THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 75 Melissa Mathews is a corporate communications professional and a former journalist. Her family has been in the Foreign Service for more than 18 years, serving in Guatemala, Saudi Arabia (twice), Jordan, Austria, and Jamaica. Each summer across the United States, kids head off to sleepaway camp. For many families, it’s a rite of passage—and one that many Foreign Service families pursue at great time and expense, flying kids across continents and oceans with SUMMER CAMPS SUPPLEMENT camps as a young adult. “For me, it’s really important that kids have ageappropriate and safe ways to experience life away from their parents.” Camp California is based on the grounds of a Euro-camping style resort. Campers sleep in bunks in off-grid huts, steps from the deep blue water. They eat in the resort dining hall along with vacationers, but otherwise enjoy their own sports and recreation facilities, including a pier, boats, and arts and crafts pavilion. For each week of a two-week session, campers select from a menu of activity options to build their schedule—everything from sailing and paddleboarding, to tennis and soccer, to drama. overstuffed duffle bags, seams bulging with swimsuits, sleeping bags, and hiking boots. But what if there were a better way? Over the past couple of decades, a number of American-style summer camps have sprung up overseas, serving both local families and expat ones. One of the best known is Camp California, on the shores of the Adriatic in Croatia. Originally envisaged as an Englishimmersion experience for Croatian kids, it now serves as a destination for children from more than 40 countries. “I had always gone to summer camp. It was the highlight of my summer,” said LeighEllen Murray, a Foreign Service parent, who also worked at summer MELISSA MATHEWS The Appalachians, Adirondacks—or the Adriatic? International Summer Camps Take an American Tradition Overseas Here’s how to find the perfect American-style summer camp for your kids—outside the United States. BY MELISSA MATHEWS Looking out at the Adriatic Sea.
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