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Hi, I am moving to STX this Friday. Right now I'm living in Belize, Central America and we found a pretty economic way to ship. We are sending 60 boxes by air freight on Amerijet. I think it cost $1,500.00. I don't know if that's considered a lot, but you have to realize that it's not just being shipped from the States, it has to leave here, then get to Miami and then down to STX.
We are so excited by our move. We have never even been to St. Croix. Here's our story:
My mother and daughter and I have been living here in Belize for some time (Mom ten years, me and daughter four years) and I decided that I needed to go back to college. I'm 29 and I guess I'm getting nervous about approaching 30 without some sort of degree. So, I was going to move back to the States to go to college for my nursing degree. My Mom just couldn't bear to let her five year old granddaughter move away from her. But, at the same time, just couldn't bear moving back to the States after being an island girl for 10 years. So, St . Croix was our compromise (not a bad one huh?). We have been planning our move for the last year and now we have five days left.
We are not at all worried about moving there since we've never been there before. I have to say, living here in Belize on a tiny island has really prepared us! We lived through Hurricane Keith four years ago - went two months without power, hauling all of our water up stairs in buckets. We've decided that if we can get through that we can do just about anything. Also, many of the complaints that we've read about on this site - such as how slowly things happen and not having everything available to you in the grocery stores are old shoe to us. We know that moving there will be a step closer to civilization for us.
We plan to rent a car and tour the island as soon as we get there and then decide where to live. I plan to go to UVI, but may not start until next year when we are really settled. Can anyone suggest a nice area to live that would be close to the campus but conducive to shopping, etc.? Also, what's an average price for getting a used car? I've been driving a golf cart for the past two years, so I have no idea. Although, my golf cart here cost $5,000.00 US and that was not even a new one!
Anyway, I would love to hear any suggestions from STX residents and people moving there about things we should check out or be prepared for.
Can't wait to get there!
Alanna
Posted : September 5, 2004 5:25 pm
Alanna,
Welcome! My husband Kelly and I moved to STX about three months ago from Washington DC, and had also never been here before until we came for our premove visit in April (during which we bought a house). I do think your time on Belize will greatly speed your adjustment time after the move, but you will need to take the time to get to know the local customs and culture to make that adjustment complete. That's something that can only occur by spending time on island. I'm confident you all will feel at home in no time.
Virtually of all your questions re: purchasing a car and getting it inspected, licensed, insured and ready to drive have been answered on this board. So rather than trying to reproduce it all here, my best suggestion is to run a search on buying an island car and to also read some of the moving stories Islander has posted in the main area of the site. I'm sure Islander would b happy to point you to those stories with specific info on purchasing a car on island.
The "nice area to live" question is a lot harder to answer because the definition of "nice" depends on your personal tastes (rent or buy, condo or house), budget, and needs (e.g. a good school that is nearby for your daughter ). You've already got the right idea on how to answer this question -- get a rental car as soon as you arrive and spend a lot of time driving around and looking. If you let us know if you want to rent or buy, folks here can recommend agents that can be helpful in finding you what you want.
There's so many interesting things to check out here that it's hard to find a place to begin. I'll list the two I am most interested in and which seem to come up a lot in the recommendations of others: Point Udall, which is the eastern most point on the island and in the US territory, and Buck Island, which has great snorkeling (including an underwater marked trail), beautiful beaches, and hiking trails.
Again, welcome to STX! We're having a Get Together for all of the Crucians that frequent this site on September 14. It starts at 6 pm at Off the Wall (located at Cane Bay) -- please join us if you're able in the midst of getting settled here.
HC
Posted : September 5, 2004 6:21 pm
Allana: I will be there 2 days before you and will leave the lights on for you. Glad to have you and yours aboard. We can all help each other and make it a grand place to live. Hoping you make it to the get together on the 14th. looking forward to making new friends to supliment the ones I am leaving behind.
Posted : September 6, 2004 3:09 am
Good day,
I just listened to your national anthem on my computer. I love the bass line toward the end.
You are really moving from the boonies. I think you will find St. Croix to be very modern and sophisticated compared to where you're coming from. You may not like the heavy Americanization here. Don't worry, there are plenty of remote places where you can get away from it.
UVI is great. I'm sure it's already occurred to you to check the bulletin boards there for housing information. You can probably get good housing within walking distance.
We can certainly use more nurses!
Posted : September 6, 2004 10:45 am
I have been planning a trip down to stj, and one of my options was going throught belize. I'm curious to here how you are getting from belize to the usvi. I've found that to be a little bit difficult, atleaste trying to set it up from here. But I'd love to know a good way to do it.
Posted : September 6, 2004 10:55 am
Topic starter
Well, we leave Ambergris Caye on a very small maybe 10 seater airplane, then fly to Belize International, from there we fly to Miami, which is about 1.5 -2 hours, from there we go to Puerto Rico and then to STX. It's going to be a long day, but I'm originally from California, so getting to Belize from there was much longer. Good luck.
Posted : September 6, 2004 2:40 pm
Alanna,
Welcome to St Croix. I started the nursing program at UVI last month. The instructors are great and UVI is pretty centrally located, the campus is beautiful. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods near UVI that are close to shopping. We live a 10 min drive from UVI, Sunny Isle (Shopping) and the North shore.
There really is no average price for a car; I think you cannot send less than $2000 if you want the car to run for a while. If cosmetics are important to you than expect to pay more.
Have you contacted the nursing department yet? Let me know if you have any questions I’d be happy top help.
Lauren
Posted : September 7, 2004 1:33 am
