Ready for our move!

glad you took the plunge. enjoy

Thank you !!

Good luck with the move! It's funny, 500sf seems small, but all you really need is a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and bathroom. Voila! Life simplified, and easy to keep clean 😉 Enjoy Love City!

Your right Chris !! I have such a desire to downsize, live with less "stuff".. We can go to something larger when we sell our home in the states but I don't want anything more than we actually need... Thanks for the welcome!

Congratulations! Keep us updated! I'm on a 5 year countdown.

Will do !

Why not keep your state side home and rent it out and continue renting on island. There are a ton of places to rent and no maintenance for you.

Congrats on the move... STJ is a special place. We are also on STJ... hit me up with a PM if you need any help or advice (number for this, where to get a post offiice box, etc) or just want someone for happy hour 😉

Hi Mike... we are renting on STJ but do not want to rent our stateside home yet..We are afraid of not having a place to "land" when we come back... I feel(know) that will change but right now I don't wanna let it go...
Eric... thanks will do... We have a PO box at connections...THANK YOU for the warm welcome...will pm for a happy hour when we get settled in !!

What did the WAPA bills average for 500 sq ft?! I'm flying out next week for my PMV to see if I'm going to take the plunge in June! Looking at small units around 500-800 sf. Pretty sparse on STJ it seems. Also hoping to get some leads on jobs. Can't wait to meet some local expats to discuss island living! Good luck and thx for any info!

If you'll indulge me in some advice Beachybabe - abandon the idea of "expats". Most everone is American! It's just not a state, it's a territory, like 37 of the 50 current states used to be at one time, that's all. Hopefully the friends you'll meet range from having moved from the mainland 1 month ago, to 30 years ago, to having lived in the USVI their whole lives. You don't need to find a sub-community of people to befriend - befriend everyone! It will serve you well. It's not Belize, or France, just little America.

Beachybabe, I can already tell you Chris is 100% correct..... Finding friends is easy on the island, be open all 🙂 To answer your utility question.. about $200.000 per month for WAPA with no air conditioner. We met the people living there(in our soon to be May1st apartment) ...they are frugal with utilities to even get it that low... this price does not include a washer or dryer. I do wish you well on your journey. We are no means wealthy but we have enough for a yrs rent, full years utilities and some pocket money without touching retirement money. We have had six (i think) lengthy visits to the island... If it works out in STJ great (and I think it will) but if it doesn't we will come back and talk about the year (or the time) we gave it a shot.

If you'll indulge me in some advice Beachybabe - abandon the idea of "expats". Most everone is American! It's just not a state, it's a territory, like 37 of the 50 current states used to be at one time, that's all. Hopefully the friends you'll meet range from having moved from the mainland 1 month ago, to 30 years ago, to having lived in the USVI their whole lives. You don't need to find a sub-community of people to befriend - befriend everyone! It will serve you well. It's not Belize, or France, just little America.

As a native of the USVI, a non-independent CARIBBEAN COUNTRY that is on the list of the UN Non-Self-Governing Territories, I resent the term "Little America."

Give natives of territories a vote and then you can call us "American." We are U.S. citizens but not true Americans. People from America are abbout 10% of the population. Although you are not an expat by citizenship, in a cultural sense, you are still an expat.

Hi Mike... we are renting on STJ but do not want to rent our stateside home yet..We are afraid of not having a place to "land" when we come back... I feel(know) that will change but right now I don't wanna let it go...
Eric... thanks will do... We have a PO box at connections...THANK YOU for the warm welcome...will pm for a happy hour when we get settled in !!

I say go all in (smiling), this way you will have to stay at least for a while. I predict once you are there and moved in you will stay for at least 5 years, which is about the avarage for most people before going rock crazy and miss the changing seasons. You are going to have a great adventure and a blast.

Give natives of territories a vote and then you can call us "American."

And access to health insurance that all other Americans are now mandated to carry. We'd like that too....

happybrekey, good luck and welcome! I echo the suggestion above of going "all in" if you want the full experience of island life. I did the back-and-forth thing for awhile, and it is a very different experience from actually living here year round. Both have their merits and drawbacks. I didn't really start to feel truly part of the community until I stopped disappearing from it regularly. YMMV.

If you'll indulge me in some advice Beachybabe - abandon the idea of "expats". Most everone is American! It's just not a state, it's a territory, like 37 of the 50 current states used to be at one time, that's all. Hopefully the friends you'll meet range from having moved from the mainland 1 month ago, to 30 years ago, to having lived in the USVI their whole lives. You don't need to find a sub-community of people to befriend - befriend everyone! It will serve you well. It's not Belize, or France, just little America.

As a native of the USVI, a non-independent CARIBBEAN COUNTRY that is on the list of the UN Non-Self-Governing Territories, I resent the term "Little America."

Give natives of territories a vote and then you can call us "American." We are U.S. citizens but not true Americans. People from America are abbout 10% of the population. Although you are not an expat by citizenship, in a cultural sense, you are still an expat.

DL: I am glad you expressed this opinion, as people who move here need to understand the motivations of those around them. I never use the term "Little America", but I do use the term "Big America".

I am an American and you are an American. Canadians are Americans, too. 😉

The USVI is NOT a country, but a territory. So we do not have the same constitutional rights of those in the 50 states. I am sorry you are so bitter about being a citizen of the United States living in a territory. You do have the right, as so many Virgin Islanders have exercised, of moving to one of the states.

i guess according to your passport you do have "american" status. so you are an american you just cant vote for president. i guess if the vi's ever enter into statehood, you will never be able to vote?

seems like you are either a virgin islander or an american? why isnt it both. talk shows in particular do that.

As residents of a territory, we cannot vote in US Presidential elections. However, if I moved to the US and established my full time residence there, then I would be able to vote for a US President. I don't think that I would be eligible to vote in local elections if I vote in the states as you can't vote in 2 different jurisdictions. Correct me if I am wrong. I consider myself both a Virgin Islander and an American Citizen.

Thank you Mike....:-)

Thank you fdr!:-)

. I don't think that I would be eligible to vote in local elections if I vote in the states as you can't vote in 2 different jurisdictions. Correct me if I am wrong. .

Only if you get caught.

Oh yeah! Like our Harvard guy, Mapp!

If you'll indulge me in some advice Beachybabe - abandon the idea of "expats". Most everone is American! It's just not a state, it's a territory, like 37 of the 50 current states used to be at one time, that's all. Hopefully the friends you'll meet range from having moved from the mainland 1 month ago, to 30 years ago, to having lived in the USVI their whole lives. You don't need to find a sub-community of people to befriend - befriend everyone! It will serve you well. It's not Belize, or France, just little America.

As a native of the USVI, a non-independent CARIBBEAN COUNTRY that is on the list of the UN Non-Self-Governing Territories, I resent the term "Little America."

Give natives of territories a vote and then you can call us "American." We are U.S. citizens but not true Americans. People from America are abbout 10% of the population. Although you are not an expat by citizenship, in a cultural sense, you are still an expat.

DL: I am glad you expressed this opinion, as people who move here need to understand the motivations of those around them. I never use the term "Little America", but I do use the term "Big America".

I am an American and you are an American. Canadians are Americans, too. 😉

The USVI is NOT a country, but a territory. So we do not have the same constitutional rights of those in the 50 states. I am sorry you are so bitter about being a citizen of the United States living in a territory. You do have the right, as so many Virgin Islanders have exercised, of moving to one of the states.

I did not realize my term "little America", which I have heard on island and read here in the past, would be offensive, for which I apologize. It does seem, however, that Virgin Islanders do not largely consider themselves to be some sort of unrepresented and/or oppressed subjects - after all in the last territory-wide referendum that was held on the subject the majority voted to keep the status quo, even though 69% of the electorate didn't even show up to vote on it. DL obviously feels quite strongly otherwise, which I can certainly understand, but it doesn't seem like that feeling is very widespread, or at least wasn't the last time a vote here was taken on it in the 90s.

People from Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, etc (and all 37 of the non-original states) still considered themselves Americans back when they were territories, no? When people stateside ask me "how much of the population is American?" I always tell them, "most everyone! It's America!", but maybe I am the one who is off-base. I am new here so I won't pretend to be an expert, but that's just how it seemed to me.

I've never even heard the term, "Little America". Reminds me of several years ago when all of a sudden newbies were calling Charlotte Amalie "Charlotte" instead of the commonly used, "town". It just sounded daft - as does, "Little America".