top 10 reasons I love living in the VI

beaches
weather
water
some excellent food at some restaurants

1. Waving hello to friends whereever you go. You constantly run into people to catch up with unlike in most places in the States unless you live in a small town there.
2. Courteous drivers who let you in when you're trying to get onto the main road from a parking lot or side street.
3. The way people help each other after a disaster like a hurricane.
4. Creating your own family here instead of the one you were stuck with from birth.
5. Christmas is the best in the Caribbean.
6. For the most part, lack of "corporate America."
7. Less status seeking here. Nobody cares if you drive a Beamer. Nice if you do but you aren't judged by that. The wealthiest might be driving a 10 year old, beat-up Corolla.
8. Not much "dress for success."
9. Many gas stations still pump your gas for you. I hate self-service.
10. I think small children are MUCH better behaved here than in the States & that's refreshing.

For sure every thing Trade listed and,
Waking up to an incredible sunrise most mornings, the sunsets, the moon and stars.
They way people make time to engague and share with you.
The culture and traditions, these people bring celebrating to an art form.
Limin and not feeling guilty.
The diversity.
A chance to re-invent your self and focus on different priorities.
Seeing and enjoying the sea everyday.
Cheap Rum, fresh exotic fruit, conch chowder.

Looking out at the beauty everyday, even if you don't have time to go to the beach!
Greeting everyone you see is very refreshing! When I say "Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Night" to anyone in the states, they look at me like I crazy!
Knowing that the beach is not far away!
Cars letting you into traffic! I actually like driving here! Also, NOT going 55 mph! Funny, now when I go to the states, I hate going fast! Quite the opposite of when I lived up there.
Wearing summer clothes MOST all the time!
Not being confused with all of the choices that we don't need!
Going diving, fishing, snorkeling, and swimming!
Having Pineapples, Bananas, coconuts, oranges, papaya's, limes, mangoes, and ginnups growing in your yard! Not to mention our little regular garden!
All the jobs I have, I've been ASKED to do! THAT is hard to come by in the states!
Meeting and becoming great friends with many of the tourists that come down.
Doing someone's wedding on the beach, what a great JOB LOCATION!!!! The best "office" in the world!
Tho there are major IN conveniences, I wouldn't trade it for the world! There is much I have missed on this list for sure!

1. The beaches and weather. I hate cold weather, being shut up in the house for months, grey skies, sideways blowing freezing rain. One of my favorite things to do on island is going to Off the Wall, sitting under an umbrella, sip a miller light and watch JJ exploring the beach and little tide pools there. He always finds a treasure. Each beach here has it's own flavor. I have a favorite beach for swimming, one for kicking back reading a book, several for exploring and one for people watching.

2. Less materialistic. I hate keeping up with the Joneses. I like being low maintenance. I drive a 10 year old falling apart pickup truck. Hair in a pony tail, little makeup and that's ok. Only stateside transplants ask me what I do for a living and I think that is only to find out how you survive here no one else really cares. There are some materialistic snobs here but you can spot them easily and avoid them if you wish. People from all walks of life could be sitting next to you at a restaurant or beach. Millionaires or maids. No one cares.

3. Diversity. Now that is a strange one. I imagine that in the states that you have many more people of different cultures than you have on the island but I didn't know any of them in the states. Here you meet people from all walks of life and all different cultures. I have met or made friends with people from Brazil, Portugal, Columbia, China, India, Costa Rica and many down islanders. Wow. So very awesome. It has opened my eyes to so many things. How wonderful that my child gets to meet and become friends with all the different kinds of people. The best thing is I don't have to travel for my son to experience these different cultures. It is all right here.

4. Island voices. This is one of my very favorite things. I love the musical voices of the islanders. I could listen for hours even if I can't understand what they are saying. A beautiful way of speaking.

5. Manners. I was raised in the south where manners are extremely important especially from children. I am sad to say that for the most part manners have disappeared in the US. Only in small southern towns do I still see children being brought up to be self sufficient and being raised to be well mannered. Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Night in my opinion are wonderful examples of politeness for children as are thank you and you're welcome. When we go back to the states JJ is always perplexed that no one greets us or replies to his greeting. He always says let's go see the nice lady at Walmart that stands by the door. He will also repeat good morning over and over until people get so tired of hearing it they finally respond. That is sad in my opinion. I love the way the children go into schooner bay market after school and bag groceries for a tip. Reminds me of when my brother and I used to canvas the neighborhood each Saturday looking for a lawn to mow.

6. Open air restaurants. I love being able to go out to eat while listening to the ocean and looking at the beautiful water. The best part is that my son loves going out as well because he usually can go exploring while we relax. Back in the states he hates going out with us and having to sit quietly, listening to our adult conversation. No fun for him.

7. Relaxing. I never relax in the states. I am always cleaning, cooking, working, shopping and rushing around. I don't do that here. When I go back to the states I feel overwhelmed and rushed. I get extremely annoyed with road rage and with waiting in line somewhere listening to people complain about waiting in line and constant bitching about life in general. Here no matter how upset I am or no matter how bad my day is I can always go down to the beach and take some deep breaths and remind myself that tomorrow is another day. I don't know why I can't do that in the states. I think there is more positive energy here or something.

8. Driving. I know many people hate driving on the island but I love it. It is wonderful that people take the time to let you out in traffic and usually horn blowing is a thank you. I hate driving in the states now. It only takes about 2 days before I am calling someone an asshole.

9. Community. I love how small this island is and how people pull together to help each other during hurricanes. If I break down on the side of the road someone always stops to ask if I need help. If my child has done something wrong I am sure to know it by the end of the day. How the community pulls together if funds need to be raised for someone in need. I love the sense of belonging.

10. Children playing outside. I see more children here playing and doing more outside activities rather than vegging in front of the television and computer. Well at least my child does.

11. Being able to dive, snorkel, swim and boating all year long. I need to do those things more often.

12. Most of all I love living here because my child is much happier here. That may be only because we moved here when he was so young. We tend to do more family things and spend much more quality time with him. To be honest maybe that is because there are less things to entertain children here. No water parks, Chuck E Cheese ect. We play board games, cuddle together and watch DVDs on rainy days. We read books every day and explore the island as much as we can.

These are all the things that make this island paradise for me. It is not for everyone and at times I really miss the states, especially my family but I am always ready to come back here. It would be easier to live in the states where you have so many choices and much cheaper. Sometimes I feel selfish living here. If we ever have to move back I will have no regrets about our time here on St. Croix. It has been and still is a great adventure.

1. Weather, so beautiful. No shoveling snow here.
2. Waking up and seeing the Ocean.
3. Being lulled to sleep by the Ocean.
4. Seeing the sun almost everyday. Not many days of all rain.
5. So many friends, I have more friends here then I ever had in the states. Going anywhere on island and seeing your buds. They become your family.
6. The music. Especially Kurt Schindler & Mercy Child. Love being able to go out most nights of the week and listen to music. We are so lucky to have such talented musicians on island.
7. Beach Bingo.
8. Outdoor restaurants & beach bars.
9. The breeze, hearing the palm fronds in the wind.
10. Going to beach, just to chill, swim or snorkel whenever you want.

I forgot one. A really amazing variety of coconut or genip retrievers & I've been lucky to have been owned by some of them. And there's no shortage either but that's not a good thing.

What's a coconut or genip retriever??

Island mutt.

1. Easy to make friends but easy to loose them too...lol
2. Cheap rum
3. Beautiful scenery everywhere
4. Cool but not cold winters
5. Mostly friendly traffic
6. Adopted my "island miracle" here, this is the best thing.
7. can usually find decent/good snorkeling
8. taught me patience

The people.
The scenery.
The ocean.
Some really great restaurants.
The lifestyle.
How relaxed my husband I were when we lived on STX.

For sure every thing Trade listed and,
Waking up to an incredible sunrise most mornings, the sunsets, the moon and stars.
They way people make time to engague and share with you.
The culture and traditions, these people bring celebrating to an art form.
Limin and not feeling guilty.
The diversity.
A chance to re-invent your self and focus on different priorities.
Seeing and enjoying the sea everyday.
Cheap Rum, fresh exotic fruit, conch chowder.

Agree,the Trade stuff,the Bombi stuff,except i`d switch from Chowder to Fritters!

I like the one about "taught me patience." My husband and I struggled to decide to stay another year and one of the pros on our pro/con list was "high potential for personal growth." 🙂 Lots of opportunities to learn life lessons!

I don't *recommend* being robbed, but it does teach you things...as do other island issues....

🙂

Almost all of these are on my list as well. One of the top ones for me is this:

Not being confused with all of the choices that we don't need!

Definitely. When I returned stateside for the first time, I remember going to a grocery store and feeling overwhelmed. Not a huge grocery store, either, just a regular one. Plus, island living makes you appreciate what you do have all the more.

A lot of you mentioned driving, which is interesting given how many complaints I've read here about traffic and taxi drivers! 😀 Again, I agree -- driving is easy when there is no hurry to get somewhere, and on island time I am very rarely in much of a hurry. And I like that a long drive is only a few miles at most. Stateside again after 4 months on STJ, the idea of driving an hour or more to another city felt like I might as well plan a trip to the moon.

driving is one of my top reasons i am planning on moving to stx i now drive 300 to 400 miles a day seeing accident's that kill people all most every day. looking forward to retirement being able to get up have coffee with sunrise and have a drink with sunset and i hear there is lots of good volunteer thing i can get involved with there

Jerry

I am not living on St Thomas yet but will be at the end of October. I visit the island frequently and love it.

I can say everytime I am down there I feel more relaxed. The weather is wonderful (most of the time).
I people are very friendly and more welcoming.

I cant wait for the move to happen 🙂

Bombi & DUN . . . where do you find conch chowder & fritters? yum!

Although I am only a part-timer on STX I agree with what most posters have said, especially Tammy's #7. I too cannot explain why my hectic life is less hectic when on STX. I still work the same long hours everyday, guess there's just something in the fresh air that makes it all seem more manageable.

I tell everyone we just live a more civilized life on the island. Wake earlier, go to bed earlier, watch less TV, eat in almost every meal while in the states we eat out almost everyday.

Maybe it is about having less choices.

sunor ski, conch chowder and fritters are everywhere. If you ever get to Anegada, Cow Wreck has the best conch fritters I have ever tasted.

SunOrSki I am laughing. Here on island it is after 9 and I am so ready to go to bed. Tomorrow when the sun comes up I will be wide awake. When I am back in the states sometimes it is 1 or 2 am and I am still up. Waking up before 8am is difficult. I have no clue why. Same with hubby and JJ.

snickerin here as well. When we're down there we're yawning by 8:30 / 9:00. Always mean to tear it up atleast one night, vacation and all. but don't always accomplish it. Must be the sun and salt air.

The sun will definitely take it out of you. Take a nap if you wanna go out. Unless its Tuesday, nothing gets going til late anyways. 🙂

Adding to my list.

Sunrise and sunsets.
Having both, the Mountains & the Ocean.
When it rains and everything turns so green & lush.
Love the mongoose. So cute.
Seeing whales & dolphins.

I don't "love" anywhere I've lived, because I don't see my world through rose colored glasses, but I have discerned some benefits to my living here:

I become a part of my personal surroundings here in ways that I don't when I'm someplace with ac/heating.

I have been forced to master patience, in order to prevent insanity, and this skill has proven useful in a myriad of ways.

I am a bit of a hermit, and people peddling magazines/gift wrap/religion respect my "Go Away" welcome mat.

I cut my own hair and still don't look as scruffy as many of my local peers.

I will never regret that I haven't experienced life in the Virgin Islands.

My Top Ten Reasons I like living here...

1. It's different. I needed a break from the "beige, haze, and boring" of stateside suburbia.

2. The colors. This place is bursting out all over. We sometimes play a game of "how many colors can you see in the ocean today." On a good day I even see purple. And Bougainvillea are now my favorite flora.

3. The skies. The clouds are different here, the sunsets are great. The golden morning light is amazing. And the lack of light pollution lets you enjoy a brilliant nighttime sky. As a former flatlander, I like having mountainous horizons to gaze at too.

4. The beaches and the water. No, you won't go as often as you think you will, but you can go at any time, and that's cool.

5. This is a friendly place. As others have said, it's fun being able to strike conversations most everywhere. And I like the fact that I run into friends as I get around the island. In my prior enormo suburbia, that didn't happen. Here...it's a small place.

6. It's odd down here, and I find that relaxing. People driving a bit crazy. "Characters" along the roadsides. The funny homemade road signs. The goofy way some things get done.

7. The interesting places to eat. Eating outdoors.

8. The mosquitos and noseeums. hahaha (I think I've absorbed too much Deet.)

9. The lack of pretension: You can't keep anything clean. You sweat. Your car isn't a Lexus. And many places you go are a bit unpredictable and ramshackle.

10. Filling water jugs from a machine, sno-cones from the back of a pickup truck, tomatos from a roadside stand, Rotis from the lady who sells them.