There comes a point in time when you are just too old to go back to camp. This summer, I hit that age. After spending the last eight summers at Camp Laurel in Maine, I grew too old to be a camper. Many camps do have CIT programs or other ways that alumni can come back to stay apart of the community. However, this was not the case for me.

I was not allowed to come back to camp as a counselor for another three years. I could not even begin to think of what I was going to do the following summers. I had no recollection of what summer was even like without camp because I was only 7 years old the last summer I spent not at Laurel.

When the summer of 2015 came to a close, my friends and I were devastated. Nevertheless, we knew we had to find something to do for the next summer. We began looking into teen tours and other programs for the summer of 2016. It took a while to find just the right one but eventually my best camp friend and I decided that we would spend our summer traveling the west coast.

At first I was skeptical of going on a teen tour because I knew it was going to be a whole lot different than camp. I was always happy at camp and I was scared that was not going to be the case on this tour, but boy was I wrong!

The West Coast Connection teen tour that I went on was called Ultimate California. The trip began in San Francisco and after a few days we traveled the rest of California, visiting Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, and San Diego. After California we headed over to Las Vegas and then Kanab, Utah. Our final destination was Arizona, traveling to Flagstaff and Scottsdale.

On the trip I got to see some amazing sites that I would have never visited otherwise. We walked down Lombard Street, went white-water rafting, walked the Santa Monica Pier, shopped on Rodeo Drive, and surfed in San Diego. Additionally, we took a thrill ride at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, rode the roller coasters in Universal Studios and Disneyland, hiked Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park, and finally took a Pink Jeep Tour in Sedona, Arizona. Every day was a jam-packed day and the trip continued to exceed my expectations.

Not only did I have the best time traveling, but I also made some amazing friends that I will have forever. I knew only my one camp friend coming onto the trip and I was afraid I was not going to make new friends. However, on the six-hour plane ride the first day to San Francisco, I sat next to a girl who would soon become one of my best friends. We talked on the plane and as the day went on, we became closer and met other people too. I eventually met these two other girls from New York who would become some of my closest friends. Out of my four other friends, I was the only one from Florida, but it was nice to branch out and meet people not from my hometown.

Three weeks later when the trip ended, I did not want to leave. I had the most amazing time and met some of the best people. To anyone looking for something to do after camp, I recommend going on a teen tour. It was a great experience and it truly opened my eyes to a whole other world outside of camp.