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!
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renee,
Locals will be better able to respond to your query if you specify which island.
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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!
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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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