• Maya Ramirez, 31, has been attending diabetes camp all her life.
• In 2023, she attended a diabetes camp for adults for the first time.
• Adult diabetes camp gave her community and helped her process the grief of losing her mom.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maya Ramirez. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born with a condition called congenital hyperinsulinism, which essentially means your pancreas releases insulin to an excessive level. The condition led to the removal of my pancreas at eight months old, resulting in me developing pancreatogenic, or type 3c, diabetes, which is a type of diabetes that happens after your pancreas is compromised or removed.

Diabetes camp as a kid helped me find community

My oldest brother has type 2 diabetes now, but growing up, I didn't have any friends or family with the condition. I didn't have a community and wanted to know other kids who could relate to what I was going through. Things changed for the better at 10 years old when I received my first insulin pump.

The medical device made me feel confident enough to go to sleep-away diabetes camp because it allowed me to better manage my diabetes without my parents' help. Diabetes camp is just like a traditional summer camp for children, but with a medical staff and camp attendees who are living with diabetes — often type 1.

I met several kids my age who were also living with diabetes and built friendships. From that point on, I went to diabetes camp every summer, and sometimes, if my parents would allow it, I would attend multiple camps each summer. One July, I hopped off one bus, went home to do laundry, and then hopped on another bus to attend another camp.

Eventually, I went from camp attendee to counselor. When I was around 16, I became a camp counselor in training, and then at 18, I became a counselor. I took two years off from working at diabetes camps in college, but now I'm working in an administrative role for a nonprofit based in California that supports families impacted by type 1 diabetes with community-building events and camps.

I went to an adult diabetes camp for the first time last year

Even though I'd been to many camps growing up, I attended an adult diabetes camp for the first time at the age of 30 in August 2023 through the nonprofit I work for. When we arrived, they gave us a schedule of activities to choose from. There were educational sessions led by medical staff, nurses, and even therapists.

One of the educational sessions focused on navigating pregnancy with diabetes. We learned about blood sugar management when pregnant, what type of doctor visits we should have, and where to find a support group. I'm at the stage where I may have kids soon, so the session was very informative.

People of all ages were in attendance. You have to be at least 18, but I saw a woman in her 70s when I went. The camp is way up in the mountains in California, and there's no cell service. But we had all the activities you think of when you think of camp — pool time, archery, arts and crafts, and hiking. One night, we had a traditional campfire with skits, songs, and s'mores, which was one of my highlights.

We all slept on giant outside decks. Each deck had a cot with a mattress, and we could sleep under the stars. August in California is typically super hot, so we were pretty toasty. There's something so peaceful and tranquil about sleeping under the stars with the sound of nature in the background. Even though we were in the woods, we had fully functioning restrooms and showers.

A lot of people living with diabetes sometimes feel restricted in what they can eat because some doctors and society, in general, have created a bad stigma about the relationship between diabetics and food. The message is, "Oh, you can't eat this because you have diabetes." At camp, it was instilled in us that we can still eat what we enjoy. We just have to figure out the carb count and administer a proper amount of insulin based on what our body needs. Luckily, the kitchen staff at the camp had a full carb breakdown on all the foods and measurements, so we didn't have to guess.

I processed my mom's death during camp

I lost my mom back in 2018, and when I think about my diabetes journey, I think about my mom. From day one, my mom pushed me to be independent and said, "Hey, it's just something you'll live with. You're not different; you're not weird." She didn't want diabetes to stop me from doing anything I wanted. When she died, I felt lost in life. She was my person.

During one of our adult camp discussion sessions facilitated by a therapist, I opened up about how her death impacted me and the worries I had about navigating diabetes without the person I had talked to most about the condition for my entire life.

The camp discussion finally allowed me to let out all of the feelings I had been navigating for years after losing my mom but hadn't processed out loud. Because of camp, I was able to process my grief around people who not only understood navigating a serious medical condition, but some also understood navigating a serious medical condition while simultaneously grieving a parent.

• Victoria Goyet, now 76, saw a post about an adult women's camp in France on Instagram.
• She thought it looked like fun and decided to go in the fall of 2023.
• While she was there, she had a life-changing realization.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victoria Goyet. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In August 2024, at 75, I attended a six-day summer camp for women in South West France. Although I was hesitant about going the week before I left, the experience was life-changing.

Travel was a key aspect of my life long before I attended Camp Chateau. I'm originally from Witchita, Kansas, and went abroad for the first time after college on a trip to England, but my first love is Italy. I did some postgraduate work there and loved the art. I also loved spending time in France and enjoyed the art and food.

After college, when I was in my 20s, I worked at a retail travel agency. Early in my career, I discovered the women who took trips with me either had husbands who didn't want to travel or were divorced, widowed, or single. I thought it would be a good idea to create something that allowed women to feel safe traveling in small groups to interesting places. About nine years into working in the industry, I started my own travel company, Endless Beginnings.

Over time, clients would ask to bring their husbands, so the trips stopped being restricted to women. Given my age, I mostly organize trips for others based on my specialties: arts, food, wine, private gardens, and villas.

I ran across Camp Chateau on Instagram and was interested

In the fall of 2023, I came across a women's camp in France called Camp Chateau that looked interesting, and decided to go.

There were 50 women attending, ranging in age from their 20s to my age. I was in a room with three other women in their 40s, around my daughter's age. We were told not to overpack because the Chateau has a lot of steps and a circular staircase, and we would have to carry our luggage up. I remember thinking, "Oh boy, I don't do steps that well."

I asked if I could have something on a lower floor and got the ground-floor room. I had a single bed, and the room itself wasn't huge, but the bathroom was incredible. It was enormous with a tub, separate shower, and beautiful tile. My roommates and I laughed and said we could have thrown a huge party in our bathroom.

Each day, we could participate in a wide variety of activities

The first night focused on setting ground rules within your shared room or bunk area. We all went back to our room and laughed because we realized we didn't really need any rules. Everyone was very polite. The only guideline we set was that if the bathroom door was shut, that meant don't go in. Other than that, we could come and go as we pleased.

During the day, there were many activities to choose from. There was kayaking, horseback riding, hiking, cooking, French, art, and wellness activities like massages and early morning yoga classes.

One of my favorite events was an activity called "Spill the Tea." We wrote down something we were grappling with. Our paper was put into a box by a camp staff member who would pull it out and open the floor up for discussion. Someone was worried about leaving her support system for a job offer that would require relocation. I shared that I had to relocate so my terminally ill husband could be close to family. I told her, "You survive, you make new friends, and life goes on." I loved how deep the event dug and how willing everyone was to share.

I had a life-changing realization while journaling

On the last day of camp, I attended a meditative journaling class. We met in the woods and sat at a table under the trees. I felt funny because everyone brought their journals, and I just came with a piece of paper and a pen. I had never journaled and didn't even know where to start. The woman leading the activity suggested topics, such as what you were grateful for or how you felt in the moment.

I kept thinking, "Sometimes life gets in the way," so I started with that idea. I wrote that when you've lived as long as I have, you realize you start life with a plan to do certain things. But as life progresses, you put various things aside, perhaps for the sake of starting a family or getting married. Then, one day, you realize you put your own plans aside to do things for others.

When I returned and told a friend about my experience, I said attending camp made me stop, re-center, and think about my life and what I want to do. I don't know how many years I have left, but I'm closer to the end than the beginning. Camp made it clear to me that it's important I start making time for things I want to do. I'm trying to restructure my work schedule, so I'm not always working so hard. I want to free up time to do more things that are important to me, whether that's picking up a paintbrush or writing again.

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