Why AmeriCamp NZ is the smartest way to spend your NZ winter

Every year, New Zealand winter arrives the same way.

The mornings get darker. The weeks feel longer but the daylight is shorter! And somewhere around July, you find yourself wondering what you're actually doing with the next three months.

Here's an idea. What if you skipped winter entirely?

The maths is simple

US summer camps run from June to August. That is almost exactly the New Zealand winter. While your friends are layering up at home, you could be running activities in warm sunshine, earning good money, and building the kind of experience that genuinely changes your perspective on what a job can be.

It is not a gap year. It is not just travel. It is three months of purposeful, paid work at a summer camp in America - with food and accommodation included - that happens to fall in the least enjoyable part of the New Zealand calendar.

Why Americamp NZ specifically

There are a handful of organisations that can get you to a summer camp in the USA. Here is what sets Americamp NZ apart.

We are local. Our team is based in Auckland. When you have a question, you are talking to someone in your timezone who understands the NZ context.

We have been doing this for over 24 years. International Working Holidays has been placing Kiwis at US summer camps since before most of our applicants were born. That experience matters when it comes to visa sponsorship, camp matching, and knowing which placements are worth taking.

We handle the complicated parts. J1 visa sponsorship, insurance, camp matching - all covered in your programme fee. You focus on getting excited. We handle the paperwork.

We know which camps are great. Not all summer camps in America are created equal. Our network includes hundreds of vetted camps across the USA and we use everything we learn in your Americamp Interview to match you to the right one.

What you get out of it

Beyond the obvious - warm weather, American summer, kids who think you are the greatest - here is what Kiwis consistently come home with after a season at a US summer camp:

A salary. Americamp NZ counsellors earn a guaranteed minimum of $2,250 USD. Food and accommodation are provided by the camp, so most of that comes home with you.

Real responsibility. Managing a cabin of kids, running activities, solving problems on the fly - these are genuine workplace skills that employers notice.

Confidence. There is something about living and working abroad, in a completely different environment, that changes how you carry yourself. Most people who go once come home bigger than when they left.

Friends for life. The counsellor community at US summer camps is international, tight-knit, and long-lasting. The people you meet at camp have a habit of staying in your life.

The NZ winter problem, solved

Laura put it better than we can:

"I had dreams of going travelling, getting a bit of work experience, and being somewhere hot. Camp seemed like a great way to do all of those things at the same time."

She was right. And she is not alone. Every season, hundreds of Kiwis make the same call - skip winter, head to camp, come home with a summer worth talking about.

The only question is whether this is your season.

Americamp NZ is operated by International Working Holidays, Auckland-based and Kiwi-focused. We're the NZ arm of Americamp - backed by over 24 years of placing New Zealanders at summer camps across the USA. The application is free to start and our NZ team is with you every step of the way.

Apply Today - www.americamp.co.nz

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