Hello everyone!

I'm sorry if this may sound blunt but if you want to "take this to a more personal aspect" you'll have to provide us with more personal information. Simply saying you want to "immerse ourselves in new cultural and environmental atmosphere" doesn't tell us anything about YOU. Moving anywhere outside of your current hometown will satisfy that need - you don't have to go all the way to the USVI's to do that. Tell us exactly what that means to YOU and what YOU are really interested in doing once you get to the USVI's.

You say you've read many posts but it appears you may not have focused on what was being said or figured out that the posts which get the greatest number of responses are those that ask specific questions.

As far as "networking for jobs and housing" you'll find that those are difficult to do long distance. If you read through the posts dealing with jobs you'll find most employers only interview candidates who are already "on island". Employers are deluged with resumes from people who say they are comimg to the island but never actually show up so the employers tend to ignore inquiries from people who are not already on island. Trying to tell you where or how to "network" is difficult without knowing what island you'll be living on and what type of work you are seeking.

The same holds true for housing. Do you want to rent or buy? What island? What's your budget? What type of acommodations do you need? If you want to rent you should know Landlords want to actually "see you" and they are not often willing to "hold" a place on the off chance you may show up a few weeks or a few months later.

I'm sure you get the idea - we can't offer assistance unless you tell us more. Read through the material on the relocation website, purchase and read The Settler's Handbook, scan throuh the hundreds of relocation stories and posts on the forum - by doing that you learn great insight to what it is like living in the USVI's.

Yes, absolutely!

To be more specific looking to rent housing.

I have experience in residential construction, fabrication and welding, management-foreman, and have worked in the restaurant business from the ground up. My fiancee has a degree in Computer info. systems , has fashion merchandising background, and sales(inside and out) with respect to software systems and jewelry. Currently I'm dissolving my home construction consulting business and she is manager/sales director for a granite company. So we are both flexible with our employment prospects.

Definitely going to do a pmv in August and are leaning towards STX. We would really like to be able to start chatting with individuals and couples to start and build repertoire with.
Looking forward to dialog with locals and those who've relocated!

I've been her a few years full time, after vacationing on STX for 20+ years and a couple of aborted residencies. I decided STX was the place for me a long time ago but wanted to check out Hawaii first (Oahu). I couldn't afford property in HI so I decided on STX.
What I think is that if you come here and are ambitious and engage in the economy that you can exploit your skills and make it.

As you read the posts living in the VI has its challenges but the people are friendly, the pace of life is slower and we have what I consider the best weather in he world. Mostly getting hooked up here is all about networking. It's good advise that you come down and check it out before you move everything and the first few months of getting settled requires some cash. You probably won't earn what you earned stateside, but if you love it you will find a way to make it work. Good luck

Thank you so much! It was comments like this that I look forward to hearing. I hope to see more and am excited to start chatting with new people.