Hello!

I recently came back from three weeks in France where I had the chance to discover the culture, and meet incredible people! For my next travel, I want it to be much longer (like 2 or 3 months).

I've been invited to visit Spain with a friend from France in September, and then go back to his town that I visited once to then stay at his place, and if I could, find a job in the village. I am 19 years old and only have a high school diploma.

Here are my questions for you:

1. Have you ever worked abroad? If so, do you encourage others to do it?
2. Any informations you can share with me about work visas? (I'm canadian, wanting to work in France)
3. Any tips how to convince my parents?

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day!

Jeremy.

1. Yes and yes.

2. See: https://ca.ambafrance.org/France-Can...lity-Agreement

3. You are an adult.

https://ca.ambafrance.org/France-Can...lity-Agreement

If you intend to work then the information you need is found on that link.

If you do not work, you can stay for up to 90 days without a visa, as a tourist.

Did't you have to convince your parents about the last trip? You have practice already and that trip should have given you confidence.

Sassafrass, I did have to convince them, but they cried and didn't sleep the whole time I was gone

Nobody can live without sleep and constantly cry for three weeks in a row. They were certainly exaggerating.

Parents have to learn that a "child" of 19 is an adult and thus should and will soon leave the nest for good.

And why were they crying (assuming they were)?

Re: your parents, answer specific concerns with specifics of your own, and if you don't know yet, tell them you'll get back to them with the answer, and then do it.

Beyond that, their emotional health is not your responsibility. Do not let them control you with their emotions.

(I speak from experience with parents like that.)

I think jeje977 is a good son who cares about his mother's feelings. I think she is more the anxious type than the father and part of it is just thinking he should be trying to figure out his life and work at home rather than running around the world after dropping out of college with no plans.

If you aren't taking money from them, then I think this is actually a good idea as you can only do this kind of thing when you are young and unencumbered. And since you aren't in school any more and have no particular career job, it sounds like, you aren't risking anything in that regard.

Why not try to convince your parents by saying you are going to be working and it will help you decide your metier in life better, and some of the other things I said above (about how this is the time to do it). In fact, working in different places and jobs does help you figure out more what you want to do in life. talk about it as a sort of comparison to a military boot camp, where you are on your own and have to learn independence and how to manage on your own and in difficult situations.

So talk about it as a learning experience, and it may even look good on the CV for prospective employers. Maybe not, depends what you did.

Let's not go there again, rehashing the family dynamic . . . the OP got nearly 125 responses on the thread where he was afraid of upsetting his parents

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...my-parents.cfm

Re your new question. The work-holiday visa is for stays of 4 to 12 months. If you only want to be there form 2 or 3 months, you'd need to double check if a stay of less than 4 months is allowed.

Let's not go there again, telling people what they can and can't post, eh, janisj? I was unaware that there was another thread, and don't see how that's relevant.

I was addressing Christina's psychoanalysis of the situation.

Nothing else . . .

You asked if anyone has done what you want to do and if we would encourage it.

I never did it myself, but way, way back, when there were fewer restrictions, at age 19 or 20, my DD spent six months roaming around Europe supporting herself with odd jobs. Can't remember all the places she went, but I know Ireland, England, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria.

Remember, there were no cell phones, no wifi, no laptops or iPads. I got about 4 or 5 calls and a half dozen letters. She had many tales to tell when she got home.

Yes! I wholeheartedly encourage it and think every young person should do it if they can!

You have already proven yourself. Go for it! Stay as long as you can and as long as you need to.

It isn't that unusual for young Europeans to take a year off before going to university or whatever after school. They are normally younger than you when they do it too, 17 or 18. They don't stick to Europe but go all over the world.

If you qualify for the work visa and can stay for the four (or more) months needed go for it.
If you don't qualify for the visa you can still go for up to 90 days, but won't be able to work, which means earning the money between now and then to support yourself while you are there.

If you intend to apply for a work visa, you must have a signed work contract to present to your Consulate. Or, you must be able to do work that no other French person can do.
If you don't have either of those documents, you can prepare to starve, because no one will pay you anything close to a living wage.
Housing doesn't come cheap, either...

fuzzbucket -as a Canadian he can get a working holiday visa, provided he wants to stay more than 4 months.

This blog page should help: http://www.thenewtravelblog.com/fran...-holiday-visa/

Yes, but what kind of work will he/she find available?
A server in a restaurant or cafe makes a barely decent wage.
A salesperson might make the SMIC (minimum wage).
Where will he/she live for 4 months that will be affordable and available to a foreigner?
Certainly not in central Paris...

Fuzzbucket he says he can stay with a friend, and hopefully find work there.
He has time to work now and build up some cash reserves before he goes.

There is a great deal more to France than Paris, even if this either heresy or obscure to Parisians. The OP said he would stay in his friend's "home town".