In the past week since we signed our lease to winter on St. John in the US Virgin Islands, we’ve been busily making preparations for this new challenge. That’s a big part of the appeal for us about this adventure – a change of pace, and a new set of travel-while-working challenges to figure out. Since going to the island for 5 months is just an extension of our already location independent life, there’s a fine line to be drawn between making our life there comfortable but yet not investing the energy and expense of making it a longer term thing. We are clearly looking at this as just another adventure in our nomadic journey, not as settling down.
As we’re used to towing our little house behind us, and always having everything we need within arms reach – we’re making some mental adjustments to wrap our heads around what life might be like for us this winter.
Getting there
The first challenge is getting there. We’re currently in San Francisco. And while an obvious option would be finding somewhere to park the truck and house in California, and just flying directly from here is tempting. It doesn’t seem all that reasonable.
We were already planning to winter in Florida, as both of our parents will be there. We have an open invitation to park our truck and trailer at a friend’s place. There’s something quite nice about knowing our house will be somewhat nearby via a quick (and affordable) plane hop from the island if we forget anything. We anticipate we’ll come mainland at least once or twice during our stay in St. John to visit family, friends & clients, anyway – so it makes sense to have our home positioned there to use as our lodging. And we’ll likely want to resume our RVing lifestyle from Florida come spring (assuming we don’t buy a sailboat while there and sail off. *grin*).
And, there’s Kiki. She’s never flown before, and we want to reduce the amount of stress on her for this new adventure. We can get a direct flight from Florida to St. Thomas – whereas it seems flying from most anywhere else we have parking options, it would be multiple hops. Any advice on flying with a cat would be most appreciated.
So, we’re now ramping up to hit the road for a cross-country jaunt to Florida – including getting all new tires, as they were due. The expense of that was not fun considering we’ll be driving and then parking for several months. Truth be told, we’re not excited about the 3100 mile drive ahead of us. We basically just got to this coast after a way too quick trip across country. We don’t like moving around this fast, or making slingshots across the country. But even so, it still seems like the best option long term. We’ll give ourselves a couple weeks, likely taking a respite along the way for a few days to get work done.
Technology
We’ve been told to be prepared for island time when we get to St. John. Things move at a different pace (we’re interested to see how this meshes with our Nomadic Standard Time lifestyle). Power is not necessarily reliable, and even though we’ll be mostly missing hurricane season – we’ve been told to prepare for shorter term power outages being a way of life. So one of our preps has been doing a technology refresh this week. I was already on the fence about upgrading my 2+ year old Macbook Pro, but knowing I’d be more dependent on battery power – that was all I needed to justify getting a shiny new one with twice the battery life. (My older 15″ one is now for sale, if anyone is interested.)
We’ve also been considering just how much of our tech we should take with us. What is easy to bring there, what is essential for us and what will we realistically be able to take advantage of. There’s also concerns of subjecting our tech to the high humidity and ocean air as our little cottage has no windows, just screens – and no air conditioning. We’re still pondering what our tech arsenal will ultimately be.
We’ll also have concerns about getting battery back-up options for keeping our connectivity tech operating, assuming we can get a connection at all when power is down. This is one reason why we’re considering bringing components of our new satellite internet setup with us as one of our connectivity options.
Arrival
The cottage we’re renting is a mostly unfurnished efficiency studio up a jungle mountain road. There’s a mattress, an old couch, a dresser and two chairs there. Nothing else but a full bath, washer/dryer and unstocked kitchen. The island is only accessible by ferry. We have much to figure out – such as, do we plan the expense and ease of renting a 4WD vehicle upon arrival while we get ourselves situated? Or do we attempt to be more adventurous and utilize the limited public transit infrastructure and hitchhiking (apparently common practice) to get around and get all our initial errands run? Long term, we think we’ll end up buying a used vehicle to use on the island, and then sell it before our departure in March.
It does seem we’ll have some help once we arrive from our landlord, who will help us get situated and take us around to get the basics (drinking water, groceries, etc.) before dropping us off. And our friend we’re subletting from is going to pre-ship over linens and everything we’ll need to start off a kitchen there (as she’ll need them anyway upon her arrival when we leave.) That will be a huge relief, for sure!
Anyway, these are some of our logistical considerations we’re currently dealing with as we shift from RVing to temporary island living!
Hi Cherie & Chris … so tell me guys, is this like the Deep Space Nine version of your adventures.
Steve
Hmm.. hadn’t really thought of it that way. Perhaps, in a bit of a way. Except we’re not really opening up our base camp in St. John to be a port for adventures to come to us.
This may be a little long, but I wanted to give you some ideas on flying w/ a cat. We’ve flown our cats from Florida to California to Hong Kong and back to California so we’ve been thro’ it a few times.
You may well need to buy a separate “ticket” for your baby, especially if she’s travelling in cargo. Do book ahead on this and let the airline know about kitty at the time of booking your tickets. See here:
http://www.petplace.com/cats/airline-rules-for-travel-with-your-cat/page1.aspx
If you’re able to take the cat on-board the plane then definitely do this (ask the airlines…some will, some won’t).
– Use a soft carrier that fits under the seat and bring something to cover the carrier so kitty can relax a bit.
– Put something inside the carrier w/ your smell on it (e.g. T-shirt) so that she has your smell plus can hide underneath if she wants
– Some calming sprays (e.g. Feliway or Bach’s Rescue Remedy) used around the carrier can help to relax. If kitty is with you, you can rub rescue remedy every few hours on the ears.
– Don’t feed kitty the AM of the flight (so that she doesn’t have to “go” in the middle of flight-time) unless there’s some medical reason not to, but try to play w/ her to tire her out a bit
– Bring some food with you on the plane so you can feed kitty as soon as you arrive. Also, pack litter-box and perhaps a bit of litter so that’s ready too on arrival.
If kitty has to go in cargo, the same principles as above apply except you’ll need a hard carrier. Cargo travel *must* be specially booked because not all airlines have the right cargo compartments.
Bring a health certificate and/or “pet passport” same way as if you were travelling across the border as well as copies of all vaxs.
You’ve probably already checked this, but if not do double-check any import rules for pets on the Island. Even if it’s part of the US special rules may apply (e.g. Hawaii has special quarantine rules).
Last thing – people are often tempted to sedate their cats when travelling, but this is actually dangerous. Kitty is not properly able to regulate her body temperature and function under sedation, and unfortunately several pet deaths have been reported from this. So, don’t use any sedation.
Good luck! It’s a stressful day for kitty, but it’s quickly over.
Thank you so much for this. It’s exactly the sort of information I was looking for. Especially about advising against sedating them, the airline we’re looking at recommended against it, but wasn’t sure how cautious they were being. Good to know there are calming remedies we can utilize instead. She’s used to car travel, so hoping this isn’t too stressful on her.
We have already checked all the requirements for both the airline and USVI, and feel pretty confident we’re good to go as is. But will probably get a vet check up and statement letter before leaving anyway. And we’re definitely hoping we can take her in cabin with us, we need to decide on preferred dates (coming together) and get that booked.
Again.. thank you so much. Much much appreciated!
Very happy it was helpful 🙂 And don’t worry. I’m sure Kiki will do fine. It’s a long, stressful day, but it’s quickly over. When you arrive just give her a room to herself (w/ all her stuff) to settle down and within a few days she should be right as rain & exploring the whole area. Happy travels!
Nina – Give her a room to herself for a few days?!?! You do realize we are moving into a one-room studio, right? *grin*
A couple of more thoughts:
Another advantage of a mechanical power generator solution over a chemical/electronic solution is that your are much more likely find a shop to repair a small engine than techish parts.
From reading your blogs, your experience ordering and obtaining your iPhone 4 was very similar to an “island time” experience. When any aspect of a process or activity is out of your direct control, it will take an inconveniently long time. If you need to be at places at a certain hour, you need a car. Hitchhiking or local transit is good for getting to a place on the right day, but the right hour might be too much to hope for. Even a US possession like St. John is not going to have the infrastructure of the most rural part of the mainland.
Although they have great connectivity options, I would recommend bringing your satellite rig. If some router or other important piece of Wimax or 3G hardware fails, the whole service might be down for days while a replacement is shipped in. Although your cottage is within the coverage zone, connectivity may be sporadic or limited. Our experiments with 3G in the DR (that was 2 years ago, but, hey, Island Time), showed that urban areas or areas with big resorts got the best hardware support. The 3G service in our little corner of the DR was usually Edge and only occasionally 3G. I suspect that when hardware failed at an “important” site, they “borrowed” a piece from ours and we got stuck waiting for a replacement to be shipped in.
Advice to take a hike or go to the beach during a power or connectivity outage will be common. People with time critical things to do don’t live in the jungle. Don’t count on too much sympathy or support for you work related plights from the locals. If you have things to do, you must provide your own infrastructure for doing them.
I am intentionally painting these issues in a harsh light. Maybe you will be pleasantly surprised. I have never been to St. John. My experiences are based on the Bahamas (some of which have fiber cables back to the US mainland and excellent connectivity once you find reliable wifi), the Turks and Caicos, and the DR.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Gray – you’ve definitely got some solid “island time” experience under your belt.
We will probably shoot for two broadband connections for redundancy. We will probably use Choice WiMax as our primary, and maybe Broadband.VI (line-of-sight terrestrial) or HughesNet Satellite as our backup.
And if that all fails at the same time, we can always head into town and work from the brewpub… 🙂
Remember the Starbucks with the mult-hour software update? An island brewpub will be so much worse. If you want stable connectivity, you have rely on non-local infrastructure. While the local wimax sounds super nifty, I would be very skeptical of a new technology in what amounts to a third world location.
Please excuse my pessimism and cynicism. You should probably know that I exist in a perpetual state of pleasant surprise since circumstances are almost always better than I anticipate. However, when the world lives down to my expectations, I am prepared. Rather than try to ensure bullet proof connectivity (running water, electricity, cell service, sailing wind, traffic flow, or good hair days), I don’t own anything I can’t do without for weeks at a time or fix with the tools at hand. I also keep plenty of hats within easy reach. Also, as the bard says, “If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.”
“An island brewpub will be so much worse.”
I beg to differ.. beer makes things much better than coffee ever could 😀
Appreciate your point of view.. however this is our life, our adventure and our challenges. We’re facing them head on, with as much knowledge as we can, finding our balance with self-sufficiency and with agility to adapt to the circumstances when we need to. Yes, we’ll have frustrations – and there will simply be things that no one (you, him above, her below) can prepare us for – and nor are we asking anyone to. We’re signing up for that. We’ll share our joys and our frustrations when and how we choose to.
Understood. I was only trying to share a different perspective based on my own experiences. I’ve never shared my travel tales online, but maybe I will someday, and then people can read my suggestions, or not. For now, I’ll just keep quiet with regard to giving my opinion in blog comments.
Assuming I was the reason for your tweet last night, I want to again express how sorry I am for giving you unsolicited advice that annoyed you. That honestly couldn’t have been farther from my intention. Cheers.
Sounds amazing! My husband and I went to St. John earlier this year and spent a week camping on the beach. While the weather didn’t exactly cooperate, it was still a wonderful time and the beaches are fabulous. So happy for you both–what an opportunity!
Hitchhiking is definitely an option (we did it) and the bus is quite an adventure but you’re smart to look into a car. It would definitely be more convenient.
I look forward to hearing all about your time there! Good luck with all the planning and have fun!!!
Did you stay at one of the eco-lodges in their semi-permanent tents, or did you actually bring your own tent and pitch it on the beach?
I’m curious what the best low-cost lodging options are for folks who come to St. John short-term. The weekly vacation rentals are VERY expensive, and even the “tent lodging” at some of the resorts looks to be 5-star priced.
We stayed at the Cinnamon Bay campground in one of their tents. It had 4 cots and cooking utensils. It was nice enough although I would take my own tent next time. Those campsites looked nicer. The provided tents were fine but didn’t zip so bugs and even a rodent were able to get inside. The proximity to the gorgeous beach was fabulous!
Wow. You guys are going get some miles under your belts this month.
Best wishes to you on your island adventures.
Wow, that sounds amazing. Especially the part about being in the island jungle with no windows, just screens. I can’t wait to read about the specifics when you get there.
Regarding the power outages and battery-backup, why not take those times to enjoy a reprieve from the technology? There will be plenty of time to get work and tech-stuff done when the power comes back on. In the mean time, you could go for a stroll in the jungle, hit the beach, or listen to the raindrops while reading a good book. These power outages may be a part of the island time you were referring to, and maybe it’s best to just go with the flow. Trying to fight them with battery backup and a satellite connection might be more trouble than it’s worth, and counter to life in an island setting like that. Just an idea…
I’m sure there will be a good dose of escaping technology for us. However, I do have a couple work projects that are coinciding with this adventure that will require me to be online to facilitate. We’re not on vacation, afterall.
But are those work project time dependent, or can they be accomplished with scheduling flexibility? If it’s the latter, then maybe power outages are a part of island living that you’re better off accepting gracefully. I understand it’s not a vacation, but it is a different lifestyle than you’re used to, and making adjustments is inevitable. The power won’t say off forever, or probably for very long. All I’m saying is, it might be better to consider these moments a blessing rather than an inconvenience. Dunno, just a different way of looking at it, I guess. One of those glass half-full or half-empty scenarios, sort of. Either way, you’ve got an amazing winter ahead. Enjoy it (I’m sure you will).
Yes.. they are absolutely time critical. One of our considerations in taking this opportunity was connectivity options when we needed it. I know we don’t discuss our worklife much here – but do trust we know what we’re doing and are taking care of our own unique life/work balance. Appreciate your concern, however you are also attempting to give unsolicited advice for something for which you have no understanding for the full circumstances.
Just a friendly suggestion, that’s all. I certainly wasn’t trying to be rude, and I’m sorry you took it that way. I often find the opinions of other people to be insightful, and I enjoy hearing them, so maybe I stepped beyond bounds by assuming you would want to hear my point of view. Enjoy your island time however you find works best for you. Again, I’m sorry if I offended you, and I mean that sincerely.
Absolutely get some sort of backup power. A battery solution would be ideal, but expensive and complicated. Any chance your landlord would hire you to design and implement a full back up power solution? If not, it might be easiest to invest in a small Chinese knock off of the Honda portable inverter generator. Sailing friends of mine found one for $300 including shipping to St. Martin. A 1000 watt unit should power your tech just fine. You can probably sell the generator to a local or a boater when you are done. A small ups to handle the time it takes to start the generator and plug into it should give you uninterrupted power with a little hustling.
As far as weather and tech, Apple makes good products. Our MacBooks, iPods, etc. held up just fine during our Summer and Fall in the DR (both on the boat and in houses with just screen windows). The Winter weather should be less humid. You could invest in some Pelican boxes and use chemical desiccant sachets to control the humidity, but I think that is unnecessary. As long as you store and use your tech in a place where there is plenty of air circulation (i.e. on a tabletop, not in a dank cabinet) and keep it out of the rain, you should be fine.
Hi Gray —
The cottage we are renting reportedly already has a generator for extended power outages, but since we will be missing hurricane season I’m not sure power will be much of a major issue at all.
I had been thinking about a Pelican box for dry / semi-secure storage of tech, but I think I’ve reached the same conclusion you have. We’ve never had much problem in the huge range of environments we’ve been in, and we are minimizing the amount of “extra” tech toys we are bringing along too. Should be fine….
Thanks for the comments!
– Chris
Wow Guys Fantastic!!! I wanted to take a moment and thank you for being such a inspiration for me to take my nomadic wings. I kind of did things ass backwards but it has worked out for the better! I sold my mid-life crisis Miata and bought a crusty old RV. I was all set to head down the Pacific coast for the winter from Vancouver to California…very slowly.
Then:
I had put up a Google Alert for a small town in Mexico (Chacala, pop 400) and amazingly 1 week ago, I get an alert back that someone is looking for someone to housesit a 5 bedroom villa here overlooking the Pacific…..so I have packed my bags and all of my photography/film and editing gear and hopped on a cheap flight.
So my first sojourn into to the land of PixelNomad has me on a very good long term stop over here;) I will pickup the road trip, once winter is over.
I will maybe make a Robert Rodriguez spagetti western film here;)
Thanks you so much for all of your great info, and you guys have been a tremendous inspiration and mentorship to me.
Could you guys do a post about your work life, and how you get your contracts and gigs..
Have a Rum for me;)
T
Congrats on your new adventure!
As far as how we get our gigs.. we follow serendipity, and have clients we’ve worked with for many many years. I basically just took my existing business on the road with me.