Moving to US Virgin Island
 

My wife and I are planning to move to the Virgin Islands at the beginning of next year and need help. We have a 4 year old daughter and are planning a 10 test run this summer. If anyone has any advice or experience with moving from the US to the Virgin Islands it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Adam

* 10 day test run

RoamsAround can give you a Virgin Islands forum made just for people moving.

In the meantime, to better help answer you:

Is a company moving you there?
Do you have a job lined up?
Do you have budget for things?
Will you have a car?
Have live in other countries geodes where you're from?
Do you have savings for however many months to live by during transition?

Thousands of people relocate to the USVI's every year and many have young children like you. Some stay and some levee quickly. Living on an island has it's own set of challenges and is not for everyone.

Before doing anything you need to do some "real thorough" research. The best place to start is the Virgin Islands Moving Center website: www.vimovingcenter.com

As the name implies this is a website dedicated to living and working in the USVI's. EVERYTHING you could ever want to know about living/working in the USVI's can be found there. Once on the site start on the top left of the home page and use the dropdown menus (moving left to right ) and READ EVERYTHING. There's so much information it will take weeks to read it all. If you are serious about relocating to the USVI's DO NOT SKIP on this part of your research - READ EVERYTHING not matter how long it takes you. Your efforts will be rewarded as it will be a real eyeopener.

You'll also find a link to the "VI Relocation Forum" where you'll find 10's of thousands of threads with answers to all your questions and hundreds more questions you haven't even thought of yet - every topic of life in the islands has been covered and discussed ad nauseaum.

I have to cut this post short but will return later with more info.

OK - I'm back.

Doing a "10 day test run" is a wise idea. In island parlance it is known as a PMV or Pre-Move Visit. When you do this it is imperative that you "take off the rose colored glasses" and see the island for what it really is. Having blue water, sandy beaches and palm tress may make it seem like paradise but it is not heaven.

DO NOT come as a tourist and DO NOT stay at a resort. Rather stay in a condo or "housekeeping unit". The idea being you want to learn what island life is really like - not take a vacation. While there do everyday chores like making the beds, cleaning house, grocery shopping, prepare your own meals, etc. as theses will be things you do when you make the move. Spend time driving around to get familiar with the island - make some of your trips during normal rush hours so you get an idea what a daily commute is like. Check out banks, utility companies, the motor vehicle agency to see what it is like to waste hours waiting on long lines to get simple transactions completed. Check out housing prices and look at the tuition costs (very high) for private schools (you really don't want to send your child to the public schools). Don't waste too much time sitting on the beach drinking pina coladas - unless you are a "trust fund baby" or have substantial net worth you won't be doing much of that when after your move. Instead, you'll be doing what you always do, getting up each morning, going to work to earn a living, then spending time doing everyday chores and before you know it it's time to go to bed and sleep for a few hours before you begin again.

One of the things you are going to learn is that living expenses are probably going to be higher than they are for comparable places "back home" and salaries are significantly lower for comparable jobs. That's the Catch-22 of island living.

Don't think you'll live a simpler life - life is not simple in the islands it's just a different venue for the rats to race.

Make sure you have enough money saved to support yourself and your family for at least 6 months. How much money you'll need varies from individual to individual since everyone has a different lifestyle. If you are being transferred to the USVI's by your company and you already have employment then you have a leg up. If you are going to look for employment after you arrive that's a whole other animal. Finding a job BEFORE you arrive is extremely difficult. Most employers will not even talk with someone who is not already living on the island (Why you ask? - well, employers learned long ago that most people who say they are moving never actually arrive so they just hire people who are already there).

Good luck following your dream.

Ditto everything RoamsAround said. Plus: Don't burn your bridges back home- leave yourselves an escape if things don't work out for you.;-)

Do you have a job there already?

I am medically retired from the military so I recieve a monthly check, and my wife has applied for jobs and has a few interviews schedualed during our trip.

That sounds like a good start. I asked because I had this dream when I was young (just out of college) and made a trip to St John to investigate teaching school there. Didn't pull it off, but love to hear about other people's adventures who might!

Does anyone know of any cheap condos or house for rent that we could stay at during our visit?

Go to the VI Moving Center Website I suggested one of my earlier reply. You'll find a few listings under the "Real Estate" section. Also, if you post a question on the website's Relocation Forum you get some leads. Some of the "locals" who make regular responses either rent out places that are perfect for "short stay Pre-Move Visits or can make recommendations.

Of course, you'll have to tell them which island you are planning to visit - no sense staying on St. Croix if you are planning to live on St. Thomas.

By the way, you'll also have to define "cheap" as that's a relative term as in cheap compared to what??? For what it is worth, nothing is really "cheap" in the Caribbean.