Living On An Island

Nine years ago, I got on a plane with my mother, father, and older sister to begin a new chapter…island living. This move happened between my sophomore and junior year of high school and looking back, I see that moving to St. Croix in my last two years of high school was the best thing ever!

I had never been to St. Croix before and had just started exploring the Caribbean area earlier that summer when I went to St. John (which is another island under the territory) Have you ever wondered what living on an island would be like? Well, let me give you a bit of an insight.

It is hard to explain what it is like to live on an island because of two aspects: on one hand, you are surrounded by the beautiful ocean…where you can simply go to the beach all the time. But the reality that you cannot just jump into a car and drive to the big city is always there. I like to describe it as living in a small town.

When you live on an island, you expect many changes, but I was excited about them. The house I lived in was a unique style, pod style, which was rare even on an island close to the equator where it rains and is sunny every single day. The high school I graduated from had a total of 8 students in my graduating class.

There were so many community events going on every weekend, basically, that I loved just exploring the island and attending these events. I also loved getting home from school and jumping in the pool which would relax me to tackle my homework and college applications.

Over the two years of living there, a 40-mile island feels like a small town with one main road, and the highest you can go is 45 miles per hour.

Reflecting on this experience, I realize that a lot of growth happened with my confidence, and it’s nice not to live a consent on the go lifestyle.

If you ever find yourself in St. Croix, USVI, I recommend checking out the following:

1. Joyia Jewelry
2. Buck Island
3. VI Coffee Roast
4. Mia’s Mexican Restaurant in Gallow’s Bay
5. Title Pools on the west end of the island
6. My favorite restaurant on the island is Duggan’s
7. Sandy Point - the easternmost point of the United States
   1. If you are there in the New Year, they have a celebration there to watch the sunrise.