What weren't you told?

Not much that I haven't already found on this website. Chickens? I didn't realize there were going to be chickens everywhere. And out of town, goats, cows, some pigs, donkeys, and more towards Coral Bay end, sheep. And it's hard to keep your house clean unless you have a house that has central or full A/C (I don't know anyone who has that).

Or could afford it unless extremely wealthy.

Assuming a person does some research before contemplating the move (rather than come totally unprepared) I'm not sure there's really anything that a person "isn't told" (or doesn't read about). But rather they encounter things once they get to the islands that they either didn't focus on or they casually dismissed as being unimportant at the time they were doing their research.

This is especially true when a person reads or hears something that has a slightly negative connotation. For example, during your pre-move research you may be told (or read) about the scarcity of replacement parts needed fix a refrigerator but you dismiss that with what I call a "Yeah, but", as in "Yeah, but I'm going to be renting so that my landlord's problem. It isn't until a year or so after you arrive when your refrigerator goes on the fritz and your landlord tells you the repair man has to order the part from somewhere on the mainland and it takes 2 weeks for the part to arrive on island, meanwhile you have no refrigeration.

Or it might be something as simple as the realization that things cost more here. When you did your research you might have been told that the cost for something might range from $500 to $800. In your enthusiasm and because you have a limited budget you focus on the lower end of that price range but when the time comes for you to acquire that item you find the actual price is at or exceeds the high end of the price scale.

Of course, when you learn during your research depends entirely on how much and how thorough YOUR research is. If you weren't told something, it probably means you didn't do enough research not that someone didn't tel you something.

Ayway, have fun doing your research!

Hers a couple of things:
There are roaming chickens and roosters on all 3 islands that can be a nuisance if they're in your yard, especially if you have an energizer rooster that crows every 5 seconds for hours and hours on end.

There's probably much more trash on our roadsides than your accustomed to seeing, very little to no recycling and depending on your location, your trash may often get a scenic tour of island before you get to a dumpster location.

Neighborhoods here aren't like those in the states, no sidewalks outside of town, mall and Red Hook locations, ditto for public transportation.

Most rentals or residential properties don't have mail delivery to their door.

USPS will deliver pretty much anything from the continental USA within 2-3 days for next to nothing (Sign up for a "Mail & Ship" account at https://www.usps.com/ship/welcome.htm which gives you a discount).

Most of the larger retailers offer free USPS shipping for orders over $XX (ex. full table setting "large plate, bread plate, bowl, mug" for 8 plus silverware in 3 giant boxes from Macy's was FREE). And for those that don't, their volume shipping discounts reduce your charges to very little $$$ (ex. 40lb bag of cat litter (that I couldn't find on-island) & giant enclosed litter box from PetCo was $8.99USD). Take advantage of it!

Does that actually work in the VI?

It seems that most bits of info you can find here have someone saying pretty much the opposite, so there will be a lot you can't be sure of til you are here awhjle, but feeling into the answers you get can help a bit. Ask yourself "Is this poster sorta kinda like me or not?" For instance, my husband takes a 10 mile ride each way to & from work. Answers like "avoid this & that road & never get stupid looking at something beautiful" is way more useful than "Only an idiot would ride a bike here" A helpful bonus might have been "a spoke or tire will cost you less at this place in Sunny Isle than at the place downtown"
So you will probably waste some time & money til the answers to all the question trickle in.

Here's a thread along similar lines: https://www.vimovingcenter.com/talk/read.php?4,194347,194347#msg-194347

Afriend, great response. Very well said.

My husband and I moved to stx 4 years ago. We had spent plenty of time in the Caribbean. ....8 weeks a year for many years.
I did tons of research, which is why we picked stx. In hindsight I think we would have been better off in st thomas as there is much more to do there.
We both easily got part time jobs.

After a year the cost of living was prohibitive...we are now in Florida where we can afford to run our ac and flush the toilet!!!!!!.

kakalee, to get specific answers you must first ask specific questions.