Hello, future STX resident here

Welcome Christine to the board!

We don't get hurricanes every year or even every other year... it does get a bit stressful monitoring and thinking the worse and then whew its not going to affect us and then upppps there is another one coming this way and oh there is one developing here or there. 🙂 Not much you can do about mother nature.

There are many year-round jobs. What field?

--Islander

Hi Islander,
Thanks for the info. I lived on the east coast of Florida for a few years and monitoring those hurricanes freaked me out! Glad to hear they don't hit too often.

Right now I'm getting my degree in business administration and my husband does residential and commercial window film. Not sure if they have that down there, but he has other experience and really would do anything. I work online and I'd really like to home school my daughter there instead of put her in public school. Private will be an option if we have the money.

Something that upsets me is we've only told our close family members about the move and everyone is very negative about it. We understand how they would think it's crazy, but we are set on this dream. We move around a lot, we love new people and places, and especially the beach. We really don't spend a lot of time with family and friends, we kind of do our own thing, go to the beach a lot, travel, stay home. We're not into material things, we just relax and enjoy life, that's why we want to live in the islands.

We'll be visiting STX again this July and saving lots of money for the next year and a half or more for the move. Do we sound like we might do OK there, I just need to hear something positive please!

Christine, my family is relocating to STX in 2 weeks. We are currently homeschooling our 6yo and almost 4yo. I haven't been able to find much by way of homeschooling, but I am sure it's do-able.

Don't worry about family negativity too much, they love you and are just worried. It's normal! Many people get into a comfortable rut and become afraid of change. I have a close friend who is a doom and gloom type, but I just figure I'll be having fun while she's rotting on her well-worn sofa! I'll be much happier!

Brandy

homeschooling info: http://www.tchers.net/

We have a 3 year and e month old and unless we make enough money I too will homeschool. There seem to ge good support on the Island for homeschooler. Check out the link I posted. We will make the move as soon as my husband finds work.

Iris

Iris, please tell me where you found the homeschooling support. TCHERS is mainly on Puerto Rico (and the email group communicates often in Spanish), and travelling to Puerto Rico from STX to partake in activities isn't something I can do.

I've been looking for homeschooling info for 5 weeks and haven't found anything specifically on STX, so if you know something, please share!!

Brandy

This is the contact person listed for STX on the homeschooling forum Merlee Bryan. I have not contacted her yet as I am not sure when we will move to STX. Let me know what information you receive. There are also some great books for homeschool parents as well as a magazine. I found the info on the Vi homeschooling forum useful.

Search this forum as well. A wile back several people where talking about homeschooling and mentioned a few things going on on STX.

geniustribe@hotmail.com

Iris

St Croix is a great place we have a condo for rent $1100.00 it has great security. There are lots of jobs for people who want to work hard. I have two daughters 21 and 23 thinking of moving to st croix and starting there own business. Its laid back and relaxed life style.

Thanks everyone for posting. I feel a lot better. Brandy, your saying about the gloomy friend on the couch and you having fun sticks in my head. You are so right! I will be looking into homeschooling. I'm not very worried about the cost of living there because where I live is really expensive except the income level is very high here. The one thing I know I will miss A LOT is shopping at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart. I've stopped drinking coffee cold turkey, well atleast now I won't miss Starbucks:)

I have plenty of time to think and plan and save money but it seems like the more I think the more scared I get. The one thing my family keeps saying is what kind of a life will my daugter have there? She won't be able to go to museums, baseball games, the opera, etc. I remember this one time when I was little I met this family from the islands. The only way I can explain it is they seemed so free. I've always remembered that and said that's where I want to go. The way I think and live is enjoy every single moment in time. Watch the sunset everyday, listen to the sounds of the ocean, love all kinds of people. I hope it will be a good place for my daughter to grow up.

I love it there, can't wait!

Hi Christine!

And welcome. M<y husband Kelly and I moved to St. Croix from Washington DC just short of a year ago and are very, very happy here.

Good news for you -- you won't have to go cold turkey on shopping at the bargain bulk stores after you move. We have our own version of Sam's Club called Cost U Less -- it is one of my favorite places to shop on the island. No fee to join, and they carry a bit of everything from frozen food to generators, including office supplies, electronics (we bought our TV there), furniture, area rugs, fresh fruit and vegetables, dry goods, beef/chicken/fish/shrimp, cleaning supplies and on and on and on. You can't always count on finding the same things twice (my hubby has been longing for a particular brand of boneless spicy chicken wings he found on our first Cost U Less shopping trip that hasn't been seen since) but I've found that there is a pretty decent level of stability in what they stock.

While your daughter won't be able to do some of the things you mention, she'll hardly be lacking interesting things to do. The culture on St. Croix is incredibly rich and diverse, and there are sports leagues for basketball, baseball, soccer -- and even cricket. Many different types of shows that come to the performing arts center, including singers, bands, dance troupes, and my favorite -- a caribbean based theater company (Oliver Samuels and Company) that have played two original comedies here in the last year. There's also a very active community theater group. Crucians know how to celebrate and don't hesitate to do so: there was a community picnic on Transfer Day (March 31, marking the day in 1917 on which the territory became a part of the US) where a couple hundred folks came together to watch students perform the quadrille, listen to steel bands, break bread together and just bascially enjoy life. Prior to that was the St. Croix Agricultural Fair. Between jump ups (usually an evening party in the downtown area in which stores stay open late and offer special sales, bands perform, and food is served), Carnival during the Christmas holiday season, sailing regattas, a triathalon, fabulous beaches and coral reefs, plantation ruins, an exquisite botanical garden and rain forest, and the ever popular beer drinking pigs, your daughter will be able to learn about cultures, history, and traditions that are as enjoyable and enriching (beer drinking pigs excepted) as any mainland museum or symphony.

It's normal to be a bit scared -- this is probably one of the biggest moves many of us will ever make. From everything I've read from you, you'll come through it all just fine because you are bringing the most important things in the world with you: a sense of adventure and a positive attitude. It's clear you've also been planning, and having a decent amount of savings to fall back on as you get settled is always a good thing. Although I had a brief moment of sheer terror and actually said, "Oh god what have I gotten us into?" as we walked into our house in STX for the first time (we bought a house in need of some serious renovations and it looked pretty darn scary when empty), that reaction was gone in a matter of seconds. I was certain this was the right thing to do from the minute we stepped off the plane for our pre-move visit, and I've only become more certain of that ever since. I get the feeling it's going to be the same for you.

Keep us in the loop as your moving plans take shape -- we all love to read about everyone's experiences and they are the best teaching tools for folks who are thinking are taking the plunge.

Have a wonderful day, and relax! It will all be good, mon. *grin*

HC

Hip Crip,

I read these boards daily - trying desperately to absorb all of the information I can before we move to STX in June. I have to say that the posts you have made in the last few days have been some of the most encouraging and informative posts that I have seen on the board in the last 3 months or so since I started reading them.

I did gather that you have a physical disability... may I ask what you limitations are? We are moving with our 2 children, the oldest of which has Cerebral Palsy (she is 14). She walks with a cane and has some fine motor issues as well. We perceive this move as very positive for her because where we are now (NH) she is pretty much house bound from October - March/April because of icy conditions. On STX she will be able to enjoy the great outdoors all year round 🙂

When we get on island we will need to get a handicap parking permit. Should I get her MD here to write some kind of letter for the DMV or will I need a Dr. on STX to take care of that? If you have any idea, it sure would be helpful!

Thank you again for your encouraging and insightful posts. They are very helpful to me!

Susan

HC,
Thank you so much for your great post. It has made me feel a lot better. There is much more there than I imagined for residents. I will not come down without being completely prepared for anything. I can't believe how many posts there are about people moving to the USVI. It seems like all the islands would be filled with people from the mainland. Obviously that's not the case, so a lot of people must be moving back. Like I said we are visiting again this July, this time, no resorts, no vacation, just really looking at life there. I hope it works out for us, we love it there.