One thing about the J1 visa is that you get thirty days of free travel before and after summer camp. This is a fantastic opportunity for people that want to do some travelling whether that's alone or with friends and family! Camp America also have their own treks which are pre organised road trips across America that you can book in advance. Luckily, I had a lot of amazing friends that allowed me to stay with them during camp and after camp! I also got to visit some popular cities on my travels and even do a road trip with my three best friends.
After summer camp in 2016, I was able to visit some family friends called Jane and John down in Sarasota, Florida. They've been close family friends since 2011 and being able to spend time with them meant so much to me. I got to swim at Siesta Key beach, participate in a a sunset drumming and dance circle at Nikomas beach, visit Myakka State Park and explore around where Jane and John lived. I had such a fun time with them both and loved doing a bit of solo travelling.
I got the taste of city life from travelling to Boston a number of times throughout the summer on both staff trips and program trips with the kids. I visited Washington DC for a few days on my travels after summer camp where I ventured around all the famous, iconic sights and free museums. I experienced the beautiful White Mountains in New Hampshire which has to be one of my favourite places that I've visited in America. The scenery was incredibly breath-taking, a picturesque and peaceful mountain town filled with lots of hikes and wild spots to swim in.
In 2017, I did quite a bit of travelling with one of my best friends, Molly. We stayed at a friend's house after camp and visited Boston, Harvard University and the science museum. We also travelled to Chicago after camp, where we stayed in an Airbnb just outside of downtown Chicago. We caught one of the local buses into downtown Chicago almost everyday and spent a lot of our time walking around the city and visiting spots such as the Cloud Gate and Millennium Park, Navy Pier, Chicago River, Lake Michigan, North Avenue beach and Chicago Cultural Centre. We also watched a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. We met this lovely lady called Gretchen on our travels who invited us for a sunrise swim in Lake Michigan, I ended up going by myself which was nerve wracking but so much fun and a swim to remember! Almost every afternoon too in downtown Chicago, Molly and I visited one of the Dunkin' Donuts where they had a deal on, you could get a large coffee and donut for $1 each at the time. Talk about a bargain!
After Chicago, Molly and I stayed at our friend Jess's house and got to spend time with her family and friends. Molly left to travel back home, whilst I stayed there for a bit longer, Jess and I visited places such as Plymouth, Boston and New Hampshire. I also got to visit and stay with my friends Alex and Julia at their universities/colleges at the time, which I was mesmerised from, especially because of how much you see American universities and colleges on TV, it felt surreal being there and taking it all in, I fell in love with both the campuses, the community, meeting all their friends and spending time with everyone.
I also travelled to Martha's Vineyard and Provincetown in 2016 and 2017 with friends from camp. These were both very interesting and fun places to visit on my travels. Provincetown is a beautiful coastal spot and known for its vibrant streets, beaches, harbour, artists, tourist industry and is a popular destination for the LGBTQIA+ community. There was so much to see and do in P-Town, with some funky shops to explore and really awesome places to eat, drink and relax! Martha's Vineyard was also a very memorable spot on my travels and is a stunning little island located south of Cape Cod. The best way to get there is on the ferry! There are some truly stunning beaches, a gorgeous harbour, shops to look around (my favourite was the shop "STAY WAVY") and lovely places to eat and drink.
In 2018, I got to tag along in a road trip with one of the groups at camp to the Berkshires, situated in Western Massachusetts to go camping and White Water Rafting for the week. This is such a memorable week for me as I was in my element, White Water Rafting was the best fun I'd ever had, the scenery was absolutely gorgeous as we paddled down and down the winding river and I loved having a laugh with all the kids that came along. Camping was so much fun, we used to wake up in the morning and go to the stream outside our tents and chat and wet our faces with the cold water. It was such an awesome opportunity and it's a week I still talk about to this day.
I also took a road trip with my three best friends, Molly, Alex and Aine-Maire when camp had ended that summer. We started in Boston, Massachusetts and drove up to Greenwood, Maine and stayed in this incredible Airbnb called Bob's Chalet. The chalet was absolutely massive, so comfy and rustic. There was a big balcony with hammocks to chill on and get incredible views, we visited the big telephone in Maine but besides that stayed at Bob's Chalet for the entirety of our trip in Maine! It was such a stunning chalet and none of us had experienced accommodation like that before, leaving it in the day felt weird and all we wanted to do was be back chilling in Bob's Chalet.
We then drove down to New Hampshire and camped for two nights in the White Mountains. It was one of the coolest campsites I'd ever been on, there was a little community on the campsite and everyone there was very welcoming and friendly. The campsite itself was again absolutely stunning and incredibly spacious. We were in the middle of the mountains, and it felt like in the middle of nowhere. We got to explore around town, go on a few hikes and of course, cook our food on the fire at night. We ended up back in Boston after our time camping in the White Mountains. It was one of the best road trips that we still talk about and reminisce to this day.
Molly, Aine-Maire and I also visited New York City together in 2018, I had previously visited in 2017 during camp so there were quite a few places that felt familiar. The three of us stayed in the Bronx for a few nights and our accommodation was interesting to say the least. It was in someone's apartment, we only got the one room and there was one double bed. It was August, 2018 and the weather was still very hot and sticky. It was impossible for all three of us to share this one bed at night because it was just to warm, so Molly and Aine-Maire took turns sleeping on the floor. Once we first arrived at our Airbnb, our host (male) gave us a tour outside of the area that we were staying in which the three of us had never experienced before! It was a nice gesture but also had us slightly worried as three females travelling together in New York City.
We spent so much time walking around numerous places such as Times Square, around Brooklyn and over the Brooklyn Bridge, around Wall Street and Central Park seeing the Empire State Building, paying our respects at the World Trade Centre and visiting the Met. One of the most hilarious moments and memories we have from that trip was visiting Tom's Restaurant- the famous and iconic restaurant in the comedy show Seinfeld (I had watched Seinfeld a few times growing up and the show was a running joke in my family, Tom's Restaurant was a spot like Central Perk, the cafe on Friends, that I knew I had to see and visit at least once in my life.) I expressed my interest about visiting Tom's Restaurant and mentioned it a few times to Aine Maire and Molly but they were no way near as interested as me...on our last evening as we were on the train home after an incredibly hot and sweaty day I asked if we could pop over to see it the morning before our bus back to Boston which they were hesitant about but agreed too. The morning of our bus we struggled with our big bags and suitcases on multiple trains in the heat to get to Tom's Restaurant. As soon as we got there I was so excited to see it and was taking photos of it to send to my sister and dad back in Australia... on the other hand Aine-Maire and Molly, hot and VERY bothered, were not amused or happy to see Tom's Restaurant and with annoyed looks and faces, kindly took photos of me in front of the restaurant. I found it so funny, whilst on the other hand, they had been dragged along to the restaurant of hell- it's now a running joke between the 3 of us and both Aine Maire and Molly still roast me about the whole situation.
In 2019, I didn't do any travelling before and after camp around the US, although at that time I was living and working in Canada and experiencing life in Banff National Park. I did travel to a few places during camp on staff trips and I got to drive the fifteen passenger van which meant I spent a lot of my time driving to get coffee from Mary Lou's, Starbucks or Dunks as well as to Walmart or even the beach on the weekends which was so nice. One place I did get to drive all the international staff members to on one of our weekends off, was Salem in Massachusetts. Salem is very historical town with a fascinating past, known for the Witch Trials that began in 1692. It was such a fun day exploring Salem, we visited a lot of the tourist attractions such as The House of Seven Gables, Old Burying Point Cemetery with the Witch Trails Memorial directly behind it, Witch House and of course downtown Salem (Essex Street Pedestrian Mall) looking around all the cool shops and spots to eat and drink.
I also watched my first Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park with my best friends Marissa, Alex and Beth which was such a hilarious night! I love baseball as I used to play it when I was younger and I really enjoyed seeing the Chicago Cubs so it was so cool to see the 'home' team play. The crowd and atmosphere was exhilarating and it was such an awesome experience, it was great to spend some time with my friends outside of camp and have a laugh.
From working at summer camp, I feel like I've been extremely lucky at how much of the East Coast I've been able to travel around and see. Over my four years working at summer camp, I was in a very unique position being able to solo travel at some points but also be surrounded by friends for nine weeks and then travel on with friends after camp. This is why I think Camp America is such a brilliant gateway and introduction for people that want to work and travel overseas, with the J1 visa, you have the choice and flexibility to travel for sixty days (in total) before and after nine weeks at camp (which is a long time for some!) Or you can choose to do a little bit of travelling if it is something outside your comfort zone...
I'm also a big believer on the fact that you don't have to get a flight just to travel somewhere... you can go on road trips, explore locally or catch a bus, train, ferry or even walk or go on a hike. There are an infinite amount of opportunities and experiences to have which is even more important than the travel itself, like the baseball games, staying in Bob's Chalet, hiking in the White Mountains were activities I got to participate in and get involved with and now memories I have for the rest of my life. So if you are ever interested about working and travelling with Camp America or you are at camp right now- remember to say yes to the chance or moment- you never know where it may take you!
I'm beyond grateful for everything I've been able to see and do whilst in America, it is such a fascinating and remarkable country. As well as to all the people and friends I met and made along the way, I wouldn't have been able to do half of the things I did without them, they made me feel safe and at home and gave me the chance to by my 100% self- and I love that I still keep in contact with a lot of them! So thank you.
I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this blog post. Feel free to leave a comment or DM on my Instagram or Tik Tok- the_runawayredhead and stay tuned for the next post!
Talk soon,
The Runaway Redhead
