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Hi everyone!!...I am trying to get to the islands around the first week of february and plan on staying for a year to start and hopefully longer. I have vacationed there in the past and told myself that this is where my next home would be! I'm a 32 year old male coming down from Texas. I would love to live and work on St. John as my first choice but depending on costs of apartments and job opportunities I may be on STT. I have a couple of thousand dollars saved up (not much i know) and a small line of credit on my mastercard. but my plan is to fly into stt, and stay at villa fairview or something similar temporarily. when I say temporary I am thinking a week or two until I can find a permanent spot. I plan on trying to get a job on one of the excursion boats as a mate or hand, whatever I can find, or if that doesnt work out maybe try to get a resort job. But finding employment is definitely my top priorty when I arrive. I am thinking that I will need a rental car to explore and jobhunt, but I do not plan on shipping a vehicle down, at least for now. I may want to ship a motorcycle after I am there a while but for now i will use the bus or dollar rides. pretty much coming down with a suitcase and and a dream. I've always been a risk taker and I know it will be tough at first but with what i have told you, as far as working on one of the boats full time, can i make enough to pay rent and utilities and still be able to eat? I guess I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has winged it like I am. I have been reading the forums and appreciate all the info!! Also, if anyone is looking to rent a room or needs a roomate please let me know. And any job opportunities that you can point me to would be greatly appreciated!!! See you in February!!
Posted : January 19, 2006 3:01 am
I have never "winged it" as you are planning to do, but if any type of settler can make it in this way, it's a 32-year-old unattached male. How far off the tracks can you go?
Come down, welcome and good luck to you.
Posted : January 19, 2006 9:37 am
You shouldn't have any problems as long as you keep your positive attitude and a tight grip on your wallet. It's going to be a bit expensive to get started so make sure you have about 3 months of money to keep you sheltered and fed until you can get your feet under you. I came down with 2 suitcases, a bit of cash in the bank, and good credit. Now it's 8 months later and I'm still here even though I went a bit crazy with the spending the first couple of months I was here. It's seriously too easy to feel like you're on vacation when you first arrive so try to keep in mind this is now your home and you must work just as you did where you came from.
It may be a bit more difficult finding work on a boat than in other places unless you have some experience, first aid and cpr training and a current drug test. Experience is much harder to come by than the latter two. Also, it seems to be that most of the boat jobs are taken, but if you do have experience and are ready to network your butt off (try the bars near the marinas) you may find something if a mate decides to leave his/her boat. My boyfriend is a mate (working on getting his captain's license) on 2 different boats and hasn't been consistantly working. Hopefully, things will pick up. I've been hearing from various sources that the season has been slower
than usual.
Posted : January 19, 2006 3:29 pm
