St Thomas US virgin Islands Anyone been there?

[CSD1129]

Thanks!
I've still got a lot of time before I can. I still have to finish school and then on to college.

I'm really looking forward to living there though.

 

[zboss]

Thanks!
I've still got a lot of time before I can. I still have to finish school and then on to college.

I'm really looking forward to living there though.

While it might seem very romantic to move to the caribbean - if you talk to anyone that has actually lived there for more than five years and [isn't a hippie or dive instructor] they will tell you to stay in the states and make your money elsewhere.

I've had a house in the BVI for 25 years but don't live there, it's a nice place to visit but after about 3-4 weeks island fever starts to hit. When you get to around 30 years old the bar scene starts to wear on you, and then what? The St. Johnies I know don't have the business discipline to move back to the states and slide into a high-paying job... and all the jobs that are available in the islands are hospitality jobs, so they end up being a depressed drug-using skin-cancer-candidate beach bums. They are so far removed from reality that when you ask them what they want for dinner their response is "I don't know - that's too much stress, man".

In some cases - maybe 1% - you can build up a business and make a good run of it, but those guys/gals are few and far between. For every 18 to 20 year old I see move to the islands in the last 25 years, all but maybe 1 or 2 has got fed up and left within two-three years.

 

[KidK9]

I completely agree with this statement. My best friend has been going to vet school at Ross University on St. Kitts and has been there for4 years. He gets so aggravated with island sickness and is constantly counting the days till he comes back to boring Ohio. My buddy is a complete beach bum/fisherman/scuba diver and he is constantly telling me never to live on an island. Think this one thru man, it might only be a case of "the grass is greener on the other side".

While it might seem very romantic to move to the caribbean - if you talk to anyone that has actually lived there for more than five years and [isn't a hippie or dive instructor] they will tell you to stay in the states and make your money elsewhere.

I've had a house in the BVI for 25 years but don't live there, it's a nice place to visit but after about 3-4 weeks island fever starts to hit. When you get to around 30 years old the bar scene starts to wear on you, and then what? The St. Johnies I know don't have the business discipline to move back to the states and slide into a high-paying job... and all the jobs that are available in the islands are hospitality jobs, so they end up being a depressed drug-using skin-cancer-candidate beach bums. They are so far removed from reality that when you ask them what they want for dinner their response is "I don't know - that's too much stress, man".

In some cases - maybe 1% - you can build up a business and make a good run of it, but those guys/gals are few and far between. For every 18 to 20 year old I see move to the islands in the last 25 years, all but maybe 1 or 2 has got fed up and left within two-three years.

 

[CSD1129]

I agree with both of the above posters, but I also disagree. I think it's important to have a "real job" before moving to the caribbean, and not to move there the day you turn 18. I plan on going to college and getting a job in the states before/ if I plan on moving to the USVIs. I've also heard pleanty of horror stories about people moving to the Caribbean, but I've also heard a lot of good things. I chose the USVIs because in a sense it IS America, yes it's different than where I live now (The northeast), but I would like to live somewhere else instead of New Jersey.

Well I've got time to decide, lots of it; i really won't know until then. I realize life on "island time" is not for everyone, maybe not even for myself. Although, I won't be sure until I get to try.

I really appreciate all the feedback that I got here. I enjoyed seeing both sides of island life.

Thanks again!
-Christine