I may be of some Help

Ryan

Great comments. I hope people ask you other specific questions that help others decide about their USVI move. You are young and flexible...that helps.

We all have a dream, but it is important to see if we can make it work.

Hope you are still here and having a great time...

I just posted a message myself......my husband and I are moving to St.John in August. After honeymooning there in October of last year, we were sold. From what I've been told, it's very hard to find housing on SJ. Do you know anything about that??
Thank you,
Amanda

Hi Rybot, I appreciate your attitude and flexibility in answering questions. Myself and boyfriend have been planning for about a year to move to stt. We have been saving for a while and have a nice chunk of money to get started. We have friends there and they are willing to put us up until we find a place (a couple of weeks) so that is a big help. We are currenly struggling here to sell our cars, both vehicles we do not own and need to get the payoffs at least. Our goal is the end of june or july, we don't have an exact date due to the cars that have to be sold. I'm concerned about finding a job, I think it would be rather open since we are going in the off season. I waitress so I need to know if you have any suggestions to a decent place to go when I arrive. I was thinking the large hotels or well known restaurants. Any suggestions on places? My other question is a vehicle, would you suggest me renting a vehicle week by week until we purchase one, what is the best way expense wise, private sale or possibly buy a vehicle from the car rentals or go to a car dealer? Finding a place to live and buying a vehicle (as well as a job) are my top 3 concerns. Any info you can give me would be great.
Thanks for all your help.

Linda

Linda, you should have no problem finding a place on St John. I would recomend calling the VI Daily News(Not sure of #) and having them send you a paper along with an Island Trader( a classified that comes out every Thurs) which will allow you to get an idea of places that are for rent and should give you should contact names and numbers. Also, you should just ask around when you get to the islands, go to the local deli where people post want ads, rooms for rent, etc. Hope this helps

Rybot

I understand your situation completely, I was in the same situation. I bought my ticket for a Monday, and didn't end up selling my car until the Saturday before. I would advise putting the car on autotrader.com. As far as waitressing goes, you will have no problem finding a job. Now, I lived on the east end of the island, in Red Hook, so I can't comment on the rest of the island. Red Hook is a popular spot b/c you have a lot of restaurants, bars, shops, etc. Plus, a lot of resorts are located within a mile of Red Hook (the RItz, Wyndham, Sapphire, Renaissance). As far as places to work, my roomate worked at Duffy's in Red Hook and made really good money in season, but the shifts were long and it was a lot of work. Personally, If I were you, it is so easy for girls to jobs as a mate on sailboats/powerboats. All you do is go boating all day and serve some drinks, swim with guests, and entertain, and depending on the boat, you can make anywhere from 150-275 a day. All you would do is go to the marina in Red Hook and walk the docks asking if anyone needs a mate. Usually, no experience is required. As far as a vehicle goes, I lived there a year and never had one. They are a not needed but can be very helpful. Depending where you live you can either walk to work, or take the "dollar" which is like an island shuttle service that runs constantly, that costs obviously $1. If you were to buy a car I would suggest calling the Daily News and have them send you a paper along with an Island Trader that has places for rent, jobs, and cars. Most people have island cars, which are usually pieces of junk, but get you from a to b, which isn't bad because you don't usually aren't in your car too much unless you go downtown. But you can buy from a dealership if you wanted, I had a friend buy a '96 Wrangler for $6000,and he hasn't had any troubles with it. But you can find anything from a $500 car to a $50000. Let me know if you would like to know anything else, Good Luck!

Rybot

Rybot, Thanks for the information, I never thought of being a mate, and without experience, thats definitely a thought. I didn't think they made that kind of money either. I was on a sailboat there once (when we were on vacation) and there was a male captain and female mate, we hit a rain squal and boy was I impressed with how they kept us afloat and how they managed to get us "around" the wall of rain, I was very impressed, I was a little scared, but it was my first rail squal AND sailboat road, alot of fun.
As for the cars, I will have my friends keep eyes peeled for some good private sales once we have a date established.
Thanks again for the info.

Linda

No problem, let me know if you have any other questions

Hi Rybot,

I am interested to know what made your first two months so difficult? What was the most challenging element? Was $2000 enough money? How long did it take you to find an apartment? If you lived in Red Hook, you must have bought a car-how did you have enough money to do all of that with $2000?

I am trying to figure out much money I can really do this with. I'm glad to hear it was one of the best years of your life. I am sensing it will be the same for me as well!

Shawn

Shawn, the first couple months are so difficult b/c there is so much to do when you first arrive. Just the combination of finding a job, finding a place, getting utilities set up, getting a bank account, getting a food permit, and just learning new customs and getting settled will be frustrating and time consuming-Especially when all you want to do is go to the beach and drink. Honestly, $2000 made it very difficult for me. It was like being back in college eating Ramen noodles every day. It also depends what time of year you move down, I came right at beginning of Hurricane Season, when its slowest and not much money to be made on island. Finding an apt was relatively easy, it only took about a week. Living in Red Hook made me not have to have a car, since I was within walking distance to work, food, bars, etc. But there were many times when I would like to have a car, it just wasn't a necessity. If you plan on staying longer than a year, I would recommend it. Money wise, I would bring as much as you possibly can, anything less than $2K, would make it almost impossible. Good Luck, let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Ryan

Okay, Ryan, I give. Have been to STT and STX, and am waiting to close on and move into an STX house...yet you stumped me.

What the heck is a food permit??????

Signed,
A confused HipCrip who is moving in just over three weeks

Yooooo HipCrip
See what you miss when your on 'vacation'. Anyone who works around food including servers, waitresses, cooks, bartenders blah blah blah, has to be checked for typhoid. Ronnie posted the process recently in a post. yikes, I'm used to taking cat stool samples to the vet not my own!!!! (to the Doc) Once youve passed this and something else, you get this permit. I'm sure I should have paid more attention being as we want to buy a b&b