With a job, salary, meals and accommodation included – summer camp in America is one of the most affordable ways to live abroad and travel at the moment. Coupled with the fact that you get to live with other 18-30 year olds, in epic wilderness-y locations, getting paid to do what you love – it's a win for your wanderlust and your wallet. Here’s the need to know. 

Let’s face it. Those spontaneous summers of yesteryear – skipping around the world with nothing to care about other than beach hair – have got harder to justify. Rising flight, accommodation and food prices have meant that if you want to go away for more than just a two-week jolly – you’ll most likely need to work while you do it.  
 
With a job, salary, meals and accommodation included – summer camp in America is one of the most affordable ways to live abroad and travel at the moment. Coupled with the fact that you get to live with other 18-30 year olds, in epic wilderness-y locations, getting paid to do what you love – it's a win for your wanderlust and your wallet. Here’s the need to know. 

Minimum USD $2,000 salary  
Camp Counsellors are paid a salary, and we have one of the highest first-timer salaries vs other camp providers – minimum USD $2,000 for the summer. Even with days off, it’s actually pretty hard to spend that money. And so most people will manage to save it – either to take home with them or to fund their post-camp travels. (Your J-1 visa allows you to travel for 30 days after camp – so most counsellors do some kind of trip with their new mates after camp finishes in August).  

Food and accommodation 
Globally – but particularly in the USA – high accommodation and eating out costs have made it increasingly difficult to travel at the moment. For your nine weeks at camp, all your accommodation and meals are included – which means you’ll only really ever spend money on your days off. We’re not going to say it’s cheaper than living at home... but it’s probably cheaper than living at home.

Low program cost 
Summer Camp USA is our most affordable work and travel experience (£379 for summer ‘24) – which includes the sponsorship to work in the USA, your camp job, medical cover and more. On top of that, there are some upfront costs to consider - your US J-1 visa (currently USD $185), flights and travel insurance. Our best advice is to book summer camp as early as possible – giving you access to better flight availability and usually cheaper tickets. 

Clothing and extras 
Regular holidays usually involve a frantic fortnight of online shopping and fighting with rolls of parcel tape to return all your unwanted items. While packing for camp is still going to take a lot of thought (check out our packing guide here) and there will definitely be opportunities to dress up – you will basically live in shorts, tees and SPF all summer. Plus, most camps will provide you with 8-10 t-shirts to wear – making expensive holiday shops and clothing woes a thing of the past.

Cost vs reward  
When it comes to cost vs reward, few travel experiences have the professional and personal impact of camp. Working with children and young people every day, you’ll help to shape their futures – helping them to grow in skills and confidence. While at the same time giving you a ton of transferrable CV and career skills that future employers will love. Camp fifth-timer, content creator and friend of BUNAC @Vic_Whitehouse says: 
 
"Think about some of the skills you might gain throughout the summer… communication, leadership, problem solving, time management etc. All of which are going to be extremely valuable in any career you decide to go into and are things you can really sell yourself on when applying to jobs, doing your CV and just talking to people about your experience!” 
 
Plus, if you’re looking to pursue a career in sports, the arts or teaching/childcare – working at camp will give you the hands-on work experience you need. As well as General Counsellor positions, camps also recruit for Specialist positions – including teaching soccer, tennis, rugby, swimming, gymnastics, watersports, horseriding, theatre, music, rockband, art and more.   

Check out our Summer Camp USA page for more.