Possible STT Relocation

Hey STTRelo

This website has the best information anywhere about moving to the USVI. There are people here with a lot of experience and they are willing to share. I understand that your first post is rather unspecific, so i suggest you take the opportunity to read as much as you can. This website has hundreds of hours of information. You can read the basic information above or search for specific answers.

Good luck learning about the USVI

Great suggestion. Information regarding St. Thomas specifically

We are a young couple looking to meet new friends and experience a new culture. However, as expected, we have a lot of concerns.

Safety
Transportation
Power/electricity

We also want to know how easy it is to meet new people and get involved and be accepted in a new community.

here's the scoop;

electric/water: The per kilowat rate is out of control. (othes will quote excat rate) How much you use depends upon the house/apt/condo and your life style. Ask to see the former tennets electric bills. Ask about thier useage. try to find a rental with good breezes and secure layout which allows you to keep windows open at night when your at work. Also ask about water. Do they ever purcahse water? Water is pricey too.

Transport: A car is highly recommended. You can do it with out but it's pain in the buti-iz-ski. No car will severly limit where you live and play. The good news noone will "judge" you for driving a beater. It lends a sort of street-cred.

Meating people: depends on your job and your interests. You'll find yourself becoming friends with folks outside your demographic (younger, poorer, older, richer, ect) more so than stateside. Civic groups and voluntering are BIG in the VI. Get involved in something you love and you'll meet lots of people. Same with water sports. Do you sail? Dive? Run? Play tennis?--All great ways to met people. If someone at work invites you to a party (even it'sf for 3-yearold) go. Network. It's samll island, being "nice" counts here. There is also a bar-stool-surfing set... Alot of people come to STT to "escape", but bring themselves along (the root of their problem).

Safety: Ugg...well. It depends. STT has alot of crime. Like way, way, way worse than the the states. I wish I could say it's contained and if you stay away from drugs and dark alleys you'll be fine but that would be misleading.. Some nieghborhoods are very danergous. Some nieghborhoods are realitively safe. Do you home work. Really check out the nieghborhood. Anytime of day, If a situation feels "wrong" get out fast. Never engage. If you are male between the ages of 16 and 35 your chances of being the victim of crime is more, especially if you go to bars or have a job which brings you into contact with cash.

Costs in general. Keep it simple. You won't need alot of stuff. My family actually spends LESS on stt. Gas is more but we drive way less. The stuff we like to do is all pretty much free, the food markets are pretty bad, so we spend less at the market (and eat cleaner). Every one in while we go out. The movie theater sucks, so we play board games. You get the idea...

I love STT. It really like no place else. The good parts of life here are fabulous and the bad parts are just god-awful. If you like what you see durring the 4 days, I would say, give it try for a year. STT ain't for everybody, but you'll never know unless your try. Worst case, is that you have an adventure to remember.

blu4u - Thanks for the information, we really appreciate it. Safety is at the top of our list of concerns, so this is definitely something to consider.

The good news noone will "judge" you for driving a beater.

I'm ready to judge.

BTW, nice rundown on the islands.

Good Day!
My wife and I just returned from STT yesterday with the same thing in mind.
First, take the safari bus as often as possible to see more of the island. There is good, bad, and ugly. Second, strike up a conversation with your waiter or bartender. We found most people are glad to share their experiences with you. BE POLITE! give people a chance and don't bring your prejudices with you. People are different in the islands than here, and I mean that in a very good way. We can't wait to return for PMV #2!
If you'd like more specific info, just PM me. We were there for 5 days at the Galleon House.

You need to rent a car to see all of the island. The prettiest parts aren't on the safari route.

You should go to a Chamber of Commerce function if there's one scheduled when you're here. Their events are posted on St Thomas Source.

You should read the daily newspaper.

You should eat where locals eat and observe and listen. Deli Deck, Tickles, Molly Malone's are good places for breakfast. Barefoot Buddha, too, for a different vibe.

The good news noone will "judge" you for driving a beater.

I'm ready to judge.

BTW, nice rundown on the islands.

Consider it done. Judge noOne. The official decider of all things "street-cred". Go forth and prosper.

We are planning to open a business on the island sometime in the near future, so we wanted to see the island in the off season and when things have slowed down. We accomplished that! We weren't necessarily looking for the "worst case scenario", but we weren't looking for the "cherries and berries" of island life either. I suggest use of the safari bus on your first visit because only being on island for 4 days, you won't "see" much if you're watching the road and trying not to wreck up that rental car! Believe me when I say the roads are no picnic. Not in bad shape, just very hilly and curvy! When we return, we will stay on the north side and definately rent a car. The previous poster is absolutely correct when they said some parts are god awful. Smith Bay comes to mind. Go forward with an open mind and explore the possibilities. It will become immediately obvious that island life is for those who do.

PM me. Just spent a year in stx.

Smith Bay from the safari road isn't pretty, but Smith Bay off the safari route has some interesting surprises.

Thanks for clarifying your safari recommendation. I think that's very helpful for people on a PMV and staying in town or on the safari route.

And I don't think blu4u meant geographic places of STT are god-awful. I think she meant that parts of LIFE on STT are god-awful.

I don't think parts of Life on STT are God awful, at all. Well, except for WAPA and our high prices due to WAPA!

Once again, "island living is not for everyone", so make sure you have a good idea of what you want, what you can afford and are prepared for living in the tropics, with its attendant differences prior to selling your stateside homes and all your belongings.
Do this before you decide to make the "forever move." Of course, you can always move back which is what many do who become disenchanted with their life here in the VI after a couple of years. Very different living here then vacationing.
There are always options and possiblities, if you are open to them. Life here is what you make of it.

If you make it negative and have a negative attitude, then things will become negative as that is how you shall be percieved.

If you come down this is what you should do

1. Locate a job. You will find it hard to find a job from the main land

2. Determine what you can spend and where to live. I live and rent units on the east end and will tell you it is what you spend that determines how happy you will be.

3. Get a car. It is impossible to do it without and enjoy life here.

4. Come not as a tourst but as a job looker.

Billd

I don't think parts of Life on STT are God awful, at all. Well, except for WAPA and our high prices due to WAPA!

Life here is what you make of it.

If you make it negative and have a negative attitude, then things will become negative as that is how you shall be percieved.

Let me clarify my prior statement, "The good parts of life here are fabulous and the bad parts are just god-awful."
There is a trade off. And it has little to do with "attitude" or "preception"

Much of the appeal of living in the VI is a double edged sword. take the weather. We have glorious, spectacular weather. Great breezes. mostly sunny days, a few rain showers (just to cool things off and fill the cisterns). The weather is dream-like, except when a hurricane destroys everything, leaves you homeless, and the island without resources or infra-structure.

Most of the resident are soft hearted, community oriented families. Some are cold killers with zero regard for human life. killers.

My family lost everything, except our lives, in 1995. And believe me, no amount of positve "attitude" could have stopped that storm. I have lost loved ones to senseless violence--and this had nothing to do with "preception".

Your time here has to do more with how you handle the facts, what you value in life, and where you are in your particular stage of life. Many people come as retirees and leave when the need for modern medicine arises. Some people come as young carefree singles and leave when the need for a more grown-up life calls. Some people come with ambition and resovle and build a life for themselves and thier children and never leave. Some people born here leave for schooling and careers and dream for the day they return. Some folks don't have the resources to leave. Some don't have the desire.

"Precieving" the facts as they are will help you make the best choices. Knowing that you've made the best choice will help you keep a "postive attitude".

Please keep an open mind. don't over "romantize". Trust your insincts. Don't fall for any "sales pitches". Or BS dismissive defencesive crap.

Jeeze Louise, blu4 - no one is giving any sales pitch or BS, dismissive, defensive crap, Please, lighten up!
No-one can imagine or adaquately prepare for hurricanes such as Hugo in '89 and Marilyn in '95.
Sorry you lost everything. Many others did as well. Many struggled with the very long aftermath and rebuildingand lack of services for years afterwards.

Sorry you have had family losses to crime as many others have had but you let it into everything you write, in a mostly negative manner,
in my perception. I am sorry for your hardships. I am sorry that I have been preceiving you as negative.
Let's just agree to disagree on certain issues and leave it at that.

Vedic rishis said that projection is the mechanism by which consciousness created reality. We are all familiar with this because the movie business depends entirely on projection. A star is an actor who has crossed the dividing line between reality and projection.

Our entire culture has been built upon projection, and at this moment you and I are continuing the process. Projection creates meaning. By themselves, events are meaningless until we give them value.

While we are creating in the material world, we are affecting every level of consciousness and therefore every level of creation. Meaning is never isolated. For instance, angels exist because they have been projected in consciousness.

Projection can get complicated. A society that feels endangered can project wild fantasies. Muslim fundamentalists project a West that is corrupt, unholy, and decadent, while Christian fundamentalists project an Islam that is barbaric, fanatical, and godless in return.

Projection is “successful” when we no longer can see reality but have created a false version based on fear, hostility, anxiety, or insecurity–any negative emotion for which we refuse to take responsibility. Projection can also be positive, as it is when a smitten lover sees perfection in the object of his love, although to friends and family the beloved remains an ordinary creature of flesh and blood.

Adapted from Life After Death: The Burden of Proof, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2006).

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/are-you-a-result-of-your-own-projection.html#ixzz27LtE1hxN