. Each summer, 200 teenagers ages 12-18 come together with fifty counselors to create a fun, vibrant, and healing community for one another.
At the beautiful location in the Berkshires, campers can relax, try new things, and have more fun than they have had in a long time. Campers can choose one, two, three, and four-week sessions.
Contact: Odyssey Teen Camp
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