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One cannot seem to fly without additional
luggage costs anymore. With rising luggage
fees making extra suitcases and carry-ons
an added expense to the already high cost
of air transportation, it’s prudent
to consider ways to curb this growing cost
inconvenience for your campers and staff.
- Carpool or pack the van and drive—A
growing number of families are driving
to camp to avoid the airport hassles,
luggage costs, price inflation, and incredible
unpredictability. A family of three,
four, or five can pack up the van and
get the kids to camp at a fraction of
the cost of flying and avoid the additional
luggage costs, unaccompanied minor costs,
etc. Suggest carpooling to your camper
families that live near each other as
a means to save on transportation costs.
- Limit the amount of luggage brought
to camp—Some camps set limitations
for luggage. For example at Blue Star
Camps in North Carolina, campers are
limited to bringing two 50-pound duffels,
regardless of what form of transportation
they take to get to camp. And in pre-camp
materials for parents, the camp strongly
recommends a specific quantity of clothes,
shoes, equipment, etc.
- Create a "Live Lightly" Theme
at camp—Blue Star’s theme
for this summer is "Live Lightly," and
part of living lightly is encouraging
campers to bring only what they need
to camp and learn to be comfortable without
all the comforts of home. Providing laundry
service on site can help as well. Offering
a linen service is an excellent way to
deter campers from packing bulky domestic
items.
- Encourage camp families to take
the scenic route—Provide families
with ideas for enjoying your camp community
and surrounding sites either before or
after camp drop-off to help parents enjoy
the trip to camp at its fullest.
Any specific ideas to help keep luggage
costs down? Send them to magazine@ACAcamps.org,
and we will add them to this list.
*Ideas contributed by Tom Rosenberg,
director of Blue Star Camps in North Carolina. |
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