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So before I begin, I want to remind everyone that this was our experiance and pure opinion. And I'm writing this because I know people appreciate moving stories..good or bad.
I've been on this site a lot, I've posted comments and have gotten some great advice from many people..so thank you all. My boyfriend and I had been planning to move to St. John with our cats for a looong time. I did plenty of research and tried to talk to lots of people. We lived on Maui for a while and knew that moving to the Virgin Islands wouldn't be the same but we still wanted that island feel.
We flew to STT Oct. 13 with a piece of luggage, carry ons and a cat each. So far so good. We hauled everything over to STJ and headed for our villa. Well (how embarrasing...) this is where I broke down. We had initial troubles with our villa (we were told the wrong room and wrong floor..so after hauling everything to the 3rd floor I went to open the door and it was locked, no sheets on the bed, freezing cold water ect...) All in all it wasn't a good start, but the island was beautiful. Really after day 2 (we gave it a chance, walked around and talked to people) we decided it just wasn't for us. Hawaii was our big adventure 4 years ago and this just didn't have the same "wow we're moving to some place crazy" feel.
Once we got rid of all the "I have to find a job, a place to live" pressure, we really enjoyed ourselves. We made in into a fantastic 2 week vacation and met many, many great people on the island. For us it was just great to be tourist. Should we have done a PMV? Yes, but hey, you live and learn. Luckily our cars were stuck in Florida because (gasp!) I didnt sign the power of attorney form, so we actually got a lot of money BACK to turn them around and send them to Maine. (Yeah, right...one extreme to the other!)
All in all we had a great time..and our cats had the vacation of a lifetime (and the only vacation in their lifetime, as a matter of fact)
Every one we met for the most part were so friendly. We went to all the great restaraunts.. Tage was our favorite, with Chateax Bordeax tied for number one. We saw iguanas, wild donkeys, turtles. Went to alot of great beaches..Trunk Bay, Jumbee, cinnamon bay. We got to take a snorkle cruise to Jost Van Dyke and of course ate at Foxys.
Just beacause living there wasn't for us, doesn't mean we won;t be back in the future..as tourists (ahh, the dreaded tourist!)
So that's our story, if anyone has any questions or anything please don't hesitate to write 🙂
Jen
Posted : October 27, 2005 9:41 pm
Dear Jen and Jason,
I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you but I think a lot of people will appreciate your writing if only because it underscores what many of us posters try to instill in people who want to relocate here - that a PMV is really a MUST. Some who come on their own make it just fine but when you move here "cold" it generally doesn't work out too well.
The very very best to you and I'm glad that you had a good vacation even though the move didn't work out!
Posted : October 28, 2005 3:48 am
Your story is probably more valuable than many others. Can you elaborate on it? How did the reality of the Virgin Islands differ from your expectations? You knew after just a couple of days that it wasn't for you. How did you know?
What should we who post on the relocation board be be saying to paint the most realistic picture possible of life in the VI? LUckily, you had the where-with-all ($$$) to look around, say "nope, not for us" and go back home. I've seen people bring 2 cars, two dogs, a cat (OR KIDS) and a trailer load of furniture, come to the same conclusion, and be basically stuck here for months.
Any insights you can give will be appreciated. Good luck.
Posted : October 28, 2005 9:06 am
Hello Jen and Jason,
Thanks for posting. I know it may not affect your decision, but it is possible that you came at a weird time when St. John was having some 'rich vs. poor' issues in government and citizens. I read about it in the paper everyday. It seems that there are some issues that the government needs to address soon. Any other time and a tourist or newcomer would have never noticed. I don't know if that affected you, but if you have the time is there anything else that directly affected your decision? I am so glad that you were able to enjoy your time here. Maybe another trip another time and it will be a different story? Here's hoping to your island happiness.
Teresa
Posted : October 28, 2005 10:26 pm
Hi!
Well, the thing is we really tried not having any expectations(as impossible as that is). I really tried to do all the reasearch I could to have an easy transition. The one thing I would tell people is to really do a pre move visit..and make it more than a vacation. Talk to locals, go to local hangouts, check out the postings at Connections, read the paper. But be there to look at everything. You'll never know if you can survive there without seeing it first hand. It may seem like more money and more of a hassle, but in the long run it will save money and it beats moving all of your stuff out there and realizing it's not for you.
I did try to read the paper every day so I do know about the government and how there are issues that need to be adressed. I knew about all this before I moved to STJ. It didn't affect my decision..it was just something to be aware of.
I was feeling great about moving for months before the actual move. It was a completly different story when I got there. I don't really know why, but it just didn't feel right to live there. In a way, Hawaii was my big adventure when I was younger and moving to the VI didn't have the same impact.
I think everyone on this board does a great job describing the islands. You hear the good and the bad and decide for yourself what to take in. i wouldn't do anything different as far as that goes. I think it all depends on the individual in the end. I loved living in Hawaii and had a great time, but I came across many people that couldn't stand it- same goes for everywhere in the world.
I think everything happens for a reason, which may explain my "bad feeling". It may have been my intuition saying "theres something else you should be doing". Since being back in the mainland everything has gone so smoothly for us...like it was suppose to happen this way.
The Virgin Islands are definitly a beautiful place to be and the whole experiance was definitly worth going through just to even see the Virgin Islands.
Jen
Posted : November 11, 2005 7:56 pm
