Moving to the Island

Hi Jonathan, and welcome to the forum.

I have a small apartment complex. It's a little too soon to know what I will have for March/April time-frame, but you can take a look at our website at http://www.virginislandsrentals.com. If you will send me an emal, I'll be glad to keep you posted on available openings, if you like. We offer both short term rentals and long term.

casita37@hotmail.com

What sort of job will you be looking for?

thank you Juanita for your reply. i am looking at your complex online as we speak. very nice.

job... at this point pretty much anything so long as it will let me keep a roof over my head, food on the table, and pay for the basics. it's just me and i don't party etc so i'm willing to take just about anything so that i can get to see what island life is going to be like. i worked for several years as a grounds maintenance supervisor, i have owned a taxi and limo service as well. for many years i supervised and audited convenience stores. i've been divorced for 14 years now and i've been moving around and enjoying life, seeing whats really out there on the other side of the fence.

i'm trying to get all the information that i can on this move so that i won't be in for a shock when i get there... lol. but i really think i will love it there.

jonathan

onewhois@hotmail.com

have you ever visited the USVI? If not, consider coming down for a shorter period, maybe a month, before you commit.

Thank you Linda for your advice, and I am certainly going to need all that I can wrap my brain around. I do have a 'fail-safe' of sorts: I'm not going to sell or toss out everything that I own before I leave, and I will have the return ticket neatly tucked away in a safe place. And I am going to take it a month at a time for a little while and see how it goes. I have a business here that I can come back to as well so this will be something of an extended 'work vacation'.

My main concerns are employment, inexpensive housing until I get my feet on the ground, and of course transportation. I've read about the transportation issues there and I feel that I can cope with that- but how well I cope remains to be seen (lol). Food is another consideration but since I don't eat out that much (especially when I'm on a budget) I think that I can survive on local stuff... and since I prefer to cook from scratch, I think it will be somewhat cheaper in the long run.

I don't think that my Alltel cell phone is going to transfer but I understand VirginCommunications is available for a pretty reasonable price. I hope that my information is correct on this.

As I said, I am dilligently doing my homework on this and getting pretty well prepared (although I do realize that all of the preparation in the world isn't going to cover every issue and/or challenge.

So... I hope that I'm not overlooking too much. I should start making a checklist here.... including cultrue shock!

Keep the info coming!

Jonathan

A man died and stood before St. Peter. Peter says "I'll let you choose your eternal abode. Heaven, or St. Croix. The man says "I've never been to St. Croix, maybe I should check it out first". So Peter sends him down to St. Croix for a week. The man lies on the beach and sips Rum and Coke, swims, dives, eats at fine restaurants, and has a great time. At the end of the week he returns to Peter and says "Wow, that was great! How could Heaven be any better than that?" Peter says "maybe you should see Heaven first before you decide." So the man spends a week in Heaven. It's quiet, serene, and a bit boring but OK. The man returns and says "It's St. Croix for me!"

So Peter hands him a one-way ticket to St. Croix for eternity. After spending a night in a hotel in Puerto Rico due to the flight being canceled because the crew didn't show up, he boards the flight and falls asleep somehow in spite of the deafening drone of the twin turboprop engines.

Once on the ground, the man walks carefully down the rickety stairs off the small, poorly maintained aircraft onto the hot, cracked, potholed tarmac where his presence was not even acknowledged by the disgruntled, broken-English speaking ground crew. As he began to walk toward his brand new but now broken and tattered "carry-on" which he was not allowed to carry on,he was sternly scolded to "stand back!", at least that was the nearest translation he could think of that made sense from the grunts uttered by the ground person. He then walked into the airport, which looked as though nothing had been repaired or cleaned since September 1989, where the heat and stench was stifling. After waiting 45 minutes for the ground crew to unload the remainder of his baggage, which he was then told had been left in Miami to make room for some dogs on the flight, he walked out into the Caribbean air. As he rode in the taxi, bracing and cringing with each pothole and hairpin curve jarring his every nerve even at the breakneck speed of 30 MPH, he looked around, all he could see was fire and brimstone! He turned to the driver and said "I don't understand! Last time I was here this was paradise! What happened?" The taxi driver said nothing, until the man finally said "Um, good afternoon?" Then the taxi driver said "Good afternoon....of course it was paradise! YOU WERE JUST VISITING. Welcome to deh islands, Mon!! Dat'll be 40 bucks!"

Ah, that was a Mighty Whitey staple. Great joke...

BTW: RIP Mighty Whitey.

I thought it was funny. Of course I had to throw some stuff in there from my own experiences of traveling to the island. Who's Mighty Whitey?

hahahaha... cute... but i totally get your point! i know many of the pitfalls and what i'm up against. for the most part. i also sort of figure that the odds are not necessarily going to be in my favor. i'm going to go into this thing a day at a time (yes i do have a fail-safe plan). I've talk to many people who have attempted this move and am learning from their mistakes, their experience, etc.

it's going to be a culture shock, i know that the prices are high and the living conditions aren't what i've been used to. i'm going into this with open eyes (and a return trip ticket, just in case) but i think this is doable for me.

still, please keep the suggestions and the advice coming and thanks for taking the time to reply. i hope to see you on the Island soon!

Nicky Russell, aka "The Mighty Whitey" in the Calypso tent: http://stthomassource.com/content/community/deaths/2010/07/03/nicky-russell-dies-age-60

Nicky Russel sounds like he was a good man.

Jonathan- sounds like you'll be fine. It's not like moving to the moon (although the moon might be cheaper). We originally came here to be with family and enjoy the weather. Now family has moved away and the summers are like a sauna to me, but here we are. Business is great if you are dependable and find a niche like I did. So it's all good!

thanks shdoug

i'm really looking forward to being there..... and again, i will listen, appreciate. and take to heart any and all advice that i can get. i'm a responsible, dependable guy and i think i will get my feet on the ground pretty fast!

anyway.... hope you all are doing awesome and have a groovy new year!

JonathanS