Kiwi coming to DC (possibly)

[+rediguana]

Hi All.

 

I'm a New Zealand geocacher who has applied for an internship in Washington D.C. with the DC Emergency Management Agency. I'm rather hopeful I'll get one of the positions on offer I should find out around April 22. As I have to start late May, I want to start planning now in case I do get the internship. I would be there for about 4 months from June to Sept if I get one.

 

I've got various questions I was wondering if you could help me with.

 

1. Where are good places to live around DC, Virginia, Maryland? What sort of things to I need to be wary of looking for accomodation? Apparently the Metro stops quite close to where I would be working so that would probably be my prefered method of transport to DCEMA.

 

2. I'd _love_ to go geocaching in the US. Anyone willing to let me tag along?

 

3. I'll be picking up a Lonely Planet guide, but any recommendations on things to see and do

 

4. Oh, and medical insurance, any advice there? I have no idea where to start!

 

Thanks in advance for your help, I'll be regularly checking in on this board for quite a while I hope!

 

Cheers Gav

[+Glenn]

quote:

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Originally posted by rediguana:

Hi All.

 

I'm a New Zealand geocacher who has applied for an internship in Washington D.C. with the DC Emergency Management Agency. I'm rather hopeful I'll get one of the positions on offer I should find out around April 22. As I have to start late May, I want to start planning now in case I do get the internship. I would be there for about 4 months from June to Sept if I get one.

 

I've got various questions I was wondering if you could help me with.

 

1. Where are good places to live around DC, Virginia, Maryland? What sort of things to I need to be wary of looking for accomodation? Apparently the Metro stops quite close to where I would be working so that would probably be my prefered method of transport to DCEMA.

 

2. I'd _love_ to go geocaching in the US. Anyone willing to let me tag along?

 

3. I'll be picking up a Lonely Planet guide, but any recommendations on things to see and do

 

4. Oh, and medical insurance, any advice there? I have no idea where to start!

 

Thanks in advance for your help, I'll be regularly checking in on this board for quite a while I hope!

 

Cheers Gav

---

 

1. Are you thinking of buying? If you rent you can always move if you dont like the area. If you are going to buy in the area then I'd suggest renting for at least a year. That way you can get a feel for the different areas.

 

2. I'm not in the area any more, but hope to return soon. I don't know how things are in New Zealand but if they are anything like they are in Europe then remember do not cross fences. There may not be any no trespassing signs hung but it is implied. Caches in run down looking areas or in old buildings is a very bad idea. Rehide caches well, if not they will be found by a non-cacher and disappear. No food or scented items in American caches, trust me on this one.

 

3. Too many to list here.

 

4. Nor do I. Most Americans get their medical insurance through there employer or they sign up with a medical insurance company. Get a yellow pages (business phone directory) and call around.

 

- Lone Rangers

[+Team Kaye]

Hi. Way cool on maybe coming to the Northeast. My husband and I live in New Jersey, but we do go to DC for the weekend sometime. We would love to cache with you I'm sure.

 

Finding a place to live for a few months may not be an easy thing. I was a contract worker for awhile and finding someplace to let you rent for three - four months was VERY difficult. Is there an agency that you can contact to help you out? Maybe the agency you are going to work for could help.

 

Health insurance is also a hard thing. Are you covered now? If so, find out if there is anyway they could cover you here. Insurance is extremely expensive if you have to get single coverage (instead of group coverage like we get at work). My parents have to pay for PART of their own and it's like 700/month.

 

OK, now that the bad parts are out of the way!! Being is DC is cool, there are a lot of places to see/do. You are only about 5 hours from NY, Baltimore is right there, Philadelphis is about 3 hours away. I'm sure there is a lot more that I don't know about. In DC itself there are lots of things. All the capital stuff plus the Smithsonian. I love to go there, but I have a hard time getting past the Air and Space museum. ApK stops there and it takes me nagging all day to go see something else!! There's also the mint, and oh, bunches of stuff!!

 

Good luck!!

 

keknj

[+Glenn]

quote:

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Originally posted by keknj:

 

 

Being is DC is cool, there are a lot of places to see/do. You are only about 5 hours from NY, Baltimore is right there, Philadelphis is about 3 hours away. I'm sure there is a lot more that I don't know about. In DC itself there are lots of things. All the capital stuff plus the Smithsonian. I love to go there, but I have a hard time getting past the Air and Space museum. ApK stops there and it takes me nagging all day to go see something else!! There's also the mint, and oh, bunches of stuff!!

 

Good luck!!

 

keknj

---

 

There are a lot of stuff to do outdoors and away from the cities too. The ocean is only a few hours away and can be a nice day trip. You have the bay and lot of rivers where you can do everything from white water rafting to tubing. In the winter there are ski resorts nearby.

 

- Lone Rangers

[+rediguana]

I'm really looking forward to coming over. I've been told unofficially that I should start packing and getting organised so thats all good! I will be coming over late May, and probably leaving first couple of days in November to get back for exams. I'm currently out of town right now, so can't write a long reply, but I'll be back home in 2-3 days and will post more then. Thats when I have to start getting everything organised.

 

I'll be in touch in a few days!!

 

Cheers Gav

[+rediguana]

Cool! I'm coming over! I shall be posting here real soon now. Can't wait to hunt and place some caches over there.

 

Cheers Gav

[+Ttepee]

rediguana,

 

Hey with any luck maybe you can make it up to NY area for a weekend event gathering? We're sure to have a few things going on over the summer. Good Luck... sounds like an exciting time for you.

 

Ttepee

[+Alan2]

Washington DC has a female to male ratio of about 10 to 1

 

Alan

[+rediguana]

I'm really looking forward to this! Still haven't got far on accomodation. I've got a couple of people looking at various options for me, so hopefully something may pan out of that soon. The DCEMA aren't helping on accomodation, but I've got a couple of places I can try.

 

On the insurance front, it sounds like by far the cheapest option is going to be travel insurance, which at NZD$700-800 (USD$300-350) for 5 months sounds pretty good compared to getting insurance in the US. I just have to check to make sure it is truely comprehensive insurance which I'll do tomorrow at the travel agents.

 

On to the cooler stuff, it sounds like there are soooo many cool places to see and stuff to do. I can see I'll spend a fair bit of time wandering around DC itself, but then there are lots of other places around to check out as well. I got a couple of Lonely Planet guides cheap today that cover most of the nearby states. I think every weekend is going to be pretty busy indeed... I'll be looking forward to a holiday when I get back to NZ!! And whats this about a 10 to 1 ratio of women to men in DC? Why so large?

 

Cheers Gav

[+gnbrotz]

quote:

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Originally posted by rediguana:

And whats this about a 10 to 1 ratio of women to men in DC? Why so large?

 

Cheers Gav

---

 

Can you say "Congressional interns"?

 

Those hard working politicians in D.C. need lots of "support staff"

 

Greg

N 39° 54.705'

W 77° 33.137'

[+the england's]

I'm not sure exactly where Charlotte will be but you may be able to help her with her travels if she gets to DC

 

It's out there...let's go get it!

[+rediguana]

quote:

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Originally posted by gnbrotz:

Can you say "Congressional interns"?

---

 

Yes I can, and everyone else so far that knows what I'm doing has mentioned Monica in some way or other - 'DC? Internship? Hehe'

 

And if Charlotte heads out this way, I'm sure we'll find ways to keep her moving east

 

Cheers Gav

[+MissJenn]

quote:

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Originally posted by rediguana:

I'd _love_ to go geocaching in the US. Anyone willing to let me tag along?

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If you are willing to get in a car for a mere couple of hours, we invite you to the South Central Pennsylvania cachers picnic on June 1!

 

While I cannot guess at the male:female ratio, I'm pretty damned sure you'd have a good time with us!

 

-----

You must be present to win.

[+rediguana]

quote:

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Originally posted by MissJenn:

While I cannot guess at the male:female ratio, I'm pretty damned sure you'd have a good time with us!

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Hehe sounds pretty good to me. Greg has suggested a plan to get up that way for the weekend which sounds pretty good to me. I shall go and log the page now

 

Cheers Gav

[+MissJenn]

You're on the list!

[DisQuoi]

I suppose you might already be here. If you're not, I could recommend some nice areas accessible by Metro (and ones to avoid). Email me if you still need that information.