Thinking about relocating from Philly to USVI

As far as lifestyle, St. Croix, STX is more laid back, St. Thomas, STT is faster paced, St. John, STJ is slower paced but very expensive. You'll get answers to most, if not all of your question answered right here by using the search field at the top of this post. Top of the page links gets you to lots more information.

If you've never been here, everyone strongly suggests a Pre Move Visit, PMV so you can see for yourself. Don't come as a tourist. Come and experience living day to day, driving on the left, buying groceries, etc. Stay in a hotel until you can rent a place for a month. That way you'll get a much better picture.

Good luck,
nn

Thanks alot for the input. I didn't think there were any people out there because no one responded. Thanks again!

It's like everywhere else I guess.
What do you want and what will you make of what you get.
Personally can't wait to get out of Ohio to where it's always (relatively speaking - I have had to put on a sweater at night in February) WARM.

People still at work, mostly. Me, I'm still looking...

Good luck,
nn

Nikki: If you can't wait 30 minutes for a response to a question, you are going to have a tough time actually living here.;)

Think: Island Tyme....

Nikki: If you can't wait 30 minutes for a response to a question, you are going to have a tough time actually living here.;)

Your tax refund may take months, or even years(no kidding)!
And, fast food takes at least 15 minutes(sometimes 45)!

Regarding the fast food taking 15-45 minutes....that's with only 2 people in line, in front of you. And NO, we are not kidding or exagerating.

I am going to visit first. As far as the fast food, that is fine with me. Trying to eat healthy. It sounds like The USVI would be a perfect place for me at a time in my life right now especially since I am not a patient person. Maybe The Most High will be giving me peace.

And thanks I will be thinking ISLAND TYME!!!!

The fast food reference was just to give you an idea of what it's like here just to get through your daily routine. It's the same at the bank, post office (the worst), checking out at Kmart or the grocery store, etc. As for eating healthy, try to find the thread on grocery prices. I just posted yesterday about a bowl of fresh berries (for one) costing $11.00. That's extreme, but not all that extreme, by island prices.

So basically, you are saying everything is slow. Not fast paced. Silly question? If one goes to a bank, why would the wait be sooooooo long unless its the 1st of the month and everyone is there getting their social security checks. Are there not that many tellers? Or does everyone just move slow.

So basically, you are saying everything is slow. Not fast paced. Silly question? If one goes to a bank, why would the wait be sooooooo long unless its the 1st of the month and everyone is there getting their social security checks. Are there not that many tellers? Or does everyone just move slow.

LOL...That's a good question! Anyone have an answer?

For the most part, the tellers in banks or stores don't care if there's a line in front of them. They feel no pressure to hurry so customers stand & wait & wait. If you as a customer object to it, you're considered rude. It doesn't stop them chatting amongst themselves & in some stores talking on their cell phones instead of waiting on you. That's how it is in a lot of places with bad management or even in good places if the manager isn't right there.

I am going to visit first. As far as the fast food, that is fine with me. Trying to eat healthy. It sounds like The USVI would be a perfect place for me at a time in my life right now especially since I am not a patient person. Maybe The Most High will be giving me peace.

And thanks I will be thinking ISLAND TYME!!!!

If you are not a patient person you will find yourself frustrated often.

Another fast food story: I went to the Subway in Red Hook and ordered 4 sandwiches and the lady was upset that I didn't call in such a large order.

That would drive me up a wall!!! If I am standing in a line, and an employee is going to chat and talk on a cell phone ----- my 1st reaction would be to go bananas. From a professional perspective, as a manager, it would be strange to me. Thanks for the examples. I would have to see this for myself. Anything is better than Philly and trying to start over somewhere new.

Yeah, those kinds of thing you have to get used to. Read this board - tons of information. Check out "You Know You Live in The VI When..." - it's a post someone put on here. it's pretty accurate! I've lived here all my life and i don't want to live in the States - went for college and came back after graduation. However, i give everyone roughly 8 months. If you can make it that long, you'll have a pretty good chance of liking it enough to live here. You just have to take what you know from the states and reverse it...including the driving!

I am not a patient person either, but my patience here has different boundaries. I would much rather live somewhere where relationships are more important than stuff, so I don't care if the person in front of me at the bank has a 5-minute personal conversation with the teller. It's great that they get to catch up. It might bother me if I were in a rush, so I just try to plan my day in a way that I don't have to rush, and that allows me, too, to have a five-minute conversation with someone in the middle of the street when I'm on my way to whatever's next. Statesiders tend to complain about this kind of slowness and say "there is no customer service here." Well, the person having the personal conversation is getting great customer service -- it's all in what you expect. Stick around long enough and you'll get it.

Plan to put both of your daughters in private school; unfortunately our public schools here face many challenges and aren't always a safe and productive learning environment.

I know I just keep going on and on. As far as the schools, the public schools are not good? My 15 yr old's high school - Martin Luther King - is the worst in Philly. If the public school is worst out there then I would be shocked. I mean this school is the pits from hell. My income would not allow me to put 2 kids in private school.

FDR: great example of patience and a positive way to look at things. Relationships matter none where I live.

From a book published in 1920 that I own titled "Roaming Through The West Indies"
Below is from the book that I posted here before:

Regarding The Virgin Islands from page 306 of "Roaming through the west indies:
That loose -kneed stroll of the Virgin-Islander is typical of all his processes, mental, moral, or physical,It is not merely slow, rhythmical,and dignified;there is in it a suggestion of limitless wealth, an un-troubled conscience,and an ancestry devoted to leisurely pursuits for untold generations. In local parlance a "five Minutes' walk"means a block.

One must not speak hastily to a native, for thew only result is wasted breath & the necessity of repeating the question in more measured cadences.....
but any attempt, courteous or otherwise, to hurry the Virgin Islander brings a sullen resentment which you will never succeed in smiling away.
As the navy men who were governing him put it in the technical vernacular of their calling, he has only two speeds,-Slow Ahead" and "Stop"
Once the visitor has shaken off the no doubt ridiculous notion that things should be done in a hurry, or done at all, for that matter, he will find our newly adapted children an amusing addition to the family.

Niki, it`s been nearly 90 years since this book was copyrighted, somethings never change...

look. there is only ONE way to determine if you like it. COME DOWN and SEE!

each island is a little different, but they are the same in many ways.

Remember that these are small islands. So the things that you have in philly are probably not here. Shopping at K mart is a big thing!

so come on down and see for your self.

billd

I used to get irritated standing in line at the bank and the post office, but now that all of the tellers and clerks know me, I have to admit that it is nice to chat with them for a few minutes while I am doing my business. A couple of the tellers at my bank ask after Tabra when I go in and one of the ladies at the post office asks if I am reading anything interesting. (SHe knows I don't have a tv due to a conversation when I was picking up some books)

You *have* to learn to have patience or you will go crazy.

You *have* to learn to have patience or you will go crazy.

Can I hear an AMEN?8-)

AMEN! 😀

do yourself and especially your teenage daughers a favor. Stay in Philly