Exclusive | My wild weekend at summer camp for NYC grownups 15 years after I dreaded it as a kid

The last time I came to Club Getaway in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills was 2011 — I was 12 years old, sitting on a crowded school bus with my iPod Nano blasting Grouplove’s “Tongue Tied,” wearing a black Hot Topic two-piece swimsuit and intensely knotting friendship bracelets for my friends, privately agonizing over how I was going to get out of most of the activities.I’d been warned about camp — and specifically this one, a fun-for-all-ages spot catering to tri-staters for generations.

There would be water sports, water tag, bungee jumping and ziplines — a nightmare lineup for my artsy, aggressively sports-hating preteen self.(Think Christina Ricci’s Wednesday Addams at Camp Chippewa in “Addams Family Values” — minus the homicidal tendencies.)I had no idea that 15 years later, I’d be back — this time as an adult, willingly signing up for the activities younger me had been dreading.Over the past few months, I’d been hearing whispers that adult summer camps were having a moment, especially among my fellow stressed Gen Zers trying to have it all in NYC.The idea is simple: Take a bunch of adults weary of city life, work and the increasingly complicated business of making friends, stick them in the woods for a weekend and give them permission to act like kids again — complete with bunk-style cabins, sports, swimming and s’mores.

Some of the more popular adult sleepaway spots near the Big Apple include Camp No Counselors in the Poconos, women’s-only Camp Social in Pennsylvania and Retrofolk Summer Camp in the Catskills.And, of course, there’s Club Getaway — a much older institution that has been welcoming grownups since 1976, making it a pioneer on the scene.Last weekend, I was one of those adults hoping for a true escape from it all — and a chance to stare down my adolescent fears.Held every weekend throughout the summer, the over-21 packages include “rustic-chic” lodging, meals, wine with dinner, more than fifty sc...