I want a retreat where they have large overhang roofs so you can sit outside while you read or sip a coffee during the rain.
There are vanishingly few places where I both have an alcoholic drink and read a book in peace.
I wonder, would a library with a liquor license be a valid business venture?
I mean this is kinda what modern glamping is all about (just people don’t read as much anymore). You sit around drinking in the woods and chill in/by your camper/cabin.
The way I’d do it is rent a cabin or Airbnb somewhere scenic, bring your drinks of choice a bunch of books and kick back for a weekend
I kind of doubt it… most people like to read somewhere quiet where they won’t be disturbed, while places where people drink tend to be loud and social. If you want to drink and read, I can’t help but think most people would prefer to just be at home.
Otoh, I think a library themed bar could be sustainable. Decor should bend more towards, say, the popular conception of an old timey, old money study. Should be a small central bar area, then the whole place should feel a bit cluttered and disorganized, with a lot of nooks and crannies for small groups to gather. The books themselves, ideally, would be a mix of classics and old oddities, which function as much for sparking conversations as to be read themselves. Put prices on the books - this will probably never be a profitable part of the business model, but having a price tag means drunk people will at least toss you $10, instead of just stealing your books. Then host book readings, poetry slams, book clubs, and writiers workshops as events to bring people in the door.
Novel brewing was highly book themed, but they closed in 2022.
Can there be a shamefully large collection of modern boardgames? And video games in the basement (sound reasons)?
library with crackling fires
That can’t possibly go wrong!
Yeah if I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that some things are simply incompatible:
Bleach & ammonia;
Water & oil;
Electricity & water;
Fire & flammable materials.
Needs scotch.
This vibe is like half the hostels I’ve stayed in. One in Dublin I was just at had multiple hangout spots and a full gaming room. People would lounge around reading
You’d have to bring your own books, but this might do: https://mtrainierguestservices.com/paradise-inn/
This one too. When we were there, people were reading, playing board games and just chilling: https://exploreolympic.com/lodging/lake-crescent-lodge/
Sorry if this is a weird question, but can I ask your process for finding places like this? I’d love something like these and would love to find more of them (and maybe one closer to home to start, ballin’ on a budget here.) Even just a bed and breakfast in a picturesque small town would do fine lol.
My dad used to find this stuff all the time when I was a kid, but that was the days of Yellow Pages and racks of brochures at every hotel’s front desk telling the locations of nearby water parks and Cowboy themed towns with mock gunfights. Gone are those days, replaced by Facebook which I do not use, and so I constantly seek somewhere that aggregates cool things like this to go do/see that isn’t locked behind a spyware app.
I’m not sure of where you live, but both of these are national parks, so start there. We found Crescent Lodge on a whim because we were driving the peninsula. There is so much more on the peninsula that it’s hard to tell you everything. That etc. at the end is a lot.
- La Push
- Sol Duc Hot Springs
- Waterfalls
- Hoh Forest
- Hurricane Ridge
- etc.
For Paradise Inn, you stop there if you ever go to Mt Rainier from the Seattle side. It’s like going back in time.
My best suggestion is to look at state’s brochures of where you live. I think they all have them. Texas advertises in Seattle, which results in a giant fuck you to the ads, but so does California, Arizona and Utah. Oregon has catalogs on the ferry with cool things to do. Not really a process, but look around at your tourist parks and ports for info kiosks or stands.
This is pretty great too https://www.alltrails.com/us Also, Washington has a trails guide and app that is amazing for it specifically, your state might too. https://www.wta.org/go-outside/map
My best suggestion is to look at state’s brochures of where you live. I think they all have them. Texas advertises in Seattle, which results in a giant fuck you to the ads, but so does California, Arizona and Utah. Oregon has catalogs on the ferry with cool things to do. Not really a process, but look around at your tourist parks and ports for info kiosks or stands.
This is pretty great too https://www.alltrails.com/us Also, Washington has a trails guide and app that is amazing for it specifically, your state might too. https://www.wta.org/go-outside/map
Perfect this is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
That’s what modern life took from us. Simple lives and small community.
At least were have Stranger Things and iPhones though! Right, guys?!
at least we have healthcare, we dont die at 30
Healthcare where I am is paywalled.
gotta revolt I guess
If I had the money I would legit make that happen.
This is extremely doable. You wouldn’t even have to build anything, just find a library willing to host something like this. Some public libraries are next to public parks with fire pits.
I would fuck with this so hard. Maybe a bring a book take a book -shelf to recycle your books too
That would have been fun in the 1980s when I was addicted to books, but I’m addicted to the internet now. In my cabin summer camp or luxury hotel resort, I’m gonna need endless access to my smartphone and a strong Wi-Fi signal.
I was thinking about this recently, I think it was because I heard that creepy secret society Dialog was doing it and I thought “ok that actually sounds pretty cool without all the extra cult bullshit.”
Basically iirc they have a matchmaking summer camp for adults (like to find a romantic partner), but removed from the Theil cult stuff A) that’s a good idea on it’s own, and B) it doesn’t have to be for meeting people, just for fun, and you can still meet people if it so happens.
Could have all kinds of arts and crafts, canoes and shit, fishing, hide and seek, scavenger hunts, cabins and lunches (etc) just like kids camps but bigger, archery and a (controlled) rifle range, nature walks, classes on plant ID and uses, building cool shit like rope swings (and that’s free labor to help expand the camp), etc! Counselors can be volunteers so poors like me could attend in exchange for working it, you could have themed ones and keep it running almost year round with some set-up for the next in between (like, 2w normal, 2w sober/recovery, 2w LGBT, 2w Clue [solve the fake murder], 2w Spooooky halloween, 2w Winter Wonderland, etc), I’d rather go in the fall personally for instance because I like the weather even without a theme.
Idk it could be a fun time.
That sounds really good, but I have a sure feeling, that would be a big, drunk shitshow. Adults are really not better than teenagers. Honestly, they are probably worse for such a thing.
I’ve been to plenty of library events where alcohol was served for free to adults in New Orleans. The library event attending crowd generally has a good amount of self-control.
Then go to the sober one. Can even do two “sober” ones, one AA sober-sober people, and one just no booze allowed but not people who quit drinking. Hell do three, the third being the no-booze-but-weed week, do that one in April, surrounding the 20th.
This sounds like an interesting idea. But I have a hard time imagining myself completely taking 2 weeks off to go to an adult summer camp. Like, just a week is kind of a big commitment for any adult - but especially so if you have kids. And as someone who doesnt have kids - if I’m going to uncommit myself from my life for 2 weeks, I could go backpacking in the Himalaya or hang on the beach in Thailand instead.
While I’m not a fan of Theil, his event had appeal because of the people you would expect to be there - the rich and powerful and megalomaniacal. It makes sense for people within a common community with common interests to gather and spend time together like this, building relationships with people they care about and meeting new people in their community.
And that would be my big hesitation to going. The biggest draw to the idea is disconnecting from the your normal life and reconnecting with those who share the same values as you. But then, that sort of thing already exists. It’s called Burning Man. Or Comic Con. Or Bonnaroo. Or the Highland Games Championship.
I’m a rock climber. I know quite a few places where you can post up for months at a time and live cheap with other climbers and just go climbing every day (to the point where we’ve deemed one of our favorite spots “adult summer camp”).
I’m also a backpacker. If I want to, I can head to a popular long trail and start walking, and every night for weeks or months share a camp with others passionate about walking a long ways out in nature.
Or if you care about cultivating local community, you can go to a city street festival, or attend art classes at a community center.
So clearly, there are a lot of other options to choose from. And the big question on my mind is - what kind of people would this attract? After all, if you like canoing, you can just buy a canoe and go down a river for weeks with your friends. If you like shooting guns, you can buy a gun and drive to the middle of no where and shoot until you run out of ammo. So I can’t help but think that the sort of people this would attract would be the people who just want to be at summer camp. They don’t want to canoe or shoot, they just want to relive the summer camp experience. They want to relive the summer camp experience so bad that they are willing to take 2 weeks off and shell out oodles of money for it. Which makes me think that it would attract a crowd that has some kind of especially strong desire to regress into childhood, hashed with a general desire to not plan or make descisions - ie, the all inclusive resort/cruise/big bus tourism crowd
This sounds like an interesting idea. But I have a hard time imagining myself completely taking 2 weeks off to go to an adult summer camp. Like, just a week is kind of a big commitment for any adult
So make em one week, or optional 1-2.
but especially so if you have kids…if I’m going to uncommit myself from my life for 2 weeks, I could go backpacking in the Himalaya or hang on the beach in Thailand instead.
People with kids have a hard time just going to a comedy show compared to people without. Kids just complicate shit, it is what it is. They’d have just as hard of a time with a backpacking trip in a faraway land as a cabin in the woods in-state (I mean, clearly the trip would actually be way harder). Hell, make it nearby to a kids camp, schedule both at the same time, bam childcare, and probably still cheaper than a flight across the world and a wilderness camping trip, especially for the inexperienced in camping who may have to also buy gear they aren’t familiar with and yadda yadda also could die. And a solitary wilderness trip across the world doesn’t exactly spell “meeting people” as well as “local summer camp with group activities,” they’re entirely different beasts.
While I’m not a fan of Theil, his event had appeal because of the people you would expect to be there - the rich and powerful and megalomaniacal…
Sure I guess if that’s your thing. I’d just like to meet a nice woman with a decent job they’ve had for like a year, a nurse or vet tech or fucking grocery store manager lol, anything. My last few exes have been the “can’t keep a job for more than 3mo and ride the jobless period until the proverbial gun is to our heads” types. I’m now at a spot where I’m good (not great but I’m living alright) but I’m not trying to adopt a child, I just want an equal. A megalomaniacal influencer type isn’t exactly what I’m seeking. Don’t make it an exclusive secret society cult deal, just make it affordable for people who can get a little PTO and like lakes.
Burning Man.
Long dead, a shell of its former self.
Or Comic Con.
Great and they have a rope swing into a lake, a scavenger hunt in the woods, archery classes, campfires, smores, and cool cabins?
No? Just sweaty nerds dressed as yellow suit Wolverine? Hardly seems similar to me.
Or Bonnaroo.
Tbf this seems like it would have the largest overlap of interested people out of things listed, but you can see why this isn’t the same vibe at all same as ComicCon, right?
Or the Highland Games Championship.
I’ll be honest I’m entirely unfamiliar with this but “championship” is a big enough clue that it isn’t a “summer camp.”
I’m a rock climber. I know quite a few places where you can post up for months at a time and live cheap with other climbers and just go climbing every day (to the point where we’ve deemed one of our favorite spots “adult summer camp”).
Neat. Everyone else might not be. Maybe I’d rather play tug of war with Squad B and then go fishing. I don’t really even like non-stable heights actually, but I do like hiking and taking pics of snakes. Do you have instructional classes on the local flora on Wednesdays at your camp or is there maybe room for both, you’re welcome at ours if you want to learn!
I’m also a backpacker. If I want to, I can head to a popular long trail and start walking, and every night for weeks or months share a camp with others passionate about walking a long ways out in nature.
Hell maybe you’d like to volunteer! You seem like a perfect person to help lead hikes for those less experienced!
Or if you care about cultivating local community, you can go to a city street festival, or attend art classes at a community center.
That sounds like a great idea for when I get back from camp! Still not seeing any drawbacks here lol.
So clearly, there are a lot of other options to choose from.
“You can eat steak, why would you ever eat a burger?”
And the big question on my mind is - what kind of people would this attract?
Fun ones probably, that don’t try to hate on shit just because they’re more experienced than another person at wilderness.
After all, if you like canoing, you can just buy a canoe and go down a river for weeks with your friends.
Yeah you really do have all the money, trips to the himalayas and thailand, buying everything you may be interested in just to try it, jfc my guy you wanna donate to my ko-fi?
(Tbf to some degree I have to do the same due to lack of “trial” options for most things these days, back in my era you could rent stuff for the day, these days…
And you still clearly are doing way better than me! I’m saving up for a camera lens myself, should have it by Feb…
Still bringing back those olden ways isn’t bad. Quite the opposite.)
If you like shooting guns, you can buy a gun and drive to the middle of no where and shoot until you run out of ammo.
Criminal too? Daring I see. That’s so illegal, get caught shooting on someone’s land without permission and it won’t matter how remote it is, you might not make it off.
Or you’re just rich as fuck (which we already know you can quit bragging) and you own that land, then you can legally shoot, but refer to last rebuttal.
So I can’t help but think that the sort of people this would attract would be the people who just want to be at summer camp.
Soooo fun people? Cool.
They don’t want to canoe or shoot, they just want to relive the summer camp experience.
The summer camp experience of canoing and shooting, yes. You need a hug?
They want to relive the summer camp experience so bad that they are willing to take 2 weeks off and shell out oodles of money for it.
Well that was the whole point of the “not charging trip to himalayas money” of the thing. Keep it affordable for normals and volunteerable for us poors. I think you might be too rich to get it.
Which makes me think that it would attract a crowd that has some kind of especially strong desire to regress into childhood,
I think you’re assumptions might be projection.
hashed with a general desire to not plan or make descisions - ie, the all inclusive resort/cruise/big bus tourism crowd
Besides the decision of going to this all inclusive lake summer camp resort (I mean, in a sense, it’d share little similarities with Sandals but your meals are served in the Mess Hall, there are structured activities but instead of massages there’s ghost stories around a campfire, etc)? Idk man it sounds like not everyone is you and as such maybe this entirely different thing to what you do would be enjoyed by some.
Have fun in the Himalayas, I wanna play tug of war in Appalachia.
Hm… This is a pretty achievable thing to create.
Anybody want to donate to my gofundme?
These are actually a thing if you know where to look.
