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Hi everyone,
My best friend and I are two college seniors seriously considering postponing the inevitable New York job/apartment/lifestyle in favor of living and working on the USVI (esp. St. Thomas) for a time. We want to do things differently, slow down a little. We're hoping one or more of you has found themselves in this position at one time or another and can offer any bits of wisdom. Specifically:
--what's the best way to find housing?what we've found on the internet is mostly vacation homes/luxury condos, when we want more student/affordable housing. we're looking at anywhere from 6 months to two years, starting late this summer. is it possible to arrange for housing from the states, or does one have to be there? is there something comparable to a craigslist.org that can put us in contact with renters?
--how do we find a job? we both have experience working in law firms, art galleries, and other professional environments, but we want something simpler. bartending, waitressing, it all sounds good. can anyone offer the names of great bars/hotels to work at? again, can we get the ball rolling now or must we be there in person? how experienced must we be?
again, a lot of questions. any help would be great. we're ecstatic at the prospect of joining you.
best,
emma and jeri
Posted : March 29, 2003 4:58 am
Hello Emma and Jeri,
If you search this board for moving, jobs, apartments you will find lots of threads with similar questions and answers from different people. Also if you go through the moving guide on this page you will find discussion on these topics. If you are serious about moving here, or even just considering it I would definately recommend you order a Settlers Handbook to the Virgin Islands; the book is a comprehensive guide to everythng about moving and living here, cost, what to expect, government, apartments, jobs, people, what to do.... You can order it from http://www.vitraders.com in the book section or off the home page.
No it really is not possiable to arrange housing from the states. Here is why - most apartments in St. Thomas are part of a home. People build their personal homes and they almost always build an "apartment" downstairs, or upstairs or next to = then they rent it out. These types of apartments will differ in view, furniture, comfort, cleanliness, price, facilities.... so it is strongly recommened you see 8-10 of them first and decide which one you like and could make home. Also need to consider whether its close to the work and things you would enjoy doing. You best bet is to stay in a b&b for a week or two while finding an apartment. Nothing really online for this. What you might do when you order the Settlers Handbook you can request the newspaper be sent also - Newspaper will have a list of apartments for rent and job openings. That can get you looking, perhaps call some of the apartments so you get an idea of price and things.
Again the same goes for jobs. Professional jobs will sometimes hire and fly people down - professors, teachers, high position managers, technicians at various plants/infrasture facilities.... and so forth. For sales, waitressing, bartending.... they hire people who are here already. Often managers dont have the time to do phone interviews with people who are thinking about coming down - they want you here already. So again you can call places listed in the newspaper see about sending your resume these will be office jobs usually... then when you get on island you need to get out there and visit the bars and restuarants looking for jobs. You can try hotels and bars by looking in the Yellow Pages for those businesses http://www.usviyellowpages.org however your best efforts would be to get the book read it learn about the islands so you are well informed, work where you are - save monies so that you can afford to not work in St. Thomas for a month - 2 while you find your place, your job and feel comfortable with your new situation in St. Thomas.
I know you said you were interested in 'fun job' however with law office experience you might find work in lawyers offices - there are lots of them. Thats a day time job, and at night if you want to waitress a couple night you can do that too. St. Thomas is a pricey place to live.
Good Luck.
--Islander
Posted : March 29, 2003 4:52 pm
Hi Emma and Jeri,
I saw your inquiry posted and thought I'd say hello.
I'm in the same boat as you. Looking for good, decently priced housing on St. Thomas and moving late summer. I'm 21 and feeling very ready for something like the VIs. Have you had much luck finding housing? I'd like either a nice condo in a complex or a cottage of some kind. It would be cool to know someone in St. Thomas when I got there. Send me an email.
Jayson
Posted : March 30, 2003 7:41 pm
Hey Emma, Jeri, and Jayson
My best friend and I are also moving down to St. Thomas around the beginning of October. We're both 22, I'm graduating from UMass and he's graduating from Villanova in May. We're both a little burnt out and want to take a year or so before grad school. From the looks of things we're going to wait until we get on the island before we get the ball rolling on anything, but yeah- it would be nice to know some people when we got there. Throw me an e-mail if you guys want to put our heads together on this at all. 35 degrees and raining/snowing here today, it's days like this I wish I was there...
Posted : March 30, 2003 8:28 pm
Hi Jayson, Matt, and Matt's friend from Villanova...
We could not be more excited to have three awesome VI friends pre-relocation. Thanks to Islander and others, this message board has been a godsend, with tons of info and helpful tips, so perusing it will give you anything and everything that we could tell you. We'd love it if we could all start communicating over email so as not to clog up the message board and bore others with our inane wonderings and over-excited utterances. Write us at jen3@duke.edu and emm6@duke.edu. We can't wait to hear from you, and hopefully sort out all of our concerns/questions/searches together.
We were awakened this morning by the sound of hail hitting the windowpane... we'd prefer the sound of the waves.
Jeri and Emma
Posted : March 31, 2003 3:01 am
Glad you future Virgin Islands relocators are sharing ideas. Any questions you have collectively or individually go ahead and ask.
As for finding apartments - Jayson you mentioned a cottage or condo. Condos you will find on St. Thomas in places like Cowpet, Secret Harbor, Mahagony Run, anchorage. Some are buildings with 6 condo/apartments in them, others are larger several story buildings.
Cottages - well not sure what you mean by that. But my picture is one of two things.... island picture is a small cottage on the beach - if thats what you mean - you really arent gonna find such a place. And then a cottage like in the mountains, fire place... LOL certainly wont find that either. 🙂 In any case correct picture of apartments in the VI are houses OR part of a house, 2 story house the landlord might live in one of those two floors while renting that other. Good idea to look at different places before choosing. Get a newspaper or two to help you - call a few people and get prices and description.
--Islander
Posted : March 31, 2003 5:49 am
Hello to everyone,
I'm 23 and I'm moving to St Thomas in May. I guess I'm not alone in regards to having questions about housing and cars and just about everything else. After reading all your messages, it seems that I may be getting down there just a little sooner then then rest of you. So I guess I'll have to figure most things out on my own but after May 10th if you have any questions feel free ask, I'll be getting the answers as I go. If anyone has found info on where a good place to buy a used car is, I would appreciate a heads up. I"m from NY and I'll be on St Thomas working for the government and would really like to catch up with some people my own age. Good luck to all of you and hope to hear from you soon. -Matt
Posted : March 31, 2003 4:43 pm
Hello Matt,
Like apartments, used car listings are often times in the newspaper - Island Trader... usually there are lots of people selling their used cars. Also there are some car lots that sell used cars as well. If you choose to buy from owners through listings, make sure you check out the car, drive it, find a mechanic and take the car to them for them to inspect and tell you if there are any troubles and what price is good or bad, bargain. When you buy from owners you have to pay in full. If you need a car loan and want to go through a dealer thats fine too. But those are the two options.
--Islander
Posted : March 31, 2003 8:24 pm
hEY I WAS JUST SEARCHING THE WEB ON INFORMATION ON THE ISLANDS AND I CAME UPON THIS POST. ANYWAYS IM A RECENT COLLEGE GRAD WHO SEEMS TO BE IN THE SAME SITUATION YOU WERE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.i WAS REALLY JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE SAME TYPE OF QUESTIONS YOU GUYS HAD A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO FROM THE POST, LIKE JOBS,APARTMENTS AND HOW THE PEOPLE ARE DOWN THERE. ANWAYS IF YOU WOULD HAVE ANY ADVICE I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT
THANKS, STEVE
Posted : October 18, 2006 9:06 pm
The post you attached to is 3 1/2 years old, a little dated.
Posted : October 19, 2006 1:57 pm
If you look on the tp of the pase and see the VI Moving Center link Click on it and you will find most all of your questions answered there! Try not to type in CAPS. It's considered shouting!
RL
Posted : October 19, 2006 2:13 pm
not hitting the window pane I assume....
Posted : October 19, 2006 6:36 pm
