Can I Come to The Hideout Alone?

Yes. Most people do.

In fact, most people who have come to The Hideout so far arrived without knowing anyone else.

That has been true at the full camp and at our Side Quests.

Coming alone can still feel intimidating, especially because so many adult social events seem to assume that you already have somebody to go with. You see an event, think it sounds fun, and then immediately start mentally going through your contacts trying to work out who might come with you.

The Hideout is designed differently.

You can book first and figure everything else out later.

Who actually comes?

There is no single type of Hideout person.

So far, most participants have been working professionals ranging from their early thirties to their mid-forties. There is no fixed upper age limit, but that is the stage of life The Hideout has naturally attracted so far.

People come from different countries, professions and backgrounds. Some work full-time. Some freelance. Some run businesses. Some are changing direction or simply wondering how another year managed to disappear so quickly.

Most are based in Berlin or nearby, although the full camp has also attracted people travelling from elsewhere.

Some people are naturally social and can talk to anybody within five minutes. Others take a while to warm up.

Some arrive ready to join absolutely every activity. Others are mainly excited about the hammock.

There is room for both.

What people tend to have in common is less about their job or personality and more about how adult life currently feels. They miss having fun for no practical reason. They want to do something with their hands. They spend too much time behind screens. They are tired of the usual options being bars, festivals, concerts or another noisy event. Sometimes even walking outside to buy milk feels overstimulating.

They want to do something different, but there are so many options and so much planning involved that sometimes it is easier to do nothing at all. They want more things to look forward to besides their next major holiday.

And many of them miss something about how life felt before social media, constant notifications and the expectation that every experience should be documented while it is happening.

Not necessarily childhood itself but more the feeling of having an entire afternoon in front of you and nowhere else you were supposed to be.

Why coming alone is not as awkward as it sounds

The Hideout is built around activities, which makes a huge difference.

You are not expected to arrive at a room full of strangers and somehow manufacture a conversation from nothing.

There is something to do.

At Camp Olympics, you might get put into a team, given a coloured bandana and asked to invent a team name and cheer. At archery, you have a bow in your hand and something to learn. At a creative event, you might be holding a paintbrush before you even know what everyone else does for work.

The activity gives everyone a starting point.

You do not have to figure out who to talk to, what to say or whether you are interrupting someone. You are already part of whatever is happening.

That does not mean everyone instantly becomes best friends.

It means the experience does some of the social work for you.

You only have to get there.

What if everyone else already knows someone?

Some people do come back. That is actually one of the nicest things about watching The Hideout grow.

Someone might attend the full camp, then come to a Side Quest a few months later. Someone from Camp Olympics might turn up at archery. People start recognising each other.

But that does not mean a new person is walking into a closed group. Every event still includes people who are arriving for the first time, and the activities are designed so that people mix.

You are not expected to understand an existing social dynamic or somehow squeeze yourself into somebody else’s friendship group.

Everybody has something to do together.

What happens after your first event?

After attending the full camp or a Side Quest, participants can choose to join The Hideout WhatsApp Club.

It is optional, but it gives people a way to stay in touch with the wider community and see who is coming to future events.

Someone might post, “Who is going to the next Side Quest?” and suddenly the person who technically booked alone is arranging to arrive with somebody they met at the last one.

Over time, you might book your first Hideout experience completely alone and then realise that you already know three faces at the next one.

That is how I want the community to grow: naturally, from people spending time together first.

Will I make friends?

Maybe.

I cannot promise that, and I do not think any event should. Some people meet at The Hideout and exchange numbers. Some come to the next event together. Some stay active in the group chat. Some become friends. Others simply share one very good day and then move on with their lives.

All of those outcomes count.

The goal is not to force connection or make everyone feel responsible for becoming part of a new social circle.

Do I secretly love it when people become friends, make plans without me and come back together? I mean, duh. Obviously. But it has to happen naturally.

What I can do is create better conditions for people to spend real time together and let them decide what happens after that.

That is one of the reasons The Hideout is activity-led rather than networking-led.

Nobody has to arrive with the goal of making a new best friend.

You can just come play.

What if I am shy, introverted or just tired?

You do not need to be the loudest person in the room. You do not have to perform sociability.

At the full camp, there is structure, but there is also space. You can join an activity, go quiet for a while, wander off with a book, sit outside or take some time to yourself and then come back.

At Side Quests, the events are shorter and built around one main activity, so there is always a clear reason for everyone to be there.

You also do not need to arrive energetic and ready to impress anybody. Some people are chatty immediately. Others need an hour.

Both are normal.

So, should you come alone?

If the only thing stopping you is not having somebody to go with, then yes.

Book it.

Your first Hideout experience might be the one where you arrive alone. It does not mean you will leave that way. And even if you do, you still spent an afternoon or a weekend trying something new instead of waiting for everybody else’s calendars to line up.

That counts too :)

Start somewhere

If you want the full experience, join the Camp 2027 list.

If a half-day feels like an easier first step, start with a Side Quest.

👉 Join Camp 2027

👉 Explore Side Quests

New to all of this? Read: What Is The Hideout?

Want to see what happened when a group of mostly solo campers actually arrived? Read: The First Hideout.