Moving to STT the first week of December

Hello! My boyfriend and I are moving to the island on November 30th. We are in the same boat as far as what we are looking for. If we find any good deals, I will let you know and I hope you will do the same. Why are you guys moving and where from? E-mail me if you want to go explore the island or have a drink.
Liberty
las656s@yahoo.com

I got a job on STT. We're moving from Las Vegas...so it will be a much needed change of pace. Where are you and your boyfriend moving from? Ages? I'm 31 and my girlfriend is 25. If I see any good deals, i'll let you know.

thanks

We are moving from Springfield, Mo. I am 24,my boyfriend is 26, and we have a bassett hound. We are both in the hospitality industry and will be looking for jobs. I just graduated and I am looking for a managenment position and he is a sous chef here looking for a kitchen job. It is going to be hard to job/rental/car search when we first get there because I know the beach will be calling my name. Oh well, take care of business first and then hopefully we will find time to play. I look forward to meeting

Just a "Devil's Advocate" plea to you both, Martin and "las656s" on behalf of your animals! I see, Martin, that you have a temporary place to stay with the two cats and that's a good t'ing!

Just remember that relocation, change of venue or ritual period is difficult for even the most well-loved pet, whether canine or feline. Animals are territorial by nature and any kind of a move is traumatic to them.

When I moved to STT donkey's years ago I too had a temporary place to stay where both my dog and cat were welcomed and I was subsequently able to find a more permanent location where they were safe. I was fortunate in that even though my residences changed over the years I was able to take my ever-increasing "family" of pets with me - and now I'm totally stuck with inside and outside, young and old felines who've got me so so tied down that even a night out isn't an option.

I suppose my point is that, despite how well things worked out for me and my wonderful dog and cat so many years ago, I would urge anyone with animals to leave their pets at home in the care of family or friends before subjecting them to a really major move. Getting yourselves settled is hard enough. Your beloved pets simply don't deserve major moving trauma and might be happier staying in familiar surroundings back home until you find at least a semi-permanent safe place in which to keep them in your new place.

Cheers!

Hey to both of you! My boyfriend and I are also moving to STT. He is actually already there and I am moving soon. We are both 31 and would love to get together and meet. Email me givingtree@att.net

You know... leaving pets "at home" with family or friends is also traumatic for the animals. They don't really get to stay "at home". They move to the home of a friend or family member and have to settle in there with new "owners" for the duration of their stay. Then they might wind up moving again to join their original owner in the islands. Animals are somewhat like small children in that they can be insecure with separation anxiety and uncertainties about new places... but if they are with their parent or owner, that gives them some security and they can adapt to the new place.

Bottom line for the animals is that it's wrong to just dump them somewhere and move on with your life without giving them any further thought. Unfortunately that's what happens to quite a few animals who come to the islands (and it happens, too, to animals all over the mainland). If you care enough to go through the hassle of bringing your animals with you to the islands, it seems odd that some of those animals then get dumped and left behind when their owners decide island life isn't for them and go back to where they came from.

If you have come down on a PMV and decided to go ahead with your move, then bringing the animals as soon as you have a home where they are allowed can be good for your pets. It keeps their "family" intact. If you have never been here and are moving down on a whim... best of luck to both you and your pets. I'm not sure what the stats are for percentage of people who think they might like to live in the islands actually finding a good fit here once they take the plunge. We do see stories from lots of people who come on PMV's and find it just isn't going to work. Others move here and then depart. Some of us stay.

amen Alexandra Marshall re: the pets!

I was advised to have my old Lab put down in 1999 rather than subject him to the stress of moving down here - I didn't and he had a wonderful life with us in Puerto Rico and then St Croix. in fact the warm weather gave him a new lease on life. I am sad to say that he just passed and I miss him every day, but...if you could have asked him, I hope that he would have said that 6 more years was worth it!
I think that places come and go but their relationship with their people is the stabilizing factor in their life.

I really enjoyed reading this conversation about pets a got a lot out of it. I have a sixteen year old indoor cat who is still relatively healthy and youthful. It briefly crossed my mind that euthanizing him might be better than subjecting him to the stress of a big move from Michigan to St. Thomas, but I have decided against it.

Jane and Alexandra, I thought you both made excellent points and I was so pleased to read Jane's account of her elderly Labrador surviving for many years beyond the big move.

For my cat, leaving him in the care of someone else would be much more stressful than taking him with us -- no matter how traumatic the move might be. I know this because we leave him in the care of very loving neighbors (who he knows well by now) whenever we travel. Even though the neighbors are kind and loving toward him, it still seems to stress him a great deal when we are away.

That said, I can understand where STT resident is coming from. Moving a pet is not something to be taken lightly and it should be a very carefully considered undertaking.

Hello to all. My Wife, myself and 6 month old baby boy will be arriving on the island Nov. 15th. We are daily advocates of this message board & it's exciting to read about all the good people making the move to the island, and the responses from those that already live there. We are both in our early thirties, coming from a different kind of paradice in So. california. We would love to meet all those that pocess the same passion we have for a better quality of life for our family. We also have temp housing when we get to the island and will post all of our findings for those coming soon. We are looking for a min two bedroom within a safe neiborhood and are bringing our 12 lb pug. If anyone has any housing leads let us know!!

Amen Alexandra!

My pet peeve (pun intended) is people who treat their pets as temporary freinds, rather than permanent members of their family.

Case in point: I saw an ad recently for a woman offering her 16-yo cat up for retirement while she relocates to the states.
I know that travel can be stressful, but how can it not be MORE stressful for the cat to lose its family in teh sunset of her life?!