20 yrs old and moving to St. Croix

no not stupid at all, come with an open mind stay away from the drugs, do stuff other than party with your co-workers,in other words meet people outside of the restaurant industry,plenty of opportunities to do volunteer stuff or water kinds of things,enjoy your time here and don't live downtown and you'll leave with fond memories or stay like therest of us

Appreciate the response. Just for alot of people--including my family this is being looked upon as ANOTHER crazy move of mine. At least half of my family, but at the end of the day I live life for myself not others. At least not as of now. Thing I was worried about also was the possibilty of crime down there, although not a huge factor I've heard it was a little bad. I've had my house robbed back here in Columbia, SC and lost over $3000 in belongings. Not fun. I've heard it was bad but also heard it was mostly domestic which leads me to beleive don't surround yourself with bad people and keep your things secure you should be fine. You mentioned don't get involved all the drugs and what not, and to be honest I'm not too worried about as I don't use drugs now. I do drink but it's not an every night or even an every week then--just if I feel like it sometimes more often than not. I'd imagine my lifestyle down there would change drastically from here, which from everything I heard might be right down my alley or not--I'll have to wait and see. As you were talking about co-workers...yeah well I'm definitely not going to know a soul down there so I'd imagine those will be the people I hang out with initally...at least. As far as living downtown, that's actually where my place is going to be at. A month-month lease so don't have to stay, and actually plan on moving cause I plan on flying my dog down within the next few months but need to get myself settled and figure out where exactly I could bring him and if I could even afford it. Why wouldn't living downtown be a good idea? I will not have a car, plan on selling the car I have now if I do this and I save money on gas, insurance, and no car payment. Maybe buy something cheap down there somewhere down the road. Anyways any tips or comments once again would be awesome. Have a good one.

At your age, why not? When you are fifty, you aren't going to look back and say "Hey, remember that time I ALMOST moved to a Caribbean island?" Try it. If it works out, then cool, if it doesn't, so what? You have so much time. You are still young... this is the time when you should be eating life, having new experiences, learning everything, new cultures, new friends, new everything. You will be so happy about it later in life.

LOL My daughter came down at 20 and is still here 20 some years later
Enjoy

I think he meant that most of the "young" people that live downtown party ALL the time and avoiding that would be good. I lived downtown for awhile when I moved here and it was fine. You do need to be aware of your surroundings and the partying lifestyle can really sneak up on you if you are not careful.

Alright here's my deal. My main hold up. I'm pretty confident I can get things set up over on the island, but what happens when it's time to move back? I'd have no car, no job, and it seems like a huge risk I guess. I just don't want to mess up what I got going now. But not that any of you have those exact answers. Was anyone in a similar situation when moving to the island initally?

risks are rewarded. The first time I went to Oahu and saw the huge waves at wiamea i said to my self , why didn't I come here when i was 18. live it, no regrets. Like what Bob dylyn sain, When you got nothin, you got nothin to loose.

Well, you can stay in the states and get a "real" job with a big company.
After 10 or 20 years you might be able to save enough to come to STX for a couple of weeks on vacation.
What are you waiting for?
Put a time limit in your mind, that if you don't have a good paying job or meet the right person, you can always go back.
Put some money in a savings account in your family's home town. That way they can send you the money, only to go home on if needed.

Alright well here's the jist of what I'm getting. Go down there, experience it, save money--this might be the only chance I get. Cause ya know the question isn't whether I want too, because I do. The question is the experience worth the potential consequences. Which to be honest might not ever occur or they might, I have no real way of telling. But the same applies to life back here in the states. I'm going to try to create a cushion of money so when I leave or if something does happen I'll be more than prepared...which is what I do now. But for some reason when you say your moving to the carribean a few thousand miles away from the little country town of blythewood (which st. croix is smaller) it's a wee bit intimidating. I think I'm going to do it. Just need to see the island. My cousins been working down their for 2 years, first at brew pub? And now where she's at now, she says she makes about $400 a week OFF season and 700 plus during season. Does seem about right, I understand st. croix is a global destination it isn't simply people from 3 hours away visiting the beach its worldwide. But do tourist really keep somewhat of a steady presence during the off season? Also I have a huge interest into getting boating or something on the water, I love to be outside and that whole mess, and I reckon I'll just have to wait and see. Anyways again--thanks

Sugar I am an SC girl myself and I will tell you that most people on STX will not understand you when you speak. I am not discouraging you from coming down but I am worried that you will be lonely. I wish that you were coming with a friend. The culture is very different here and it takes some getting used to. If you have traveled out of the south a bit you might be fine but if you haven't then you might feel a bit lonely. If you make the decision to come here then PM me if you need a friend.

Yeah, I might actually bring a friend down but she's trying to figure out if it's the best thing for her. I think I'd be fine though, although yeah I'm from SC and yeah I live pretty out in the country, but ive been away from for a while and know how it goes. I left my hometown in 06 and wasn't till may of 08 that I got back. I'll make it work.

Keep that drive and determination, and be flexible, and you should do alright. It's not about the destination, it's the journey that's important. Cliche but a good one. I've been here since last Nov and still trying to make ends meet. But my bills are paid and I can dive when I want to. 8)

Hang in there.

:o)

Sweet once again appreciate the advice.

stay away from drugs, parties, drinking and the wrong crowd and you will do ok.

Don't buy a car.

Don't buy anything for a few months until you really feel that it will be ok.

good luck.

billd

a young woman i worked with came here for 6 months and she loved it, she left here to be a white water rafting guide in the carolinas and she loves that,she's bouncing around and loving it, she's in her 20's, 2 brothers are here now after 2 years in the caymans when they leave here in a month, the go to hawaii and then the east for awhile and then all through europe, they're in their 20's the thing they all have in common was that they did not fall hard into the party scene here and did not worry about the future, they worked and saved their money

Definitely, I understand that and to be honest. Not accustomed to the actual "party scene" in the islands, and I can only imagine but I think that kinda goes wherever you go. 5 points is the thing down in Columbia and it's just never been my priority, so I'm thinking I won't have too much trouble down there. Even though I don't know like--anyone. But I'll meet some people in about 10 days, and soon their after.

some advice from a fellow 20-something...

first of all, there's NO reason why you can't do it, people move down here it every day. that's what i kept telling myself when i was preparing to make the move. people come and go a lot here, though. the typical breaking point is about 3 months, if you can make it past that, you'll survive here. my advice is a little different than everybody elses, though. dive straight into the social scene as fast as you can. there are a lot of amazing people here, and are all willing to help out. need a ride to kmart? no problem, there's probably someone headed that way. need a place to crash for a while? there's probably someone with an extra bed. we're seriously like one big happy family down here. who's your cousin? it's a small island, if she works at a restaurant in town, i probably know her...

anyways, there's a lot of great things about this place, but my favorite is the people. within days you'll meet people that you feel you can count on for just about anything, and i mean that. just be positive, try to slow things down, relax, and get out on the water doing something and you'll do fine.

good luck

jon