Vacation in your own neighborhood

Three days of camping without leaving your neighborhood. Chatting with neighbors you usually just say hello to, children running over the grass, and long tables full of food. That is the Neighborhood Camping.What started as an Amsterdam initiative grew into a national phenomenon. Last year there were 65 Neighborhood Camps, eight of which were in Amsterdam. At Neighborhood Camping Sloterplas, volunteer Martin ensures that more than two hundred neighbors lack nothing for three days.The spring is coming. In the sunny Sloterpark, crocuses and daffodils bloom in purple and yellow. A sailboat on the pond enhances the summer feeling. Opposite the swimming pool, in the midst of greenery, lies the Nature Room. This social enterprise is best described as a nature experience center. From here, various projects and initiatives are launched around nature, food, and a healthy living environment, including the annual Neighborhood Camping. But it is also literally a room, where Martin receives me.

A ‘little’ cooking at the neighborhood campsite

Two years ago, Martin saw the retirement age approaching. He was a bit apprehensive about it. “At that moment, I thought: when I retire, I need to start doing some different things. Through the website of Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam, I came across the Neighborhood Camping.”Although the phenomenon was unknown to him, it immediately seemed interesting. It has a clear goal: to manage a campsite for local residents for three days. Before and after that, there are tasks and meetings, but never strictly every week or so. So Martin went to take a look. “And then you’re immediately pampered by Koos, who won’t let you go, haha.” Koos is the initiator of the Natuurkamer and is busy working in the kitchen during the interview.

“I started to get a bit involved with cooking during the Buurtcamping,” Martin modestly shares. That ‘bit involved’ means organizing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for more than two hundred campers in a team of four. Besides cooking during the camping weekend, Martin is also involved in arranging sponsorships, especially with local supermarkets. “To be honest, I sometimes find it quite difficult to beg for support, shall I say.” Finding sponsors doesn’t always go smoothly either. “It remains a tug of war, but the fact that some chains have a little budget makes you not give up, because you know there are possibilities.”

Experience: out of your bubble

“It has been very educational. In your job, you work for years with roughly the same type of people. Here, you don’t know the people all that well. You are not automatically in sync with each other, you encounter all sorts of things, and that requires creativity. And you meet people who really don’t have much. I don’t experience that in my own environment. It’s not wrong to be confronted with that, so you see again that life is not as it plays out in your bubble.”

During the days at the campsite, Martin visibly enjoys the campers: the people who are sitting in a tent for the first time, the children who are having fun with games and other activities. “It’s especially nice when you’ve cooked and those boys come back three times with their plates and say: ‘Sir, it was delicious.’ That gives a lot of satisfaction.”

Want to get active at the neighborhood campsite?

Although it can be quite physically demanding at times, Martin is eager to continue. But: “Our preparation team is currently a bit thin. We could really use some people, especially coordinating individuals. People who want to create new plans or programs.”

So, if you’re reading this and are interested,look here then. And don’t be afraid that you’re completely ‘stuck’. Because, as Martin points out: “I’m happy to do something every week, but of course, you also need to be able to go on vacation, right, I would say.”
And that’s how it is.

Do you also want to discover what volunteering can bring you?

Viewall possibilities onlineoffind your match in one conversation – We are happy to help you on your way!Interview: Piet Renooy
Photos: Mark Rammers