Boundless Life La Barra: Our Summer/Winter Camp Experience

I’ve been eyeing Boundless Life ever since they started their first Portugal location. While digital nomad hubs have existed for a long time and it was always easy enough to find a coworking space, with kids things were getting more complicated.

Boundless was basically the first option for digital nomad families who wanted to travel and work with their kids. No wonder this concept exploded and now Boundless has 8 locations, with two more coming soon. Unsurprisingly, many families return chose multiple cohorts, as the options are endless: from 3-month-long worldschooling cohorts that are slightly more academic, to summer and winter camps meant for those who can’t go away for that long.

I originally planned on attending a 3-month-long cohort, but after getting installed in France and with kids figure skating pretty intensively, we could only get away for the summer.

As a reminder, you can use my Boundless Life referral code  for 400 Euro off your first Boundless Life stay:  ANNAEVERYWHERE

Why I picked La Barra?

Most families will not be able to exactly pinpoint La Barra on the map. It’s a really small town, near the more well-known (at least mostly only known in South America) Punta del Este in Uruguay.

The reason I picked it was simple: despite visiting most of South America I’ve never been to Uruguay; we speak Spanish and it wasn’t going to be insanely busy like European destinations over the summer.

After all, the “summer camp” in Uruguay was indeed a winter camp as it’s the peak of winter then. Uruguay is hosting their summer camp in December when it’s sunny and warm – and it’s a perfect opportunity to escape European and American winter!

I’ll give you the pros and cons of the Boundless La Barra location (it wasn’t all perfect; no place in the world is!). If you have any additional questions about reading this post and watching my video, please let me know in the comments or shoot me an email 🙂

How to Get There?

Most families have two options. There’s technically a third one, but it’s unnecessary experience and, more importantly, inconvenient due to infrequent flights.

Option 1 is to arrive in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, and take a shuttle to La Barra, which takes about 2 hours. It seems long, but the drive isn’t bad and the shuttle is included with Boundless.

Option 2 is to arrive in Buenos Aires (either airport) and then cross to Uruguay by ferry, then take a car. While it involves more organization, it’s cheaper that way.

The last option is to fly to Punta del Este airport. It’s a small airport with flights mostly from Buenos Aires operating only bi-weekly apart from the hot summer season. From there, it’s only 35 minutes to La Barra.

However… this brings me to the next question that most people debating La Barra are asking:

Do you need a car in La Barra?

Realistically, I’m inclined to say that you do, at least for part of your stay. Unlike some other Boundless hubs that are very walkable, for example: Syros, Sintra, Kotor, Estepona, this spot isn’t as walkable.

My house was about 10 minutes walk from the EC and about 15 minutes from the hub and I was walking everywhere. However, some popular apartments were 25 minutes walk from the EC, which doesn’t seem that bad until it’s pouring rain and you’re soaking wet…

I haven’t rented a car for my whole summer camp mostly due to cost. The cost of renting an automatic car was pretty high even in the lowest season possible, so I relied on rides by other families, and only rented a car for a longer weekend – which still came down to about $500.

Among our cohort, there were only a few of us who didn’t have a car for the majority of the stay. I could still walk to grocery stores and cafes, but in order to do any activities and explore further, a car is essential and Uber costs can quickly add up.

Practical Things to Note

Some families in my cohorts seemed surprised that many places don’t take cards and they hadn’t brought their ATM cards, so remember to pack it with you. La Barra has two perfectly working ATMs and I’ve never had an issue with my withdrawals.

One other thing to note is that after dark many areas of La Barra are indeed dark and with no sidewalks in some parts of town, it might seem weird to some families, but rest assured it’s totally normal in Latin America.

There are so many dogs around and they’re actually not strays; they just walk themselves. We always greeted local cats and dogs on the way to the EC. Unfortunately, since these pets are free-ranging, you need to be slightly more careful about poop, especially in the dark. This aspect I definitely didn’t enjoy, because many kids would step in poop while playing quite often.

Accommodation & Expenses

Before arriving in La Barra I knew that it was an expensive location for South America. Punta del Este is often referred to South America’s Hamptons, and La Barra is a quieter suburb of it. It’s very safe, friendly and things happen, but you need to expect California prices…

Even simple groceries were more than expected. I remember being in shock that the simplest pasta sauce in a jar was over $6. Clothes and random items you might need to rebuy are insanely priced, about three times the price in the US. Someone from my cohort bought a simple pair of socks at the mall without looking at the price, and they turned out to be almost $20 a pair…

Eating out was very pricey. For just me and the kids, a simple pizza at a tiny place was at least $65, while a restaurant would cost at least $120 for three of us. Most people cook at home, which unfortunately didn’t feel as social as it did when we visited friends in Estepona, where everyone casually had dinner together all the time.

I suggest arriving with absolutely everything you might need, because rebuying might be tough even regardless of the price. For example, we had no space for rain boots and had to go all the way to Punta del Este to get them along with a few other families. The store only had 4 pairs available with no restocking in sight, so while we got lucky, some families arriving after us didn’t get their rain boots.

In terms of accommodation and cost, it can vary a lot. There are only 4 Boundless homes, so most places you can book on the portal are through external hosts. One thing that blew up in our group chat was that all local hosts asked for huge deposits upon arrival, and at the end of the stay, most landlords would send you an electricity bill.

It’s written in small print when you book these properties, but somehow many families missed it and then had to come up with $2000 cash out of the blue. Some people got charged more for overusing their wifi, while others got fees for marks on walls and so on… it just seemed way more strict than anywhere else. Electricity also easily adds up: this July it was unusually cold and with a huge open space I had to run all heaters 24/7 and it was still much colder than I would have wanted it to be. Other places had to keep rebuying wood for their fireplaces.

EC La Barra

The EC in La Barra is what families love the most about this location. It’s a converted eclectic home, so it feels unique. There was an outdoor court; there’s a large courtyard with a climbing wall and a thousand-year-old olive tree and an old train converted into a small library. Classrooms were small, but felt cozy and stylish.

My 6-year-old absolutely adored his teacher Rosalia. In fact, he started picking his choice labs purely based on whether she was leading it instead of what the activity was.

The only thing I personally didn’t like was, ironically, Spanish classes. We expected more immersion, but with kids split by age rather than per level, which made things difficult, as the same class could have a native speaker or almost bilingual child paired with many who’ve never had Spanish.

I felt like it was definitely catered more towards beginners, as the majority of the cohort spoke no Spanish before their arrival. On the other hand, it’s reassuring for those arriving with zero Spanish 🙂

Undeniably, English was still the prime language of communication. Almost everyone was from the US, unsurprisingly, as it’s easier to work in this timezone, so to me it felt less international than I wanted it to be… my kids went to international school in France before Boundless, so they were simply surprised why everyone was from the US.

That said, if you’re worried that your kids will feel excluded because they don’t know any Spanish, don’t – they’ll definitely pick up some words and benefit a lot, but the main language of communication is surely English.

The Hub / Coworking Space

La Barra location has an amazing hub. Both the family lounge and the coworking space were in the same building. Downstairs there’s a family lounge and smaller play area for kids. Upstairs there are many booths and tables for quiet working. The hub has a garden with a pool, hammocks and a barbecue area. We couldn’t really use it in the winter, but I can only imagine how amazing it can be when it’s warm and sunny (I heard the pool is heated!).

Most families worked as it’s conveniently in a similar timezone as in the US, but not everyone worked at the hub.

What is there to do?

When the weather is nice and sunny (and hence why I recommend December camp!), you can enjoy yourself on the beach, surf, swim and so on. There are many beautiful wineries and agroturismo properties you can spend a weekend at. I know some people play padel and enjoyed a swimming pool right at the coworking space.

Since I visited during the winter, many places were closed (including the pool at the hub and naturally padel courts). On some days when the wind wasn’t bad and it wasn’t raining, we would still take walks on the beach and even managed to find a beautiful day to ride horses along Jose Ignacio beach (probably my favorite activity in La Barra!).

Kids’ favorite was Portal Bosque, where Boundless organized a Saturday outing. It’s a bit of a forest property with many workshops for the kids, along with ziplines, football workshops and seasonal activities. In the summer, there’s also a natural pool there.

We also tried a whale watching cruise, revisited an animal sanctuary (kids also had a field trip there), and explored a huge playground at Parc El Jaguel and took a day trip to Montevideo.

Some families took a weekend trip to Buenos Aires, but while close by, it was too complicated and expensive to make it worth it for me for just a day and a half.

Who is La Barra for? Summer Camp in La Barra and My Recommendations

La Barra is definitely a quiet surfing village. While it has restaurants and cafes, it’s very low-key and feels like a quiet upscale town. I thought it was quite interesting that everything looked simple, almost hippie; inside it was quite luxurious, whether it was a small boutique or big winery. The second you get out of the area, you start to get the rural, quiet ambience of Uruguay.

In the winter (our summer!) since surfing wasn’t possible, it felt very quiet, with many restaurants closed for the season. I was told that before the pandemic the place was fully seasonal, but these days many stay for the entire year.

Yet, to me it felt way too quiet, and some mornings I felt like I was walking to the coworking space across a ghost town with no one else in sight, just mist.

It also rained a ton during our stay, which made everyone bundle up and stay in their homes. Various activities were getting rescheduled due to the weather. I feel like, personally, I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the slower vibe and should have come in the shoulder season.

I would love to return to La Barra during the spring or summer season. I could already see how lively and cool this place can be when the beaches are full of surfers and visitors. The kids loved their teachers at the EC, and with more outdoor activities possible, I feel like any child would thrive!

As a reminder, you can use my Boundless Life referral code  for 400 Euro off your first Boundless Life stay:  ANNAEVERYWHERE