Joining in !

welcome to the forums. i hope you have enjoyed the reading.

the most popular form of construction is concrete. they tend to stand up better to the hurricanes we can get.

how old are your children? would you homeschool, public or private?

Just read a year back on this forum. Every question you have has been answered. We are moving to the rock within a few years and have very few questions as almost all are already answered previously. Lots of research will be your best bet. Many different experiences from the forum members. Some good some bad and some ugly. No matter what make sure you have the ability to move. Whether back to the states or to another island etc.... you may hate it. You may love it. You may get robbed or have your home broken into. Nothing may ever happen hopefully. It is the states on a micro scale, so crime is very close to home. You can't just ignore it like in the states.

Again I don't live there. I am just another hopeful looking to live in paradise. But remember paradise isn't heaven. It's painful and full of hard work. Likely much harder than you have in your current situation. But some find it easy.
No matter what, good luck in Whatever you choose.

Thank You! Yes, I've seen some of the half finished listings on the local real estate pages. Pretty straight forward design it seems.

Our children are 6,4,18m and I'm due in Aug. with all three little one's having bdays in the fall. I know my husband's main concern is schooling there, and we couldn't afford private, and we'd both have to work f/t, so public it would be. I know I've read some less than stellar things (in general) about the pub school system, but I was hoping to find/talk with other parents of school age children to see what they thought.

I haven't made it that far back but I intend to do some digging! I am a realist with an optimistic heart. I think our ultimate plan is to do a pmv, maybe make it a yr and go from there. As far as crime, etc, we just had a shooting a few houses down...:-o so not completely removed from that kind of thing.

Honestly, the last two yrs has been the hardest of our lives so far. We fell on hard times and have been struggling to dig our way out, but it's been a humbling experience with lots of lessons along the way, and in a weird way I really think it's been a help to prepare us for the road ahead! We own our home, cars, and are setting aside money for the future. I don't see myself sipping rum on the beach all day, but rather focusing the down time with our children doing all the wonderful things the island has to offer. I'm not afraid of hard work. 😀

GL to you and yours in your near future move!!

From what I've read public schools still use corporal punishment. Maybe not all but some. Remember that it may be subject to US laws and courts, it is still its own nation in many ways. Our kids will likely go to public schools as well. But be prepared for the ruler to hit the hand.

If I am incorrect so done please say so.

Anyways like I said, go back into this forum a year. All you want to know is here already. Then once you have found the questions you can see if they are still relevant
.

when the time comes, what type of work do you all do?
it is by no means cheap to live here, but it can be a great learning adventure

I would say career would be the key factor. Although it sounds like service industry can be good enough, a profession is preferred. I am a Federal gov employee. And my wife is in healthcare. So at least we have those fields.

I am searching right now VT2VI! That's def something I've learned in my mothering type forums- search first. the answers are there already, in most cases!

speedy1dy- I am not really sure to be honest... This is going to prove our biggest hurdle. My husband worked for most of his life in the Hvac business, lol, so that's not really a help. He did do sales and mngmnt though, so def something to highlight on the ol' resume. Currently he works for a lumberyard doing physical labor type stuff. I thought I read that there is a bowling alley there on the island? If so,I thought that might be a good place for him to look into, (maybe p/t) as he is a terrific bowler- maybe to give lessons or something? AFM- I was a hairstylist, but have since let my licence run out b/c I am a stay at home mom right now. We have a comm college here in town, so I thought it might be wise for me to look into some marketable skills type classes. We are for sure lower middle class even here, and I know that the job market is soft, but we aren't above working whatever jobs we have to, ykwim? In the meantime, we are going to save as much as poss, and are thinking about the costs of moving, all the nickel and diming that we will incure as well for shipping our things, etc. (tu)

Where there's a will, there's a way, right? I've overcome mountains in my short lifetime, and by god, I won't be tripped up by some pebbles along my path.

I am certainly open to any advice though!

living is rough being lower middle class, i know as i am one of those without a lot of money. pebbles are always in the way where ever you live.

just keep reading and saving money.

Have about 20K. If you are moving items, car household etc.. plus housing car registry food cabs until you get your car. If it were just two of you 10k might do. With kids I doubt it. If you have any special needs, meds etc. Find out if its available or if you need to bring it. Take your car as a good beater will likely cost more than its worth. Be prepared to wait on everything. Bills services mail. And don't be dis outraged by the crime posts. As you know already crime is everywhere.

Discouraged*

I'm hoping we will have much more than 20k saved before then. I am thinking 5yr plan. 😎 I'm a long term planner and researcher. lol But mostly because all our kids will be in school, and I can enter the workforce once more. No diapers, car seats, (ok maybe boosters) much easier at that point with 4 kids! We visited several of the islands several yrs ago, and just loved everything about them. <3 My husband works as an insurance adjuster seasonally as well, so we've learned to live off his f/t job paycheck, and the money we had from the other job went to pay for fixing our house. Now that we are almost done with that, the excess money will go into a savings account to pay for all of the basics and the unknown's. We are already talking about buying (cash) newer vehicles, american made, of course, prior to the move.

thanks for all the input!! keep in coming!

AFM- I was a hairstylist, but have since let my licence run out b/c I am a stay at home mom right now.

I am a hairstylist too and am planning to move to the VI this fall. I also have my BS in Accounting. Pretty much everyone I have spoken to (either on the phone or on the island when I did my PMV) has told me there is a need for good hairstylists on the islands, especially if you do special occasion styling (ie, updos for weddings). Luckily for me, wedding styling is a specialty of mine. I've been told I should be just fine finding work once I get my VI cosmetology license. (I am still planning as if it will take a few months to find work because you never know what can happen) It may be worth it for you to renew your license as something to fall back on when you are on the island because lets face it, everyone needs their hair done at some point and there are a ton of destination weddings here. Just a thought....

Regardless, welcome to the board and good luck!

AFM- I was a hairstylist, but have since let my licence run out b/c I am a stay at home mom right now.

I am a hairstylist too and am planning to move to the VI this fall. I also have my BS in Accounting. Pretty much everyone I have spoken to (either on the phone or on the island when I did my PMV) has told me there is a need for good hairstylists on the islands, especially if you do special occasion styling (ie, updos for weddings). Luckily for me, wedding styling is a specialty of mine. I've been told I should be just fine finding work once I get my VI cosmetology license. (I am still planning as if it will take a few months to find work because you never know what can happen) It may be worth it for you to renew your license as something to fall back on when you are on the island because lets face it, everyone needs their hair done at some point and there are a ton of destination weddings here. Just a thought....

Regardless, welcome to the board and good luck!

Thanks- I know, I've thought about it, but I wasn't a full service stylist. 🙁 I worked for Great Clips for 10 yrs and it was perms and h/c's. No color and not much updo styling. Men and kids is mostly what I did. I did have a nice little following though. I don't mean to sound negative about my abilities- but I'd be very afraid to color/bleach/hilight someones hair at this point. lol I will def be reconsidering getting my license renewed though!