PMV need to know...

Hi Sam,
When would you actually be making the move? You can't really check out too many apartments, in advance, because they are most likely occupied. I have a small apartment complex on STX. I may have something available to show you during your PMV, but it probably won't be what I have available at the time you plan to move. You could at least get an idea. A lot of apartments here are in someone's home, so they usually can't show it to you now, for future occupancy. Some of the condos with management offices may be able to show you some units, but most of those don't take pets. If you have a definite move date, you will get much better response from most landlords.
You can check out my website at http://www.virginislandsrentals.com . Glad to help, if I can.

The " must do " list for a PMV is an entirely different list than a vacation must do list - Usually a PMV involves living like a local, buying food at the groceries, bank setup visits, Post Office, car option exploring, licenses needed for a business venture, neighborhood familiarization, traffic routes, apartment or home shopping, job interviews etc. -- plenty of time to snorkel and sail once you move, have jobs and a place to live -- on your day off.

Samantha,

You need to decide if you will be able to survive living on a small island. Money and jobs become a major stumbling block for most people. The cost of living for a state side life style, on St. Croix can be expensive.Will you be happy with the food, clothing and basic shopping available on the island?. Many people come down with the idea that living in Paradise means laying on the beach all day eating bananas and drinking cocktails in the sun.You will need to be flexible.The island has much to offer.The must do things to make a PMV ,would be go look at jobs, grocery stores, general shopping and apartments.For some people the Caribbean is a culture shock. If you want to know what to do as a vacation use the links to the visitors sites and have fun for your visit.

East End Doug

Hi all!

Thank you for your responses!

We currently live in Seattle and both of us want to get away from the rat race, hustle and bustle that the city has. When I sit in traffic on the interstate I just wonder why I'm wasting my life in a car, haha! We have lived in rual Montana most of our lives and we are used to more slow and simple life. We don't have any kids, just a dog that we would bring with us.

After our PMV, if we decided to take the jump and move to STX, we wouldn't move until 1-2 years from now when all our debt is paid off - plenty of time to make our decision!

On our vacation we do want to relax and go to the beach, snorkel, meet the sun on Point Udall, visit the rum distillery, go to some nice restaurants and get that feeling like you are on vacation! Our last vacation was to the Bahamas 5 years ago, and we are desperate to go explore the islands again!

But when we go we also want to get a good idea of what it's REALLY like LIVING there. We will be renting a car while we are there. So we plan on going to the grocery store and cooking a couple meals, going to the post office, walking around Christiansted and Fredriksted and just keeping our eyes open. We would like to run through typical days of living there.

Any tips on what to do, where to go or any cool experiences will help us! Thanks!! 🙂

Samantha

Sounds like a lot for one week. remember "island time"! You will probably be blinded by the light of paradise for a good PMV perspective. So enjoy this visit on "island time" don't wear yourself out. Chill !!! Then go back for a true PMV. Remember, it may be paradise but it aint Heaven, so lock your doors at night.
Cheers

YOUR WORDS: " we also want to get a good idea of what it's REALLY like LIVING there" -

As others have tried to point out living on an island is VERY DIFFERENT from visiting one on vacation. Quite frankly, you can not adequately get a good idea of what it's REALLY like living on STX, or any island for that matter, or evaluate how day to day life will be if you spend a significant portion of your visit doing vacation/tourist things. In a typical 1 or 2 week visit you can do one or the other, not both.

Do yourself a favor decide whether this trip will be a vacation or a PMV and make your plans accordingly.

When you decide the time is right for a PMV don't stay at a resort but rather stay in a basic condo or efficiency unit. Cook most, if not all of your meals, do everyday chores like laundry, making the bed, cleaning the apartment, go grocery shopping, stand in line at the post office, bank, utility companies, etc., after all you'll be doing this when you make the move. Go out everyday for a drive during rush hour (yes there is one every morning and evening) to find out what commuting is really like. Check out housing & utility costs, grocery prices, find out if your favorite store brands are available, discover how almost every grocery shopping trip takes stops at 2 or 3 stores just to get the basic items on your shopping list - assuming of course that you are lucky enough to find everything in stock the day you go shopping. The list goes on and on.

Life is not necessarilly simple in the islands, it's just different. Remember, you still have to earn a living, pay your bills, do the same everyday chores you do now, so life is not all sitting on the resort beach under a palm tree drinking pinacoladas. You also have to deal with the Catch-22 of island life - wages are often lower than they are for comparable jobs on the mainland while housing, food, utilities and other living expenses are probably higher than you are used to seeing.

We've all been through the "looking at island live through rose colored glasses" period that you are now experiencing but the majority of us who have the transition successfully listened to the advice of others. We took off the rose glasses very early in out research and did a tru PMV. We took the same effort we would make if we were considering moving to another town or city near where were lived. The fact that the USVI's are far from Seattle (or anywhere on the mainland) doesn't mean ypou should take shortcuts in your research. The money you spend on a true PMV is well worth every penny.

I really think you want the vacation board. Link in the upper right hand corner. Nothing wrong with taking a vacation at all. 🙂 But a week simply isn't enough to do both vacation and pmv. Talk to the locals when you go out at night try to make friends so you can get some honest opinions of what life is like here. Because you will still be in the rat race just a different one. Unlike your slower pace of life in Montana, its extremely expensive here like what you are experiencing in Seattle, but the wages are low and jobs hard to find, good jobs can take years. It's worth doing if you want but I don't think you guys are ready for the realities of living here yet, it sounds like you need some time to relax.

I think what people are trying to do is make you aware that it is very different coming for a week than having a longer PMV.

Before we moved, we spent three one month "vacations" over a 2 year period here. We rented a basic condo where locals live (no ocean view or concierge), rented a car (expensive for a month) and cooked at home. We knew what we wanted to learn. We 'tried' to return defective products to KMart, hook up our Internet connection, fix the phone, played scrabble with the local continentals, went to and hosted a house party for new friends. We were lucky because we were able to meet and socialize with a few local folks. We party'd at Mardi Croix and hung out at Lobster Reef (whew). Got pulled over by the cops, but no ticket (whew again). We trapped a rat in our condo and laughed at the frightened "pest control guy".

We have never tasted rum at Cruzan Rum plant. It is always closed when we go by. But We do drink lots and lots of Cruzan Rum when it is on sale at KMart or other stores. We have only been to Buck Island twice (thanks Capt Heinz). We did meet the retired governor in line at the grocery store. (Juan Luis at Plaza )He is The guy they named the hospital for. We went to Ag Fair and Jump up. We did spend a lot of time on the beach (Shoys, Cane Bay and various west end) and at some bars (not named).

We had our share of teeth sucking clerks, but also some wonderful caring people. You only learn this stuff if you spend time with nothing else to do.

hi me and my wife are moving to stx soon also from rochester wa. .we have been there before we are looking to buy a condo looking at mill harbor can any one tell us good and or bad about that condo

we will not need to work as i own a business in the states and have some one run it for me
i will be looking for things to keep me busy though volunteer or some kind of job that is fun

thanks Jerry

PMV's are nice but a bit overrated and here's why:
We live here and we're STILL getting to know the island and figure out what it's like to live here! (not kidding), even though we did the vacations and visit.

I don't think you can really know if your decision to move here was the 'right' one for you until you've been down here for at least 6 months...maybe even a year, ...and been working in your job, and started to make friends. This is, of course, the same truth about most OTHER moves we've made.

About the only piece of "for sure" advice I'd give someone is this: re-establishing yourself cross-country or cross the Caribbean is always going to be more expensive than you expect, so plan accordingly. If you're young and childless, come on. If you have kids and bills, start robbing banks now.

It is not as easy to hide here anymore so I don't advocate the bank robbing -- The islands have always been a home to the "Wanted and Unwanted" but these days -- you have to have a better plan.

I agree with Neil about the pmv's unless you have kids. I think you should do the pmv's just to check out the school and see if you can find a good match, and be able to afford it. Otherwise a pmv is pretty useless, unless you need a vacation. You're in the honeymoon stage, you're going to move here so save the money for the move.

On the other hand.......we did not do a PMV. We found a job here online (unusual but possible) decided it wouldn't be as cold as where we were and just came on down. Both of us had lived in other cultures before and knew about culture shock. The first year was one of excitement /apathy /frustration/ joy. (We knew it would be) We would never have done it any other way. (Don't recommend this method for everybody, though!;)