Moving Blindly to STX

I moved down here sight unseen from Jacksonville as well, but I already had a job lined up. Cost of living here is not too bad, I pay about the same rent that I did in Jax. Electricity is more expensive. Gas and cigarettes are cheap.

Feel free to email me any questions.

Dave

My husband and I moved here actually from Haines City but we were both raised in Jacksonville. Having been here 11 years we don't have much comparison about home town prices but my sister was down from Jax last year and was really only surprised by some of the name brand food (i.e. cereal, cheese) and oddly enough the seafood prices. The rest didn't seem to shock her much.

You'll hear a lot of people say do apre-move visit, take your time, plan your move but I will tell you after Jacksonville, this place is a breath of fresh air. Let me know if I can help.

Pamela

How do you spell "ayeayeayeayeaye?"

Sarah, you and your husband-to-be are 20 years old and you're moving BLIND to St. Croix right after you get married?

As much as I admire your adventurous spirits, being newlywedded is a life in itself without moving blindly to a Caribbean island which you've only heard about via friends or via various forums.

Obviously you have no jobs in situ. I only hope that, if you're bound and determined to make this gigantic move, you have SEVERAL THOUSAND dollars to bring with you in order to cover your expenses for the first few months. The fantasy of living by the Caribbean catching fish and eating coconuts to survive went out with the Dodo.

Devil's advocate says stay where you are and make a life together for a while before embarking on such a grand move. "Vespas?" Scooters are generally not recommended for basic transportation and you can research many threads on this forum about them.

Do please take a breath and re-think your priorities, along with just settling down into married life and doing a LOT more research.

We've already got jobs... we're both taking massive pay raises to move, and our rent and moving expenses are included in the deal... it's the kind of thing you absolutely can't pass up (especially at our age). We already know we're moving... no question there. Marriage will not be as big of a leap for us as most. We've lived together for quite a while.

Otherwise, any help is appreciated. We'd love to meet as many people as we can when we move. We're leaving a lot of friends behind.

And thanks for the cost advice to the two from Jax... all the info I've been able to find is at least a few years old.

Sarah

The cost of living is not horrible. If you live simply, you can live cheaply here or anywhere in the world. Personally, I need a car, but I know people who get by without one. I sometimes pick up known hitchhikers to take them into work. You can work out such an arrangement with people. Some people ride scooters. The terrain is fairly gentle and drivers are usually slow and courteous.

It is true that you can harvest coconuts, catch food from the sea, and eat many plants from the forest and savannah. Ask the Rastafarians and old folks. This is the tropics. You can grow much of your own food year round if you have access to land and a well.

Yes, the biggest thing I miss about the mainland is my family and friends. They can come down here to visit. I have no interest in going back. I think you’ll find it much easier living here than on the mainland.

Dear Sarah,

Mea culpa sort of - your post said you were moving here "blind" and I interpreted that as meaning you didn't already have jobs lined up.

Gas of course is on the rise here (as it is all over the mainland US) but more so in STT and STJ than on STX where the Hovensa Refinery keeps the price a lot lower than on the other two islands. While gas on STT has crept up in the last week to an average $2.60 per gallon, it's still substantially lower on STX.

Milk runs about $2.50/half gallon for "reconstituted" milk which is a combination of real milk from real island cows and reconstituted milk from powder. Most newbies think the reconstituted milk is awful but I got used to it quite quickly, as do most. The average big supermarket or the smaller "quality" markets do carry stateside milk. A bit more expensive, you need to drink it rather fast as it doesn't hold up very well. Check the expiration date and even then plan on being disappointed as I've found over the years that in can curdle quicker than a (oops, I shall go no further but it was something about a witch's...never mind)

Cigarettes? You'll probably be in seventh Heaven! $14-15 a carton. Just please don't leave your butts on the beach! There is nothing worse than going to a relatively pristine beach and finding ciggie butts washed up on the incoming tide, forming a rim around the beach. Whenever I go to the beach I package up my butts either in a soda can or a plastic bag and either put them in a proper garbage receptacle or, if none is available, I take them home.

Hope I've been of a little more help this time around. Cheers!

Along the same line, the things which surprised me the most when moving here (regarding prices) were: watermelons, tomatoes, shrimp and the lack of oysters at any price. I was disappointed in the seafood as I expected the same quality, quantity and variety we had in Florida. Not so. It can all be had but at a price. I get weepy at Red Lobster commericals - a restuarant I would not have visited in the states!

BTW, paid $2.77 for premium gas on STT yesterday - OUCH!

"The terrain is fairly gentle and drivers are usually slow and courteous."

I lived in STX in the early to mid 90's and this DEFINITELY was not the case...SLOW & COURTEOUS was not in possible...things changed?

Hi Sarah,

We're rapidly coming up on our first anniversary on STX, so I'll give you whatever insight I can.

I have to say I shudder a bit at thinking of all the stressors you're facing with the new (and I assume) first marriage, move and new jobs. It may be easier on you if you have lived together and gotten all those little surprises out of the way, as well as deciding on how you will manage money, the household, etc. There is little that can prepare you for the realities of landing down here as a new resident -- it requires a lot of adjustments, and you already sound like you're in for far more than your share.

You'll likely want/need a car. Personally, I wouldn't ride a vespa down here for anything - and I'm one of the folks who agree that the drivers are more courteous here than anyplace I've ever lived (though not always slow-going). If nothing else, I don't think you'll be visible enough to avoid close calls or being hit since folks here aren't used to sharing the road with them (I haven't seen a single scooter since arriving here). There are also some pretty big inclines to tackle and potholes potholes potholes that can even be rough in some of the smaller cars, but most of all I can't see how you'd be able to get all those staples and cigarettes you've asked about home with only a scooter.

On a wages to housing costs ratio, the USVI is more expensive than anyplace I've ever lived. It's not just the cost of the house/condo itself, it's also the hurricane insurance (which you may already be prepared for coming from Florida) and electricity that make it add up. We pay more each month for those two items combined than we do for our mortgage.

Gas is cheap thanks to having the Hovensa refinery on island. We last paid $1.79/gallon -- prices are poretty consistent from station to station across the island.

I strongly urge you to read the post from *Gasp* about confessions of someone who is moving from STT back to the states. STX is even more spread out than STT is, and isn't a place I would have been happy to live when I was your age for all of the reasons listed by *Gasp*.

I'll give you the same advice we were given about moving here: a) consider renting for at least six months, b) leave most of your belongings up there in storage for that same period of time, and only pay to ship them here only after you're sure you love your new jobs and the island, and c) keep enough money on hand to move back to the US just in case you find that STX isn't for you.

That said, I wish you nothing but the best for your wedding and the big move. It will certainly be an adventure that you will alaways remember, that's for sure!

HipCrip

Does anyone have a conact number for Power House? I think that it is a welding company that does work at Hovensa Refinery Camp Ground. I would appreciate any information you could provide regarding this company.

Thanks,