The Summer Camp We Wish Existed: Rural, Bilingual, and Rooted in Community

Ines

Each summer, families around the world face the same challenge: how to create meaningful routines when schools are closed, but work continues.

For remote-working parents, this often means choosing between productivity and presence—between advancing in their careers or offering their children an enriching, active, and joyful summer.

At iSlow Coliving, in the rural coast of Galicia (Spain), we believe that families shouldn’t have to choose.
That’s why we created the iSlow Summer Camp: a bilingual, nature-based, and community-rooted experience for children from local and international families—designed to support both children’s development and parents’ peace of mind.

🧒 Bilingual immersion, without pressure

Children from Spain, the US and other parts of the world spent two weeks together in a small Galician village, engaging in thematic workshops guided by local instructors and guest collaborators.

They were divided into small mixed groups and interacted in both English and Spanish naturally through:

Collaborative challenges
Group games and creative projects
Cooking, storytelling, and hands-on activities

No memorization, no grammar rules—just language through connection and play.

🍃 Rural life as a learning environment

Hosted in Serantes, near the forest and the sea, the camp invited kids to explore what rural life has to offer—not only in terms of nature, but community, culture and responsibility.

They spent mornings:

Cleaning beaches in Camelle with Mar de Fábula
Cooking tortillas with ingredients from local neighbours
Building robots and doing science experiments with Makestore
Creating handmade art and filming videos
Surfing, kayaking, and paddleboarding with Galifornia Surf

On Business Day, they gathered their crafts and cookies, and ran a small market stall in Laxe, selling their own creations. It was a simple but powerful way to plant the seeds of entrepreneurship, collaboration and community contribution.

The camp also included a participatory workshop on the future of rural life, led by Rocío from Agora Rural, where children imagined what kind of world they want to build.

🫶 A shared experience for parents too

While the children played, created and discovered, their parents could focus on their work from the nearby coworking space, or simply enjoy a quieter rhythm of life in nature.

In the afternoons, families reunited and shared meals, explored beaches and trails, or simply relaxed together—without the guilt or stress that often comes with school holidays.

Local families also joined the program, enriching the experience with a unique cultural exchange. For them, it was a chance for their children to practice English and connect with new friends from different countries—without leaving their village.

🤝 Powered by community

The success of this camp was only possible thanks to a beautiful network of collaborators:

Aventura Lengua, for their bilingual activities;
Asociación Ambiental Mar de Fábula, for their environmental education workshops;
Edgar, Óscar de Miguel & Makestore, for science and robotics day;
Casa das Areas and RURAL O URBANO, for their creative guidance and resources;
Peg & Lucha, for their community energy and cooking skills;
Ubuntu Life and Galifornia Surf, for unforgettable mornings in the sea;
Rocío Ovalle from Ágora Rural, for leading an inspiring workshop on rural futures with the older kids.

And of course, the neighbours of Serantes and Laxe, who not only provided ingredients and materials, but showed what true intergenerational and intercultural connection can look like.

🌍 What we believe

We believe that rural life is not about downsizing.
It’s about moving forward differently.

It’s about combining what’s old and essential—connection, intergenerational learning, daily rhythms—with what’s new and exciting: science, creativity, language and global exchange.

We believe that international families can feel at home here.
That children can thrive in a village.
And that parents can find real balance when the environment is designed to support the whole family.

The iSlow Summer Camp is not just a summer activity.
It’s a way of imagining how we want to live, learn and grow—together.