J1 in Florida

PlayGirl

Hi,

Going on a J1 in the summer and booked Florida on a whim without looking too much into it. Now all I'm hearing is hurricane season, humidity, and that its dead in summer.

Anyone have any advice on this? Or tips on where we should maybe try to change our destination to (where is best for J1??)

Thanks

Kerrybai

Hi,

If you want to go somewhere else then I assume you want beaches, good weather and perhaps good nightlife? Based on the fact you chose Florida.

You could go to the west coast. Good weather, beaches etc but bear in mind certain areas are flooded with Irish and jobs are hard to come by.

Your other options would be Myrtle beach perhaps or ocean city. Both have lots of beachs, Myrtle beach in fact has a 60mile long beach! Also both should be fine for work, although Ocean city this year will be flooded with Irish so bear that in mind.

Weather wise both are similar, myrtle beach slightly warmer due to it been further south. If you can't change your flight then flying into myrtle beach from florida should be cheaper.

Finally if you are under 21, apparently Myrtle Beach is easy on ID's.

mc8755

Not sure if it would be your thing, but Orlando is a good spot if you like theme-parks and good nightlife and don't mind a 60-90 minute bus ride to a beach. There's great employment in most of the bigger parks like Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, etc and working there gives you free entry on days off and usually cheaper entry for your friends. Accommodation is only good if you dig for a good deal on a condo but most places are in complexes that are gated with pools and the like. Rates of pay there are usually crappy minimum wage, but if you can snag a waitress position expect a small fortune in tips.

Nightlife is good in the typical difference of American nightclubs compared to Irish ones. Lots of live music bars and the odd thump-box but they don't drink half as much over there which is weird. (They make up for it with the sheer amount of whacky-tobaccy fumes that I got around lots of places). P.S. - Not gonna lie, they're strick on ID's. Most places only take passports too.

Biggest downside I guess is you're central state - it's a longish bus-ride to a beach (go for Clearwater on the west, it's beautiful) and to anything outside the city, like the Kennedy Space Centre which is an absolute must if you're there all summer. It's a 4/4.5 hour bus ride down to Miami which is well worth it if you have time off work to spend a few nights, the nightlife there is miles better and there's way more Europeans down that end but I've heard employment is much tougher to get.

Florida is hotter than California and has better employment options because everyone instantly jumps on the Cali wagon and I've friends who blew all their money and had to leave Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco because they just couldn't get jobs. Humidity is fairly mental but you get used to it pretty quick (at night will take a few sleeps to adapt!) but as far as hurricane season goes don't listen to that. When we were there good ole Irene was bashing the south coast and the tallest roller-coasters didn't skip a beat; Florida is full of old people who have complained enough to ensure the state has good protection against any tropical storms!