Wishing I were on ISLAND TIME

yes, i feel the same way. waiting for my pmv april 18-may 2 on stx. pretty sure my house is sold in may. can't wait for those 2 weeks.

Hey Michael

Will you be working on STX? I'm curious about employment opportunities.

Wishing she had a Bushwhacker
Jen

When are you coming down, Jeniffer?

Are you guys looking for a vacation or to relocate?

Careful girls they are preparing to smash your dreams! If you read most every post it doesn't take long to figure out these people don't go outside, all they do is hang around this board all day smashing dreams just watch the reaction to this post it will get them all "hen pecking". I hope the islands are all you dream they are!!!!!!

We don't have a set time to relocate - We don't want to move too soon and fail - yet on the other hand I don't want to wait forever. How does next week sound?? "sigh" I've been lying awake at night thinking of ways to make a decent living...it's become an obsession.

Jen

same feelings here, jen almost have my ducks in a row. southwest florida isn't what it use to be. developer wants to put high rise condo where my home is, so make $ there and handyman work when i get there. mostly stucco and drywall patching or small jobs.

No, I don't think we who post are trying to dash any dreams - just inject some reality to the Kenny Chesney songs. My life would be a Kenny Chesney song.......if I were KC. But I'm not and you most likely aren't, so you are where you are.......Let's face it, folks - Kenny and Jimmy don't sing about bad schools with mold or feral dogs or no-see-ums (they most likely can't see that from their yachts). Okay, so Kenny has a house on STJ.....good for him. Betcha he runs AC all the time...pretty sure he has a pool and a view.....at this point he probably isn't having to worry about upkeep for that little cottage by the sea.

I hope the islands are all you dream they are. I really do....but daydreams are usually not quite as sharp-edged as real life, whether in the VI or Boston. The dreams usually involve the ocean, snorkeling, and drinking cute little frosty drinks with umbrellas.......reality is your WAPA bill, which makes you forget all of the above. There ain't enough rumrunners in the islands to make that go away.

Go slowly. Plan. Make MANY trips before your move if you need to - at the very worst you will have had some impressive vacations and learned a lot about another way of life and had a blast - the other end of the spectrum is that you could figure out that this just really isn't for you on a day-to-day basis. Somewhere in between lies life in the VI.

Jennifer, I am so with you. I am jumping in that water every chance I get. Yes, you do still have to work and have a "real life" but boy, the off hours are amazing. I saw my first sea turtle the other day while snorkeling. Tabra doesn't like to snorkel, so we gets in the water with a floaty and just lounges while I putter around looking at stuff. It is truly the stuff that dreams are made of. We have been here over a year and a half and have not lost the love for the island.

Hi Jen,

I feel the same way! The temp should break 40 here today; a hot one! My husband and I are hoping to move down to St John this summer provided our house sells! I just love the beach and sitting outside the deli Grotto with a tea and banana bread. Best of luck to you!

Sarah

Hello Everyone!

You are right. Living here is not without challenges, but it is absolutely pretty darn wonderful!!!! I have been here (STT) a little over a year now and I LOVE it!

Wishing you the best and hope you all make it here soon!

Mell 🙂

My husband and I Know everyone is very correct about working hard to make the bills but we also are thankful to read that there are people making it happen and still enjoying it. By the time we move my husband will have been away in Iraq for 18 months. We agreed that life's challenges are easier when we are together rather than apart and we are looking forwad to the unique challenges, adventures and experiences moving to the island will offer (STJ) We were joking about how 10 years ago when we we first moved in together, we rented a studio apartment and lived in it mostly harmoniously for over a year. We realize we might just have to do that again and we are okay with it to be able to live on the island. Right now I roam around our huge, cold house and my mind wanders to blue waters and white sand.......................... even if I have to fold and refold a million t shirts everyday. Sometimes it not about what you do it is about where you are but for others the money is more important rather than the location. We'll see; it is all about the balance.

sarah

Becky I'm also a realist which is why we are saving, saving, saving, planning, saving more and on top of it all PRAYING! Like that ole saying "Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail"

until the time we do have our ducks in a row - I will be doing a LOT of daydreaming. Why ?? Because that is just who I am. HA HA

For those of you already living the dream - What type of work do you do?

Cheers everyone!!
Have a great Saturday

Jennifer,

I love to daydream about it too! In fact I am even working an extra job now to keep putting money aside. For the first time ever I am babysitting and I never cared much for kids, but I don't want this dream to be just a dream for too long. We are hoping to have a good nest egg by late summer. I am a personal trainer and have already spoken to the folks at the gym down there, so I am looking forward to continuing my career and building up a new client base.

Sarah

I read this thread very carefully and I realized that I have been guilt of playing the role of Nanny to a segment of the population that is/or should be quite capable of looking after themselves. The daydreaming of Kenny Chesney set will find out for themselves how close the reality of Island Life is to their picture thereof and they will learn from the experience.
The only real concern I have is for those attempting or thinking of the move with children.
And so, for those who have only themselves to .....blame/thank/move etc. do whatever you want. I shall in future refrain from anything other than replies to questions asked.

Jane,

Believe it or not we all appreciate what you have to add to our conversations. If you are living on an Island then you are living what we consider a dream. Some of us have to deal with below zero weather, stressful work conditions, hours of commuting, etc. Everyone should have a goal - living on an island is my goal. Will it be the heaven that I have dreamed? No - but I will cherish the moments that I do have.

Until then - Please keep giving us your opinion & comments. It's up to us all to take it with a grain of salt.

I'm still hoping to hear how the others are making a living....please drop me a note.

Jen

PS. All of our children are grown - I would never make a move like this with kids. It's impossible to know how it will all turn out and kids need stability. That of course is my own opinion - yet I do hope that we meet families with young children, my husband and I both love kids and can appreciate "It takes a Village to Raise a Child"

Becky R- Take a hint from Jane she gets it!!!! or just read all your negative posts, YOU should try going outside once in awhile instead of just sitting in front of your computer smashing dreams all day or you could do us all a favor and sign off for good like Island Ed. Just read your posts NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Head for the states if its so bad. Dreams are why we wake everyday or whats the point in living -maybe YOUR just stuck in a nightmare, quit dreaming quit living. Maybe thats it, deep down inside you wish you back here with us in the states because I lived in Mexico for 3 years and it's worse there and I didn't have as negative thoughts as you have, try and find some joy in your life its sad how depressed you come across, maybe its your personality. I hope you find true happiness someday!

We left StX for Port Townsend in the Pac NW. I still have friends and business interests down there, but much prefer living back in the States (my personal opinion).

tjmee-

I suggest you go back and read my posts for the past two years....then come back to me and we'll talk.

Everyone has a dream - I believe I specifically said we were only trying to interject reality.

Jeniffer is the one who "gets it"....she is planning, saving, and reading everything she can - traveling to the islands, making sure before she makes a very large leap. And yes, she is daydreaming, and dreams are what life is made of........but we made the move primarily on a dream too. I wouldn't take back a second or a single experience - still, I have to give some warning. I can count three people off the top of my head that we had to loan money to (read "give" - they left completely broke and we never heard from them again) in order for them to return stateside. Their dreams simply weren't realistic and they didn't arrive with enough funding to keep them going until they could find their place in the sun.

Point/counterpoint - isn't that what it's all about? Ric and Linda J did their very best to make us understand some things before we arrived there......we did the "how bad can it be?" scenario and .....oops....should have listened to them. I also think WHERE you are from makes a difference.

Everyone's life station is different, but moving anywhere is huge to any family and you simply must accept the fact that you have to leave behind most everything that is very familiar to you, which is much easier said than done. There are people making it every day and I am thrilled beyond words for them.......I still have very dear friends who live and work there every day of this world and are for the most part extremely happy with where they are. Several of them thought about giving up at one point but they stuck it out and made a life....and some waited months for just any job, and a year for their "real" job. Beth and Tabra are a great example - came down for a PMV and never left, found jobs, went through some rental nightmares, blah, blah, and they LOVE STX and are very, very happy there....they didn't even go back to sell their stuff, had their friends do it! Ric and Linda planned their move very carefully and are doing so well and loving it - but ask Ric about his first job - it surely wasn't his first choice.

I don't mean to be negative - again, I will say I intend to be back in the islands for my long-awaited vacation this year - if it were horrible, well, I guess I'd be going somewhere else, wouldn't I? The things that made us return stateside were either life changes or things we simply did not think completely through before going. It's easy to say you're going to retire there....and a lot harder when your son has found his SO and they are talking grandbabies.....still a couple of years off, but I realized we could be the cool grandparents who lived in the islands, or a part of their everyday life. That's just a personal choice. Returning to the mainland for ill relatives -well, they were fine when we left, what happened???? Three years ago it didn't matter - today it matters VERY much, more that I would have imagined. But had we truly thought that one all the way to the logical conclusion with an aging family and a 28 year old and a 25 year old son, we would have projected ourselves into the future to see what we could either live with or leave behind.

And P.S. - I AM back stateside, but not completely out of misery - life circumstances change.....if you'd read back a while you would know that. Oh wait - you're in Michigan and you've been posting for about 5 weeks....I bow to your authority.

tjmee- Your post is way to harsh of a personal attack. Becky R is a wonderful person who did try to make a difference when she lived here. I have found her posts to be honest and informative. Maybe you're just having a bad day but you went way to far. When you attack Becky in the manner you did it makes you seem to be the angry and sad person.

I, like the rest of my family grew up in a border town and have traveled all over Mexico. I saw extreme poverty every day growing up. And you're right Mexico has MUCH greater problems. But it is also Mexico and not part of the US. USVI is no where as bad even as say the Dominica Republic, but that is because it is part of the US. But it is a different culture, a different way to live and it is no paradise. It is another place and way to live. Some people love it and some don't. The board is giving both sides of coin. And at worst the information you find as negative is giving you information to be prepared for what may come. Because while it is part of the US it is not the US mainland and you will not have all the benefits you may or may not take for granted at home.

It is extremely important to have opposing points of view! This island is for some people and it is not for others. There are problems here just as there are problems everywhere else. I happen to find the advantages of island life far outweigh the disadvantages. (For now!! Ask me again if I ever have health problems!) Some people do not find the advantages outweighing the disadvantages.

If you ask me about island life, although I do try to be honest about it, you are getting the point of view of someone who LOVES this island to death, came here with very little money, lucked out in a lot of areas, had some pretty bad problems with cars and our first house, but still LOVES this island. So, yes, I am being honest, but throughout all of my posts is the pervasive love. You need to have people who do not love the island as much to give their honest opinions because YOU MAY NOT LOVE IT WHEN YOU GET HERE!!!! As far as I am concerned, even though Becky and I might disagree every once in a while, (Or even a lot! lol.) she is an incredible source of good information and well worth listening too. It might save you a great deal of heartache or money in the long run.

tjmee, I believe Becky is just being very honest not negative. She helped me tremendously before we moved here. I would not have been able to get my dogs here without her help. A huge expensive undertaking. She does not hate this island and as you can tell by other posters she is very loved here. Try being a little more respectful. Becky I'm still in your fan club. You go girl.
Tammy

I find that these discussions/debates continue to overlook one important thing:

There are 4 islands on which people live in the USVI. The life-style on each island is quite different. WHERE you chose to live is an important consideration and there is no right or wrong answer to that question. It is purely a matter of personal preference.

Most people who live here and love it have chosen the right island for themselves.

off topic? I simply pointed out that it was inevitable that you would show up and smash dreams....... And you did....Personal attack or just pointing out the obvious anyone who reads these post can see you have a problem getting along with others. And I am sorry it did not work out for you in the islands. Hopefully things will be better for you now wherever you are now.