67-year-old Tralee grandmother heading back to the US for second J1 stint

Fiona made headlines both nationally and internationally last year when she announced that at the grand old age of 66, she had successfully received a J1 visa – which up to then had been more traditionally associated with students in their early 20’s – and that she would be taking up the position of Activities Counsellor for the summer at Camp Clearwater in Wisconsin.

Such was, in her own words, the “absolutely amazing” experience that she enjoyed last summer, it was no surprise then this week to hear that Fiona was heading back for three more months of fun...with a few more tricks up her sleeve this time around too.

Speaking to The Kerrymanthis week,Fiona – who reckons that she’s one of, if not, the oldest person to get a J1 visa – was busy packing her bags ahead of the first leg of her trip which will see her take in Mexico, Washington D.C and Detroit before making the journey back to Wisconsin for the start of camp.

"Last year, when I came home, I thought 'okay, that's great, I did it, I loved it' but I honestly didn't know whether I would do it again or not. But after a while, I really missed it [camp life], the community spirit, the family atmosphere and all of the fabulous friends I made,” she said, adding that her mom passing away in October of last year really had a bearing on her decision to go back.

"Two of the women from the camp, they were in touch with me and they asked 'are you thinking about next year?' and they said they would love to have me back if I wanted to do it and so I thought about it and said 'you know what, why not?' I reckon I'm the oldest person ever to get a J1 because I've Googled it a few times and I'm always the one that comes up," she laughed.

Fiona will be away for three months this time around and as she’s set to become a grandmother once again in August, she will be doing all of her travelling that she would normally have done after camp before camp this time around and she said she’s got great friends to thank for this.

"One of the girls that I became very friendly with last year, she's Mexican and she has invited me to Mexico for her graduation where I'll be spending two weeks. As well as this, a lady who works in the State Department, I'll be staying with her in Washington and she has also invited me to come for a visit to the J1 office because she said they'd love to meet me and hear about my experience last year."

"After this then, what I decided to do this time around was because it's quite difficult to get to camp – it's very rural – is meet up with my friend who shared the cabin with me last year and who will be sharing the cabin with me again this year. I'm going to visit her home outside of Detroit and then we'll take a two-day drive to camp together,” she said.

As to what she is looking forward to the most about camp life 2.0, Fiona said that it’s a mixture of seeing old friends again, making new ones and oh, you know, showing off all of the new skills she’s been practising in the past 12 months.

"I'm looking forward to getting back on the lake, on Lake Tomahawk, and actually in the last couple of weeks, I've learned how to drive a speed boat too so I'm hoping that they'll allow me drive this time around...after a bit of practise too of course. As well as this, I've gone to archery lessons and I've taken it up as a hobby after doing it at camp last year. I found that I absolutely loved it."

"I'm hoping to put those extra few skills into practice!” she laughed.

Finally, Fiona said that off the back of her high profile visa success last year, she’s been inundated with requests from people – including a fellow Tralee – girl on how to apply.

"This year, several people contacted me over the winter around how I did it [apply for the J1 and camp] and there was one Tralee girl who is heading out on a J1 this summer too but to a different camp to me. We had lots of phone calls and lots of meetings on how to do the paper work and what not and please god, it [the J1 experience] will be as much of a success for her as it was for me."

To follow Fiona’s J1 journey again this year, you can head over to her Instagram page here: https://instagram.com/retiree_on_a_j1_visa?igshid=MTIyMzRjYmRlZg==