J1 Travel Destinations???

Chardee MacDennis

Oriana wrote: »

hi

im thinkin of going on the j1 next summer as well. we are thinkin boston. i was just wondering what the story is with the social security number?? how long was everyone waiting for it. i heard ppl waiting for 5 weeks for it and not being able to work without it!!! does it have to do with where you go?

i got my ssn in about 3 weeks in San Fran and when friends had to apply in Lahaina it was about the same length, unfortunately it is very difficult to get a job while your waiting for your ssn as most applications in the us require them. i would say if you could arrange a job between now and getting over it would be much handier...

tyther

Has anyone gone to Colorado on a j1?.If ye have what was it like,and was it hard to find jobs. Thanks in advance lads

PeakOutput

i was waiting about 3 weeks for my ssn but then i went to a small city in maine to apply for it so they wouldnt be as busy as the ones in the major cities like boston.

you are techinically allowed to work without it but you cant get paid until you receive it iirc i imagine most companies just arent bothered with the hassle but then again thousands of j1ers go over and work every year and they all have to apply for it the same way you will and they get by so its easily doable

camel toe

i already have a social security number, so wats the craic with that?

PeakOutput

once you have it its yours for life you canstart working and getting paid as soon as you arrive

Oriana

i was wondering about how easy it is to organise a job before we go over?? it would be great to have it sorted!!! i really cant afford to go over and not be able to work for a month until i get my ssn number

Xavi6

Chicago is the only place you need to go. Amazing city.

Socrates

Hey Xavi,

I'm thinking of heading to Chicago next summer, a friend of mine has already booked flights for there so he's putting pressure on me to do the same!
How tricky was it to find accomodation/jobs? I'm a bit apprehensive about the whole thing.

trailerparkboy

I done my j1 in alaska loved it to bits, lived in Fairbanks just 90 miles south of the artic circle, loved alaska so much ive been back there 3 times since.
Jobs are easy to come by and i just camped at the back of a hostel for the summer, made great money and lots of tips, plus made lots of lifelong friends, the pub scene is great plus you have great backcountry to go camping and hiking. Done some hunting as well and bagged myself a moose with the help of some gun crazy alaskan friends of mine awww those were the days, plus you have about 23 hours of daylight there in the summer and its nice and warm.

p to the e

trailerparkboy wrote: »

I done my j1 in alaska loved it to bits, lived in Fairbanks just 90 miles south of the artic circle, loved alaska so much ive been back there 3 times since.

you git. i've done a fair bit of travelling but my dream dest as always been Alaska. and i've never heard of anyone going there for a J1. deadly!

VinylJunkie

Lived in Isla vista, Santa Babara for the summer super spot. Two surf beaches great college nightlife, santa babara 25mins away on the 24x bus. Got to go to San Fran, vegas and LA. I also spent a week in Atlanta and New York both cool places.

My advise would be start saving now so you dont need a job over there thats what i did..

Valmont

gavfly wrote: »

I was wondering if people could give me some feedback on J1 Destinations? I went to Chicago 2 years ago and really enjoyed it, but would like to do something a bit different if possible next Summer. Have got feedback on the usuals of New York, Boston and San Fran but was hoping some people out there have gone somewhere original. Thanks

I spent the summer in the Alaska interior beside Denali national park. I shot lots and lots of guns, rode around in the back of a pickup, had numerous exciting backpacking trips in the wilderness. I lived in a little four man cabin in the woods near the town of Healy, it backed right onto the national park. One trip, I was dozens of miles from the nearest town and I was very lucky to see gray wolf about 80yards away for 3 minutes. I even bumped into a grizzly bear (well 15 feet away) on my last trip, he just snorted and I walked away slowly. As far as unusual holidays go, this one took the biscuit. I even spent two days getting to the famous Fairbanks 142 bus from Into the Wild fame. Jobs are very easy to get up there as well. I'm going back summer 09'.

What year did you go trailerpark boy?How did you go moose hunting? I spent a good few night up in Fairbanks myself.

trailerparkboy

I was there in 2004 and 2005 and 2006.valmount where did u stay? i stayed in billies backpackers on college road camping out the back. Hve u been into the midnight mine pub?the merlin? or the backdoor pub ?

Valmont

I stayed with a friend the times I was there, he had a dry cabin out near the university. I was only out in the bars once, can't remember the name for the life of me. I enjoyed beer and campfires a lot more when I was there, there's enough bars at home here.

I was wondering how managed to get moose hunting considering the license itself is 500 dollars for a non-resident alien, you need a signed affidavit proving that you have someone to guide you and I think you need a big game tag aswell. That and moose season usually begins in September when all the j1'ers are going or gone... and if you broke the law...shame on you:D

Great place for J1 though, I'm going back summer 2009.

Fromvert

hey guys,
Just wondering did any of yous head over and not get a job and get by grand. If u did how much did you bring? And how much did yous spend on rent? Im going this year, probably San Diego am willing to stay in a room with a matress nothing fancy.
Any info is appreciated.

maca2000ie

Hi, I'm thinking of doing a J1 this summer but i'm having trouble deciding where to go. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices:
(1) Maimi Beach
(2) Montauk
(3) Myrtle Beach

I was initially attracted to Miami due to the obvious reasons (sun, sea, babes;)) but also because its not going to be flooded with Irish.(last thing I want is to go somewhere and see the whole of Dublin there:()

Has anyone been to any of the above places? would greatly appreciate there pros/cons and i'm open to any suggestions:D.

Cheers

Chardee MacDennis

Fromvert wrote: »

hey guys,
Just wondering did any of yous head over and not get a job and get by grand. If u did how much did you bring? And how much did yous spend on rent? Im going this year, probably San Diego am willing to stay in a room with a matress nothing fancy.
Any info is appreciated.

not sure about san diego but for San Fran i earned about 2,500 and brought about 2,500 and that got me through ok, but i like to spend a lot! in Hawaii i earned about 2,000 and brought about 5,000, that was more than enough. my reckoning is that you would need to bring about enouth for at least 100pw for rent, 150/200pw drinking/eating/getting around. and then extra if you wanna travel at the end.*

EDIT: just realised those figures are for Hawaii which is expensive enough, west coast you could survive on 200pw all in...

JohnJericho

I was in Los Angeles this year and had a great time, we stayed right down on the beach in Santa Monica. Everybody i was with luckily got a job. We went for a week holiday at the end to Miami, although it was great id advise people that summer time is the rainy season in Miami so expect to see a lot of thunderstorms.

Kid Nothing

maca2000ie wrote: »

Hi, I'm thinking of doing a J1 this summer but i'm having trouble deciding where to go. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices:
(1) Maimi Beach
(2) Montauk
(3) Myrtle Beach

I was initially attracted to Miami due to the obvious reasons (sun, sea, babes;)) but also because its not going to be flooded with Irish.(last thing I want is to go somewhere and see the whole of Dublin there:()

Has anyone been to any of the above places? would greatly appreciate there pros/cons and i'm open to any suggestions:D.

Cheers

Was in Montauk last summer, it's pretty cool but be warned that there are a lot of Irish there and given the size of the population, they're very noticable. For accommodation you'll almost definitely end up living in a motel with 4/5 others in your room, not ideal but it's great craic, most of the locals are friendly and it's quiet easy to get a job and you'll make good tips if you get a waiter job, it can be expensive though, the town itself is pretty cool if a little small but it's not too bad getting to some of the other towns in the Hamptons or even NYC. Hope that helps

kazkiely

JohnJericho wrote: »

I was in Los Angeles this year and had a great time, we stayed right down on the beach in Santa Monica.

Heya, I've been thinking Santa Monica but my friends are put off it by the likelihood of unbelieveably good-looking girls being there and looking fat and pasty next to them :rolleyes: What's it like? As well, they're afraid of accommodation etc being expensive, did ya find this? Any help appreciated.

lilmizzme

Hey!!

We're planning our J1 too, thinking of avoiding the major spots like San Diego and Myrtle beach, have heard crap stories of no jobs and being surrounded by most of your college year!! Thinking north carolina or maybe ocean city (yeah i know this is a popular spot too but apparently there's always loads of jobs going, with decent accomodation!) We'll probably just visit San Diego, San Fran towards the end for a fortnight or so...

Vancouver/toronto is also a possiblity! Though, Im getting stressed just thinking of the organising, and the talk of the SSI numbers etc!

cson

Have absolutely no idea where to go only that I'm not staying in Ireland this summer. So for a virgin J1er where to go?

A possible plan thats been mooted is;

2 months working in Chicago

Then

Spend 3 weeks partying west coast (with hopefully all the money we'll have made) followed by 1 week in New York and then back home.

Basically we've got til next Tuesday to decide where to go and put the deposit down to get the free J1.

Another thing.... the oldest of us is only gonna be 20 so I presume thats gonna be a major minor detail?

cooperguy

Hey cson. My vote is for west coast the entire summer, a beach town in California is where I was this year and loved every minute of it. I havent been to a big city for a J1 but I really dont see it being as good. There is just a different atmosphere at the coast, met loads of people over there who had moved from the big cities to live in places like Huntington and Newport Beach and they all said it too. You also have the added advantage of being able to visit everything from LA, Hollywood, San Diego, Mexico, Las Vegas and a few theme parks too.

Being 19/20 is a bit of a problem. <snip> Also passport is your best bet. Most widely accepted irish id (obviously). Believe it or not I still had trouble buying cans in a supermarket a couple of times because the passport doesnt have eye colour hair colour etc. on it. Though the manager let me buy the cans once I asked him. Some places will accept drivers licence but it isnt hugely reliable. You will be laughed at for anything else.

Having said all that I think the main thing that influences your summer is who you go with and who you meet there. A J1 anywhere in America can be brilliant. Drop me a PM if you want any more info. Always happy to help out a ULer:D

Penguinssmell

hey lilmizzme...

I was also thinking about heading to north carolina this summer for my j1 to avoid the rest of the irish! I was in california on my first j1 and we're everywhere! I hear from every1 that NC is beautiful so was thinkin there...what part in particular did u have in mind? My only real conern would be going there and still being stuck with a load of irish again cause its close to myrtle beach. I was looking for like a "real american experience" or whatever, like the guys who went to alaska...

Chardee MacDennis

i know 3 guys who went to Delaware for their J1, didnt meet any other irish, they seemed to think it was absolutely amazing!

Penguinssmell

haha yeah well thats what i'm lookin for!! i wanna meet americans not ppl from cork!

PeakOutput

hey cson just to let you know that sayit or go4less cant remember which kept their free j1 offer going all the way up to april last year. so you dont have to go with usit. also i thik i remember usit extending their free j1 from december to febuary the last two years anyway

edit and i went to maine for the summer and loved it only met irish when i went to boston and new york. id only recomend though if you like your outdoor sports though

blow69

cson wrote: »

Have absolutely no idea where to go only that I'm not staying in Ireland this summer. So for a virgin J1er where to go?

A possible plan thats been mooted is;

2 months working in Chicago

Then

Spend 3 weeks partying west coast (with hopefully all the money we'll have made) followed by 1 week in New York and then back home.

Basically we've got til next Tuesday to decide where to go and put the deposit down to get the free J1.

Another thing.... the oldest of us is only gonna be 20 so I presume thats gonna be a major minor detail?

I cannot recommend Chicago enough! It is such an amazing city that is nowhere near as busy as New York, yet it still looks very impressive and is cleaner and greener (e.g clean lake,beaches alongside the city etc.) Staying there for 2 months sounds like a perfect idea so you can all get jobs and permanent accommodation before going to one or two places at the end. And believe me Chicago is not that strict for ID. Only two out of the 18 of us were 21, so what the others and I did was scan our passport, send it to our e-mail, rearrange the numbers so that we were 21 and then print! And just say you can't bring your actual passport out cos if you lose it, you can't get back home to Ireland. Works a charm, especially in the Wriglyfield/Lincoln Park area (which is also where you should live)

Lo23

As a J1 veteran myself heres my two cents!
Did two J1's one in Montauk and San Fran.
Also did 8 week non-working holidays in Chicago and San Diego..

If you dont want to be surrounded by Irish give Montauk a miss, while it was great craic its far too small and overrun with Irish and you dont get the real American experience

San Diego is kind of the same-far too many Irish and the Irish have a terrible rep there (this was 3 years ago so not sure how bad it is now) but it is a great place all the same, amazing weather and beaches and is so close to LA, Santa Barbara, Mexico etc! Also a lot of friends had trouble getting jobs!

Cannot recommend Chicago enough, such a great place and perfect mix of city and beach life!

Can say the exact same for San Fran-such a great city and so spread out so we met no Irish at all! Such a great city so much to do and we had no trouble getting work. Only downside is the cool weather (summer can be hit and miss) and lack of beaches!

But if go back and redo my J1 i would go somewhere different like Austin, Texas.
I highly recommend it, it is such a great city, loads of young people and so much fun!

sbwhyte

Went last summer... best decision ever.


Went to a place called Isla Vista. If your into partying with loads of American students, defo the place to be. Wild place!!! The only thing against it... is there was too many Irish there. Well.. Cork people!! Ah.. but there were great craic as well!! Secondly... well... the landlords I dont think will be welcomming back 'the Irish' with open arms so gaining accommodation may be a little difficult.

I.V. is just outside Santa Barbara and UCSB is actually in IV hence the madness. It's like maynooth or galway but on a far bigger scale. If you think there be no students there with the summer, you think wrong. Most students stay and gain I think.. credits towards their degree by doing class in the summer. Anyways, it works out cheaper and means they get their degree quicker in the long-run.

Great spot and great weather.

Want a little taster... have a look at 'breakpoint jump' on youtube.. and (i know not related) but DP/IV in Halloween