possibly moving to the islands - need more info
Hi there. I found this message board and while it is a wealth of information I thought I'd ask for feedback on our particular situation. My husband has been offered a position for one year in the USVI. He is a consultant and we have moved around frequently. We are currently in New Orleans and have a one year old daughter (and a dog and cat). It was relatively easy to move to new orleans even post katrina as we found a house to rent and mommy/baby activities to participate in on a premove visit. We also found doing everyday things (grocery shopping, etc) fairly easy as well although from the hurricane there has been somewhat of a limited supply of things (getting better all the time). My big concern is being very isolated with limited resources. Basically we spend our time doing mom/baby activities like going to the park, taking walks through the neighborhood, participating in mom/baby playgroups, etc.
I was wondering are there areas that things like this are possible? My other big concern is medical care for my baby..and myself (.finding a pediatrician and internist).
Any info or feedback would be much appreciated. I know for certain a pre-move visit is top on our list.
thanks much!
renee,
Locals will be better able to respond to your query if you specify which island.
Let us know what island. I know St. Thomas has some very good pediatricians. Also mommy groups, etc.
Sorry about not specifying which island. I am getting more info from my husband on a daily basis. We would be looking for housing, etc. on St. Thomas.
Also wanted to know since high season is starting, would it be better to schedule a pre-move visit sooner rather than later to have better housing options? We would likely be moving some time in January.
One other thing that I haven't seen any posts about....hurricanes. Coming from New Orleans we obviously had an evacuation plan, but that was pretty simple - get in the car and leave town immediately. What types of plans are there to evacuate the island?
I am back in the states from STT and one of the things I miss is my pediatrician there. Dr. Macariola and Christine Grem, the nurse practioner. They are both excellent and they are at Red Hook Family Practice. (340-775-2303)
There are many different mommy/play groups on the island. They meet at Coral World, restaurants, the beaches, small waterpark, etc...as far as a "stroll" in the neighborhood I don't think exists in STT with the exception of a few actual neighborhoods. Although you might get a good workout pushing a stroller up and down hills. 🙂 If I were you and only living there for a year I would try and get some family member to take in your pets as it is difficult to find housing with pets and I think It's hard on an animal to fly/relocate and do it again in such a short period of time. (Just my opinon) As far as a hurricane evacuation I am sure a long time resident can share that experience, but we had a "hurricane" kit set up with all the essentials such as water, flashlights, food, etc....
If you want a "premove visit" with a mommies group you can PM me and I can give you more info.
good luck!
You will indeed have more housing options before high season kicks in so if you're willing to pay rent before you actually move here then I would try to do a PMV soon.
There are efforts to get visitors off-island before a hurricane hits but there are no island evacuation plans for locals. Most folks hunker down in a closet or bathroom, preferably without windows, and stockpile enough bottled water, canned food, flashlight batteries etc. to get by for awhile. You might want to try to find a place to rent that has a generator that they run for a couple of hours a day when power is out for an extended period of time so that tenants can bathe and flush toilets.
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