Age and Why goin to USVI

Hey Anthony,
Man, you need a vacation! lol ...or change of life. My husband and I were just bored and stagnat in Kansas City. Sold our house, left our jobs, sold our cars, and kissed adult children good-bye. Bought a condo, found a beach job, bought (and paid off) one older jeep, and can't wait to have the kids visit. Yes, it took guts -lots. This board was a huge help. We made 2 pre-move visits shopping for property. We couldn't be much happier. For us, it was most of what we were looking for. We love the culture, the people, the island. It's like moving anywhere - you just gotta "try it on" and see if it fits you!
p.s. we have some great friends who just moved here from Phoenix - they also know Terry & his wife.

Unfortunately, we do have the "gangsta rap" culture here. However, it is not all pervasive. lots of the young people are super.
I guess it is just like anywhere else - the good, the bad, and the boom-dah-boom!!!

People have lots of reasons for wanting to move away from where they live. Sometimes those reasons follow you to a new place and sometimes you can leave them behind.

Life in the islands isn't about living in a permanent vacation fantasy. There are positives and negatives about this location, just as there are about anywhere else. St. Croix has a very small town feel about it. If you thrive on the rush of living in a big city, you may find this island not to your taste. If you like the slower pace and small town friendliness and would love to fly away from the rat race, then it might be worth checking out. The weather is better here than most places, with 300+ days in the 80's each year and parts of August and September in the low 90's. We have rainy seasons and dry seasons, not winter/spring/summer/fall. Even when it rains, it's warm. I like that! (I moved here from Seattle, where it's c-c-c-c-cold most of the year)

When driving about the island, you hear an over-boosted car stereo now and then, but it's not pervasive. The island does have its own culture that can take some people longer to adjust to than others. If you want to live life the mainland way.... stay on the mainland. If you are open to new experiences and don't see everything that is different as being bad... come for a visit and explore. If you like what you find, take the plunge. Lots of people come and stay forever. Some come and stay for a number of years and then move elsewhere. Some come expecting to live in a vacation resort and jump on a plane elsewhere pretty quickly. A good attitude and reasonable expectations are vital.

It is quite common for someone to live here for six months and think they just can't stand the slow pace and island attitudes another day... and go back to the mainland to visit family and friends... and find that they can't stand the traffic and crowds and frenzied pace of life. They happily come back to the islands and see life here with a lot more appreciation. It's easy to forget once you get here what it was about mainland life that you wanted to get away from. When that happens, people reminisce about the good things they miss and forget why they came here. A trip north is a quick reminder!

I enjoyed reading your post. I am coming to STT in 10 days for a 6 month contract at the hospital. I have dreamed of living in the islands for the last 25 years but life has taken different turns. I have lived in small towns...1000 people to Miami and can find the good and bad in both. I am fortunate in the respect I am able to come to the Islands temporarily or permantly as I have always wanted. I have no expectations of living a vacation, but hoping that this will help me decide if island living is for me. What truly got me is your last paragraph about hating the slow pace going back and realizing all the good things about what you left behind. I will for sure keep that in mind... This web board has been a great wealth of info.....
thanks...
Lisa

Howdy,

Thanks for the info! We're in Mesa, AZ. Power Rd. and Southern.

Yeah, every place has it's bad areas and rude people. I don't think I'd miss the "Rat Race" too much. We've been looking at Real Estate Web Sites for Idaho, Montana, Etc. but, I hate the cold weather. Living in Ohio for 12 years is a lesson I won't soon forget!

So... can you direct me to a Real Estate Web Site? I'd like to "have me uh' gander"! Definately NOT looking for the "rush of city life"! I'm pretty lazy so...

My wife and I have a few businesses we are getting up and running. It's mainly Internet Stuff, web sites, blah... blah... blah... Can you tell me of any potential difficulties we might experience? Is there a business friendly atmosphere?

Thanks for all the replies! I look forward to learning more. If interested you can swing by our web site and take a peek. I don't want to violate any regulations so I'll just tell you the name and you can probably figure out the rest...

www.KidChristian

Anyway, thanks for the info.

Terry and Annie, I'll email you. Thanks.

Adios,
Anthony

Anthony,

You can run searches on St. Croix's MLS at the following website:
http://www.ourhomesite.com/stcroixhomes

There are some ready-built links to properties of certain types and price ranges and also the ability to choose your own search criteria. Have fun browsing! If you need any assistance or have questions about what you find, ask away.

If anyone is looking, and I know several of you are, Divi Carina Bay Resort is hiring both bartenders and servers. You must go through the Department of Labor on the island, but you can also contact the F&B manager or assistant and let them know that you have applied at the dept of labor and to look for your application. Just something out there for those looking for a job.

Anthony:

We moved to south of Tucson in January from California, if you want expensive, spend time in California (where we moved to from Cayman and California seemed cheap compared to Cayman where a bunch of broccoli will run you $3.50 and gas at about $4.50) so we found southern Arizona extremely inexpensive. But even though we are "older" (45 and 50) we find it way toooooooooo old where we are, everyone is on oxygen tanks and using walkers.

We are going to STT as we were offered a position as estate managers for a large luxury estate and the pay is terrifice, it comes with complete ly furnished brand new house, full benefits and retirement and full relocation expenses, so we'll just be renting our house out in Arizona and hopping on a plane to STT to start working.

It does seem we have done this backwards. We've never been to STT but we found our job from a US source and the position requires that we relocate to STT it seems most people relocate and then find a job.

We figure if we can handle hurricane season in Cayman for 20 years and Monsoon season in southern Arizona we can handle any other type of weather thrown at us!

Hi Anthony,

Please provide info. if you find out about availabilities. I will be relocating in Dec. 2005, and still unemployed, which is getting scary.
Email: nuyue2001@yahoo.com

I'm going to St Thomas in january of 2006. Will be living at Sapphire!

hi cindy, wondering how does one find a job as an estate manager? i am a travel agent and my hubbie is the hotel business. sounds like a great job. thanks so much

Age: 33

Why am I moving? Well, there are a number of reasons, but first and foremost is the weather. I'm a very outdoorsy person but I've never taken to snow sports. I suffer from mild S.A.D. and I have always hated being cold, so I dread the onset of winter every year.

I grew up on an island in Maine and to this day remain intimately connected to the ocean. Since I was a kid I've always been captivated by the Caribbean. My now ex-wife and I spent our honeymoon on Roatan off Honduras and I have been captivated with the Caribbean every since.

My parents are eventually relocating to Florida, but the thought of moving down there to be near them makes my skin crawl. I spent a lot of time in Hawaii for work and loved both the weather and the lifestyle but I couldn't deal with the distance from the East Coast (sorry, not a west-coaster).

It's been years now since my marriage fell apart, and I've spent much of that time sorting through what my real priorities are. I'm concerned that I'm going to become like my parents - dull, overweight, and unhappy, living in a cookie-cutter subdivision and going through the motions of life and doing only what is sensible and putting off my "ideal" life off until retirement.

I've never desired the high power corporate life. I am a creative person by nature, stimulated by sensory variety on all levels. I live simply and prefer an uncomplicated, low stress life.

And since it's difficult or undesirable to relocate to any of the other Caribbean islands that aren't US possessions, USVI it is.