When I first arrived for my second summer of WriCampia, I ran out of the Brooklyn bus excitedly, ready to see my friends and finally stretch my legs after the long five-hour ride. However, I never thought that exactly a day later, I would be wearing the exact same outfit and sleeping in a random stranger’s bedding.
When I arrived at my bunk on the first day, expecting to unpack, I realized my luggage was missing. That night, I met Upper Camper Daniela A., a veteran of the Songwriting Track, who had also taken the Brooklyn bus and lost her luggage. But it wasn’t just campers who had lost their luggage; staff were included in this predicament. Hannah, a Lower Camp instructor, was one of them. Now, of course, at this point, I was wondering how this all had happened.
According to Joey Del Deo, Writopia’s Office Manager extraordinaire, earlier that day, our amazing WriCampia staff were working on loading luggage off the buses but kept getting complaints about missing luggage. Thus, they kept searching, but there was no luck. Joey then told me that part of his job was calling the coach bus company and tracking the missing luggage. Meanwhile, a parent who had put an AirTag in their camper’s bag confirmed the location of the luggage: a bus depot in Connecticut. If it had not been for the AirTag, the missing luggage would not have been found as quickly.
Thankfully, the campers and counselors who arrived luggage-less were given the ultimate survival kit from Camp Danbee: a bedsheet, blanket, pillowcase and pillow, towel, and water bottle. And, because WriCampian fashion never sleeps, WriCampia provided an extra WriCampia t-shirt to each of us. It’s like sleepaway camp meets hotel service, minus the chocolate.
The next morning, Joey left at 7 a.m. to drive three hours to the bus depot in Bridgeport, a town in Connecticut. When he arrived, the Brooklyn bus that had driven to WriCampia was on its way back to the depot from another trip, and he had to wait another two hours for the bus to arrive back. Finally, at around 1 p.m., he received the items.
Huge shoutout to Joey for retrieving our items!
What happened was finally revealed by Camp Director Rebecca. Turns out that there was exactly the number of campers as there were seats—and a great deal of cargo to pick up—from both Brooklyn and Hartsdale. “The bus driver used a compartment on the bus that is rarely used, and forgot to open it upon unpacking,” she said.
Even though the missing luggage was chaotic and stressful, it allowed us to truly appreciate Camp Danbee’s and WriCampia’s staff, meet new friends, and build greater connections. As far as singer-songwriter Daniela A.’s words go, “I need my luggage, I miss it so.” ✎
