I am officially living on the beautiful island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands! I did a lot of preparation and research, but some things I have had to just learn along the way. Hopefully these 5 tips will save you some of the frustration/confusion I experienced in my first weeks on the island!
the driving situation
I’m sure you’ve already heard that they drive on the opposite side of the road here. However, the cars are the same as in the continental US. Aka, you are driving closest to the left side of the road, not closest to the yellow lines. They call the “St Thomas high five” when you hit passenger windows with another car while passing.
Additionally, the roads are extremely steep and very rough. Driving here is not for the weak! But, it is pretty much your only option as there is no Uber and the taxi’s are insanely expensive.
One other thing to note is that drinking and driving is not illegal here. You are more likely to get pulled over texting on your phone than sipping a drink. So be careful driving, especially in the evenings/weekends, about watching the drivers around you and staying safe.
getting gas is weird
One of the weirdest struggles I had coming here was figuring out how to put gas in my car. There are not card readers at the pumps, however some stations have an app/QR code payment situation. Save your time and just go inside to prepay a pump. I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to send money to the pump just for it to not even work.
Once you’ve paid your pump, in addition to putting the nozzle into your car, there is a plastic piece you will need to lift on that pump to indicate which type of gas you want (instead of hitting the button as usual). It rests right under where you lifted the nozzle from and just lifts directly up to make your selection.
grocery shopping
There are very few things St Thomas produces, almost everything is imported (fruit is your best bet for local- think mangoes, avocados, papaya, etc.). With this in mind, things are very randomly priced. For example, a bottle of salad dressing will randomly be $20. Also, produce will go bad in under a week most likely, maybe sooner if there is a power outage.
As a single person living alone, I am able to budget $100 a week for groceries and have enough for the week (after spending a bit more initially for the essentials). I tend to shop at Cost U Less for bulk items (their version of Costco) and Fruit Bowl for weekly groceries. I have gone to Moes a few times but find they don’t really have what I’m looking for and I spend the most money there.
Finally, if you’re planning on staying for awhile, always have some back-up emergency food just in case you have a prolonged power outage or in case a hurricane comes through.
throwing away trash
My American self is used to the classic Thursday-morning-garbage-on-the-curb type of trash experience. When I asked my landlord “where should I throw my trash away” she hit me with a “find a dumpster somewhere on the island :)”. There is no door-to-door garbage collection service.
Typically each neighborhood has a shared dumpster area that is #nasty but where everyone drops their garbage. My job also offered for me to drop my trash at the shared corporate dumpsters at work. Because of this ~communal~ trash vibe, when heavy rain comes through, a lot of runoff heads right into the water, so stay out of the water at the beaches for a few days and keep an eye on the weekly beach water reports.
Of special note, if you are staying somewhere with no a/c or a very open-air vibe, your trash MUST be air-tight or you will start to host some wiggy friends, if you catch my drift. I am only SLIGHTLY traumatized by my experience with this.
addresses and mail
Similarly to the garbage thing, there is limited door-to-door mail service here. Addresses are also not really a thing oddly enough. To find people’s homes, the most common method is sharing a dropped pin on Maps. For true mail service, people either open a P.O. box, or have mail delivered to their jobs (which usually do have a daily mail service).
Anything shipping from the mainland will often take longer as the mail ships only come when there is enough cargo on them for a full load. The mail is on island time just like everyone else <3 However, if you are a post card girlie like me, you’ll be pleased to know that you do not have to pay any more in postage to ship to/from the continental states to here!
In conclusion, St. Thomas is pretty close to home, but just different enough that the little things are make-or-breaks for avoiding homesickness and feeling like this is a place you belong in! At the end of the day, the people here are so kind and always willing to help if you ask for it. You’ve got this!
