Relocating

My neighborhood has about 10 mail boxes available. These boxes are on a post at the entry to the area and provided by the USPS. You have to live/own there 50 years to get one I think LOL. Other than a 50 year wait, we cannot get residential mail service at our house and we're fairly close to Christiansted.

There has been an effort to assign street addresses to properties in the VI so residential mail service could become available - and also to improve safety and emergency response.

If you are a renter without a lot of stuff you can move around the island but you continue to get your mail at the same PO.

There is no residential mail service in the VI BTW - you need to get a PO box.

There is USPS delivery to condos at least. I have a mailbox just outside in the parking lot and the carrier is there every day. Have packages delivered to the condo office so they aren't sitting outside my door.

There is also residential / house to house delivery as well. You need to ask the PO for what they deem your physical address (trust me usually it is not what you think is right), then put a mailbox in an accessible location. You will still have to go to the PO to get your packages. You can also keep the PO box if you choose for whatever.

Honestly a p.o. box doesn't bother us, kinda nice really...maybe I won't get a pile of junk mail every day lol.

We're starting the process of selling off our stuff, it's SO WEIRD to see half of our house empty. But it's so exciting. Makes us realize we don't need all this stuff in our lives haha. Talking to you all has been wonderful as well, can't wait to become part of the community 🙂

Is it not regularly available there, or just really expensive?

Coffee is certainly available, maybe not for a price like in the states. I think I recall Seaside Market has Starbucks. Nuts are another expensive commodity. Not just in a can but the bags for baking as well. And butter, like $6/lb

Ndbrown,

You say that you have visited St. Thomas and loved it - what made you decide to move to St. Croix? Just curious. I lived on St. Thomas for 8 years, then moved to St. Croix to be with my boyfriend (now husband) whose business was there - on St. Croix for 3 years. They are VERY different islands/communities...

Hi pilatesgal! Really we're basing this off research we've done, but not too terribly much. We're leaning toward st croix, but if we find jobs/rentals more easy to come by in st Thomas, we'll gladly go there. I remember st Thomas being quite busy and more touristy...those things don't particularly bother us, however we would prefer something quieter. Would you mind describing what differences you found between the two? Like I said before, we're super open to suggestions and feedback!
Thanks!

Ndbrown, I spent 8 years on St. Thomas, 3 years on St. Croix. St. Thomas is ‘busy and touristy’, however you can avoid it, to a great extent, depending on where you live and how you have to travel on island. There are certainly spots where you can live that can be very quiet and peaceful, yet you still have many things available to you that you don’t have on St. Croix, or St. John. I found a great sense of community on St. Thomas that I never found on St. Croix. I never felt afraid on St. Thomas...I did on St. Croix - I would never go to a beach by myself on St. Croix because I didn’t feel safe...I did on St. Thomas (and ALWAYS on St. John). I moved to St. Croix because my boyfriend (now husband) had a business there, and I could take mine anywhere (or, so I thought...I am a massage therapist and movement practitioner). So, I moved to St. Croix. My husband has been in the VI for 30 years (yacht captain - based in St. Croix, however charters were all in STT/STJ and the BVI) - he bought a house on St. Croix. I ADORED the house....GREAT location (for us), but no community support...no friends...I will say, being on St. Croix was the loneliest experience of my life. Then, my husband got shot, at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, in a busy boatyard...for no reason. It wasn’t gang related, or him being in the wrong place...none of that. He was just going to work....Now, my experience on St. Croix is very different than many....however, I can say (from my specific experience), I NEVER want to set foot on that island again, and, I would go back to St. Thomas (or St. John, as I spent a great deal of time there) tomorrow. Even before I could form an opinion of my experience on St. Croix, it did not draw me in like St. John and St. Thomas did. Those other two islands captured my being, from the second I saw them and set foot on them (the views, beaches, smell, sounds...ALL of it). I do not mean to offend anyone in my post here...I know many people love St. Croix, and, their experience is different than mine. I just want to make you aware that all 3 islands are so very different...and everyone’s experience on each of them is vastly different.

If you do, indeed, move to the VI - come with an open mind, understand that it is really not a “simple lifestyle” that many seek...it is not like being on vacation - it can be very difficult to ‘make it’ on island...but, if you do, as I did on St. Thomas (and my husband did, for 30 years as a yacht captain there), it can be wonderful. But, I can say, from my St. Croix experience, that it was never, ever “home” for either of us...St. Thomas and St. John were.

I apologize for my lengthy reply and please understand that I am not, at all, discouraging you from following your dream. I just wanted to share my experience, as it is rather unique...many US transplants have not experienced living on both STT and STX.

If you would like, you are welcome to PM me for any other insight. Best of luck in your future decisions...pilatesgal318