Every Physio Camp has an itinerary.
There are courses, activities, meals, training sessions and probably a carefully planned schedule.
But after running enough camps, we’ve realised there’s another itinerary, the unofficial one.
The one nobody sends you before you arrive.
So, in the interest of preparing future campers, here are the unwritten rules of every Physio Camp.
Rule #1: Someone will ask you to look at their injury.
It doesn’t matter where you are.
At some point, someone will mention an old injury, a niggling pain or something that has been bothering them for months.
And because you’re surrounded by physiotherapists, there is always someone willing to help.
It usually happens very casually. You’re having breakfast, walking back from a run, or sitting by the pool when someone says, “my knee has been bothering me for a while.”
Five minutes later, you’ve gone from a holiday conversation to discussing load management, tendon pain and whether they should be running tomorrow.
Rule #2: Someone will wake up before everyone else to train.
You said you were here to relax. Then someone casually announces they’re going for a run at 6:30am.
Then one person gets up. Then another. Suddenly, half the group is out running before breakfast while the other half is wondering why they didn’t just stay in bed.
And suddenly your relaxing morning has become a 15km run with a coffee stop.
Physios apparently struggle with the concept of a rest day.
Of course, this is in no way mandatory 🙂
Everyone can do what they want.
Rule #3: No matter how hard you try, it’s hard not to talk about physio on the dinner table.
“Let’s not talk about physio tonight.”
Famous last words.
You can try. You can agree that tonight is a physio-free evening. No patients, no injuries, no rehab discussions.
But put a group of physiotherapists around a dinner table and somehow, the conversation always finds its way back to physio.
Someone mentions their knee. Someone asks about an exercise.
Someone brings up a patient they had that week. And suddenly, you’re 20 minutes deep into a conversation about tendons, running injuries or someone’s questionable movement pattern.
You came to the camp to switch off from work. But when everyone around you speaks the same language, it’s surprisingly difficult not to talk shop.
Physio-free evening? Nice idea. Not very realistic. 😂
Rule #4: Your coffee will never be quick.
You think you’re just going to grab a coffee. Except someone has a question about running shoes. Someone else is discussing an ACL case. Someone has found a new coffee place they want to try. Then somehow you’re talking about cycling in Colombia.
And before you know it, you’ve been sitting there for an hour. The coffee was finished 40 minutes ago.
Rule #5: The WhatsApp group will become increasingly unhinged.
It started with airport transfers and the itinerary. Then someone sends a photo from the morning run. Someone else recommends a restaurant. Someone starts planning tomorrow’s coffee stop.
And somehow, three days later, you’re sending memes, laughing about how someone got dropped on the bike, and arguing about who has the worst running form.
The itinerary ends. The WhatsApp group does not.
Rule #6: The itinerary is more of a suggestion.
There will be the planned activities… and then there will be the spontaneous swim, coffee stop, extra run, sunset drink or “should we just…?”
There will be a plan. And, technically, you will follow it. But there will also be the things that weren’t on the plan. The spontaneous swim. The extra run. The coffee stop that somehow takes two hours. The sunset drink. The restaurant someone heard about.
The “should we just…” idea that nobody really planned but everyone immediately agrees to.
Some of the best moments of a Physio Camp aren’t necessarily the ones written on the itinerary; they’re the things that happen in between. The extra conversation after a course, the unplanned detour, the group that decides to go for one more drink.
The spontaneous moments are often what you remember the most!
Rule #7: You’ll make plans to meet again.
You arrive not knowing anyone. By the end of the week, you’re already talking about the next course, race or trip you’ll all meet at.
Someone is planning a race, someone is visiting your city, someone has found another Physio Camp they want to join. And, somehow, it actually happens.
Because that’s one of the best things about Physio Camps; you come for the course, you come for the clinical learning, the activities and the experience. But you often leave with a group of people you actually want to stay in touch with.
And maybe that’s the real rule of every Physio Camp.
You come for the course, but you leave with so much more.
The conversations that continue long after the lecture ends. The early morning runs. The coffee stops. The spontaneous plans. The inside jokes. And, of course, the people you didn’t know before arriving but somehow end up planning your next adventure with.
Because a Physio Camp isn’t just about learning physiotherapy in a new environment.
It’s about learning, moving, exploring and connecting — all in the same place.
And if you’re ready to experience it for yourself, check out our upcoming Physio Camps and find your next learning adventure.
Who knows? You might even end up in the next WhatsApp group. 😂