Just for Fun...

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're own - 26 years

2-Where you are from originally - USA

3-Why you left wherever you were - Hated it

4-Your favorite thing about island life - Nobody's a cookie cutter. Status-seeking isn't as much a way of life. You're not looked down on if your car looks like it was retrieved from the dump & very possibly the one driving the beater owns 1/3 of the island. You're more judged for what you ARE vs what you appear to be & these islands quickly figure out what that is.

5-Your least favorite thing about island life - Some cruise ship passengers & those that someone here (Juanita maybe?) referred to as missionaries who are going to move here & teach us all how much better they do things back home. 🙂

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're on Since June STX
2-Where you are from originally Ann Arbor Michigan GO BLUE!!
3-Why you left wherever you were I think everyone here either ran away from something or ran here to get something. We ran away from our kids...:) jk We just became empty nesters. Michigan economy was failing and we were looking at NC, FL then a job came along on Career Builder while I happened to be looking for myself. It was for hubby and they hired him immediately here. We had just a month to get him ready and our home ready to sell after living in it for 14 years. We sold the home in September.
4-Your favorite thing about island life The slow pace Looking at water when our friends are looking at ice
5-Your least favorite thing about island life. The trash some days gets to me. I see the food containers alongside the benches on the boardwalk and see the bottles thown alongside the road.

Trade-Your answer for why you love the island is something I am seeking. I have sort of gotten to the point where the people who are my friends are even starting to annoy me with thier shallow thinking....
For example, defining themselves by their weight or appearance, how much stuff they have, the cars or neighborhoods they live in. One of our biggest reasons for wanting to move is to show the children life doesn't have to be so little as that!

Thanks for the replies...I hope other people will keep 'em coming! I love people stories, I'm not trying to be nosey!

Tamara

I have a house on STX, after to horrid winter, really DREAMING, about living there, for all the reasons mentioned above. Stayed on the island for 3 or 4 months at a time.

Been coming down for 6 years
From the COLD Northeast, burrrrrrr
The climate/the sea/the sun.....................
The climate, the see, the sun, the friends and fun........................
KMart checkouts!!!!

I have a house on STX, after a horrid winter, really DREAMING, about living there, for all the reasons mentioned above. Stay on the island for 3 or 4 months at a time.

Been coming down for 6 years
From the COLD Northeast, burrrrrrr
The climate/the sea/the sun.....................
The climate, the see, the sun, the friends and fun........................
KMart checkouts!!!!

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're own
STX full time for 10 years

2-Where you are from originally
Originally Memphis,TN most recently Seattle,WA

3-Why you left wherever you were
Warm weather and beautiful water

4-Your favorite thing about island life
The people and the rum

5-Your least favorite thing about island life
No good bookstores no decent local university.

1. 1 1/2 years, STT

2. U.S.

3. Because I could and because life is short

4. The views, the views, the views; sometimes my work; the weather (except for the mildew-creating humidity)

5. Everything else. Yes, everything.

Don't know if #4 will be enough to sustain me.

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're on -- STX, 2 years
2-Where you are from originally -- born in NYC, reared in the Philly suburbs, lived all over the world
3-Why you left wherever you were -- too damned many people
4-Your favorite thing about island life -- pace of life is slow and relaxed
5-Your least favorite thing about island life -- the cost of going anywhere else.

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're on: STT - almost a year, yet not more than a few hours!? (answer to this riddle below)
2-Where you are from originally: rootless - SE USA, more or less. Sailed from St. Pete, FL in 2001 and returned to US waters in 2007.
3-Why you left wherever you were: the wind blew me here (literally!), a job is holding me here for now...
4-Your favorite thing about island life: the same as everywhere - meeting the people and learning appreciation of the local flora and fauna.
5-Your least favorite thing about island life: potholes, taxi drivers (many are inconsiderate and some drive their oversized vehicles on windy road curves like they're compact cars - dangerous). and the riddle - too easy, right? I "live" here on a boat.

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're own
STX since 2005

2-Where you are from originally
New Jersey

3-Why you left wherever you were
Property taxes too high, we both telecommuted, so we could live anywhere, and the wife always wanted to live on an island

4-Your favorite thing about island life
Sense of community, social life, weather

5-Your least favorite thing about island life
Crime, and the phenomenal size of the local gov't

1-How long you've been on island and which island you're own
almost 6 months

2-Where you are from originally
originally from the DC area but moved here from Miami

3-Why you left wherever you were
Miami was shallow and it was hard to find a good job since I'm not fluent in Spanish

4-Your favorite thing about island life
weather, pretty scenery, snorkelling, not paying $9 to see a movie and being able to get a large popcorn, 2 waters, and a candy bar for under $10 when I'm there..I also treasure the few people I've been able to get close to here.

5-Your least favorite thing about island life
I'm up there with Jules on this. Pretty much everything else. Unfortunately, #4 can't sustain me. I'm leaving around the beginning of April.

One thing I forgot to put in the "like" column-- and I really wanted to write this because this like seems so counter to most other opinions:

I like the tourists. I like it when they are smiling and enjoying themselves. I feel inexplicably guilty when it is a rainy day because I feel bad for the tourists.

Without tourists, this island would have no economy. The only jobs would be governmental yet there would be little money to govern. Imagine the poverty. The (even more out of control) crime.

Even if I'm having a less-than-happy-to-be-here day, it lifts my spirits to see a tourist enjoying him/herself.

On a related note, don't you cringe when you see Havensight cruise passengers walking up towards Lockhart/hospital? Don't you want to tell them "NO! NO! go the other way!! You're wasting precious time!!" 🙂

1. 1 year 4 months

2. Oklahoma then New England then Georgia then Wisconsin

3. Much better working hours, shorter commute and for the beaches and snorkeling

4. I love the sunny days, no snow to shovel or leaves to rake. I love the friendly smiles and I love the flowers and scenery the cultural variety, the languages!

5. The corruption in places hi and low, the backstabbing and sabotaging of new staff, the trash and the crime.

1 - Moved to St Thomas in 1976

2 - Boston area

3 - Wanted to live somewhere warm and American after I finished a 5 year project in Cambridge Ma.

4 - The very accepting people and their lack of a need for status symbols and the ability to be friends with someone regardless of their social or economic status. Everyone says Good Morning to you and will help anyone else who needs them when you are polite, friendly and honest.

5 - people who need to change the casual way of life here to fit their ideas and wishes - also no affordable ice cream

1. Husband and I moved to STT June, 2007 (so, going on 9 months!!)

2. Me - NC Hubby - FL

3. Got married on STJ and wanted to live in the USVI ever since

4. The climate, the views, the water, the beaches, the unpretentiousness, not having to "keep up with the Jones'" so to speak

5. Potholes(!), stray cats/dogs (I want to give all of them homes), cruise ship traffic