Looking for Advice on planned Excursion

[Hiceadha]

I'm heading back on the road again soon and this time I want to leave Europe. For once too I want to go somewhere that people speak English for a change since it should be easier to find work I would assume. I put this in the USA forum beause its the country I'm most concerned about
If I leave at the start of March I should have about 800 euro with me (after the flight) then I want to ideally hitchhike from Canada to Argentina over the following year or two.
The 800 euros is to get started, I will have 6 months in canada and 3 months in the usa visa free and 3 months in each of the rest too to move around.
Ideally I want to get some cash in hand work in Canada or the USA to save up some more money. I'm 22, big build, grew up on a farm and have mechanic experience so shouldn't be too hard to get some labouring I would imagine (Canada looks better from craigslist for cash in hand).
Then I'll hopefully approach Mexico with some extra cash and slowly make my way down to argentina (my spanish is ok).
My questions are
A) Will I have difficulty picking up cash in hand jobs as I move around to save me from blowing my cash? (and what US cities or states are best for this, Canada looks ok on Craigslist)
B) Should I be worried about hitchhiking into the US from Canada in case I get refused for not having a planned flight out? (Irish citizens usually get 3 months tourist visa no bother at airports)
C) Is Mexico and further south as cheap as I imagine?
D) Is this plan feasible (I recently went 4 months in Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia on about 500 euros but without working and I was partying a lot of the time).

Thanks for any feedback I appreciate its a big question

 

[Deleted member 20]

What is a euro? lol ::greedy:: You should be able to find some laboring gigs in & around any of the big US cities, especially those with a lot of Irish Americans. Chicago, Philly, NYC, Boston all have lots of Irish American small business owners who are in the building trades. If you go to any Home Depot/Lowes home improvement store you will see the packs of hispanic day laborers that are in simmilar situations as you, minus the J1 tourist visa. I would just hang out there with the Mexicans/Guatemalan & other South Americans ready to work. Most who hire arent exactly anti mexican but may still identify as being mostly Irish first & American a close second, regardless of where they were born or their parents were born. Many ethnic group in the US retain the culture of their forefathers. Perhaps visiting any of the working class Irish Bars or Ancient order of Hibernians clubs to find laboring work.

I am unsure about legally going over the US/CA border on a tourit visa. I usually get to CA via other methods & just walk right over to return (US citizen with state ID). They ask about passport & I tell them I dont have one. Then they ask if CA asked for one & I say that they did not. Then I return legally into the US even though I snuck into canada. If you figure out that you need advice I can provide reverse advise of how I get into CA that should work just as well as a last resort. Please PM me to dialogue if you run into issues getting into the US & once you are here. I may be able to show you the rails & ride a bit with you once you get here as well.

 

[Corinne]

holy crap dude you sound like quite the adventurer, i wanna come! work is easy to find, just go to labor ready and wait in line for a few hours. not sure about mexico and beyond for cash in hand. im planning for a similar trip but i have an online job. it is extremely cheap in mexico and central america, you can take a bus across country for as little as 10 bucks! dont worry so much! if worse comes to worse just dumpster dive, fly a sign and most importantly, have fun!!!

 

[Hiceadha]

What is a euro? lol ::greedy:: You should be able to find some laboring gigs in & around any of the big US cities, especially those with a lot of Irish Americans. Chicago, Philly, NYC, Boston all have lots of Irish American small business owners who are in the building trades. If you go to any Home Depot/Lowes home improvement store you will see the packs of hispanic day laborers that are in simmilar situations as you, minus the J1 tourist visa. I would just hang out there with the Mexicans/Guatemalan & other South Americans ready to work. Most who hire arent exactly anti mexican but may still identify as being mostly Irish first & American a close second, regardless of where they were born or their parents were born. Many ethnic group in the US retain the culture of their forefathers. Perhaps visiting any of the working class Irish Bars or Ancient order of Hibernians clubs to find laboring work.

I am unsure about legally going over the US/CA border on a tourit visa. I usually get to CA via other methods & just walk right over to return (US citizen with state ID). They ask about passport & I tell them I dont have one. Then they ask if CA asked for one & I say that they did not. Then I return legally into the US even though I snuck into canada. If you figure out that you need advice I can provide reverse advise of how I get into CA that should work just as well as a last resort. Please PM me to dialogue if you run into issues getting into the US & once you are here. I may be able to show you the rails & ride a bit with you once you get here as well.

Thanks man that's good to know I might be looking to skip back into Canada again alright.

holy crap dude you sound like quite the adventurer, i wanna come! work is easy to find, just go to labor ready and wait in line for a few hours. not sure about mexico and beyond for cash in hand. im planning for a similar trip but i have an online job. it is extremely cheap in mexico and central america, you can take a bus across country for as little as 10 bucks! dont worry so much! if worse comes to worse just dumpster dive, fly a sign and most importantly, have fun!!!

Is labour ready an actual building like a job center or something?, thanks ha I suppose I have the adventure bug, what kind a online work do you do?

 

[Deleted member 20]

Fuck Labor ready, they screen for eligible workers http://www.laborready.com/staffing/the-right-workers They have a whole list of Identification documents that they require proving you are legally allowed to work in the US. The types of jobs they have usually suck & require lots of bullshit. If you get a few days work with guy in the trades you will usually earn a day rate of $100 or around $10 hour (maybe more) & maybe lunch too. That is barely above minimum wage but theres no application, paper trail, taxes etc Craigslist does have some work at peoples homes but transportation will be an issue & you gotta act fast on those types of jobs since there are lots of handyman types out there who have a truck & hustle up those jobs as soon as they are posted. Good luck

 

[Hiceadha]

Fuck Labor ready, they screen for eligible workers http://www.laborready.com/staffing/the-right-workers They have a whole list of Identification documents that they require proving you are legally allowed to work in the US. The types of jobs they have usually suck & require lots of bullshit. If you get a few days work with guy in the trades you will usually earn a day rate of $100 or around $10 hour (maybe more) & maybe lunch too. That is barely above minimum wage but theres no application, paper trail, taxes etc Craigslist does have some work at peoples homes but transportation will be an issue & you gotta act fast on those types of jobs since there are lots of handyman types out there who have a truck & hustle up those jobs as soon as they are posted. Good luck

Ye since I wont technically be allowed to work in the USA and smoke the occasional joint I doubt labour ready is ideal, asking around in Irish pubs seems like a good shout or the guys i hitchhike with

 

[Matt Derrick]

I'm with highwayman on labor ready. Having worked in the office of a labor-ready-like business, i can tell you for shure you'll never get work there without a work visa.

highwayman gave some really good advice, but i also wanted to add that i've personally had much better luck with cash in hand jobs in the southern states, especially in new orleans. now, i haven't been there in 5 years now, so things might have changed, but that was always an easy city for me to get cash in hand jobs.

as for the canadian border, i'm going to assume that it works like most european countries. as long as your usa visa hasn't expired, you *should* be able to go into canada without issue and return, thus resetting your visa to 90(?) days. the things you want to avoid when crossing into canada are looking like a homeless person, or like you don't have any money; also, if they ask if you've ever been in front of a judge before, just say no, even if the truth is different. even if they run your id and something comes up, you can say "oh, that old thing i forgot about that" like it was never a big deal. you won't get in trouble for it.

if you can swing it i would cross over at points where it's pretty common to walk across the border, like around niagara falls. as a foreigner you'll just look like another tourist and they'll probably just wave you through.

when it comes to mexico, it is indeed cheap, but not so much until you get further away from the usa/mexico border, then it gets really cheap. the big thing people say to watch out for is the darien gap, which is a section of central america that has no roads and is very violent with drug activity, and you definitely wil need to book a boat or flight around it (google it) if you don't wanna get kidnapped or killed by drug lords.

out of all 3 countries (usa, canada, mexico) the usa is going to be the easiest in terms of finding cash in hand jobs. if nothing else, simply offer your services on craigslist, as no one checks work visas (or even cares) on those kinds of gigs.

good luck my friend, let us know how it goes, and last but not least, UPLOAD AN AVATAR.

 

[Tude]

Your plans sound wonderful!! Good luck and have fun - and as Matt stated - do let us know how you're doing and where you are at - oh yeah and PICS!!

 

[Hiceadha]

Booked my flight so, early March to Boston (cheapest flight from Ireland) for 270 euro (350 dollars). Excited about it

 

[Deleted member 20]

If you are still in Boston March 13-16 my pals The Dropkick Murphys play a bunch of shows (ill be at all of em) here in Boston. We also have the countries oldest Saint Paddys day Parade in Southie. Give me a shout when you come thru.

 

[Hiceadha]

If you are still in Boston March 13-16 my pals The Dropkick Murphys play a bunch of shows (ill be at all of em) here in Boston. We also have the countries oldest Saint Paddys day Parade in Southie. Give me a shout when you come thru.

You know them boys? I'm shipping up to Boston way hey o!

 

[Hiceadha]

Getting started in Boston this thursday, very excited!

 

[Hiceadha]

Well didn´t the time fly.
I flew to Boston and meet up with Highwayman, a genuine fellow, sound as a pound. We travelled to NY together with Craigslist rideshare for a dropkick murphys concert (he helped me get in free). He gave me plenty of advice on the US aswell, a total different kettle of fish to Europe.
After Boston I travelled to Chicago with two burds I meet in a pub in Boston, kicked it there for a while, did an oul craigslist labor gig for some adishional dosh. I was spending too much on beer and cigs. From Chicago I had a blast hitchhiking down to New Orleans though it proved very difficult at times. I meet some great folks who gave me places to stay, some creepy fucks, some depressing people and some racist rednecks (especially when I took to floating down ther Mississippi in an inflateable boat from walmart).
In new orleans i kicked about with some dumpster diving punks and got laid quite a bit with the punkier chicks and ended up finding construction work with another Irish guy. I did two months nearly at 100 bucks a day for 10 hour days and stayed at his girlfriends place in exchange I fed her horses and walked em.
Then before my visa ran out I got my ass over to Miami and jumped down to colombia with an 80 dollar flight. I bought a jungle hammock, camo tarp, knifes, lifesaver bottle to filter all the water and sent home the rest of the money I made working to my mother to hold onto until I get home, Ive been hitchhiking colombia with some difficulty since my spanish aint great but il figure it out. Truckers are happy to buy you a meal but getting them to stop is the challenge. Wild camping here is brilliant.
Everything worked out as I planned really and I didnt overstay my visa as I plan on hitchhiking all south america then back up through central and into the US again in order to do the west coast.
I found the states to be kind of a load of hypocricy to be honest though. I had a lot of fun there but would never live there permenantly. Land of the Free? come on, you cant even fart without a permit. And everyone is a tad more paranoid, often not even talking to their neighbours. The way cities are divided into different ethnic areas is sick too.
That said the travelling folk I meet were great people often and I would happily trade an evening in some european hostel with the european student hitchhikers and their ipads for an evening in new orleans around a fire eating dumpstered food and beating mosquitos away.
See ye in the US again soon!

 

[Matt Derrick]

Fuck yeah man, that sounds like an epic journey, I'm jealous! How far did you make it down the mississippi on that walmart raft? did you take any pictures?

 

[Hiceadha]

Fuck yeah man, that sounds like an epic journey, I'm jealous! How far did you make it down the mississippi on that walmart raft? did you take any pictures?

I got some pictures here.
Seiously though guys I really did enjoy the US, some real hardcore travellers here even if they dont have passports. Hardcore US travellers.