How to Halt the Addiction

ColoradoMom · Post by **ColoradoMom** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 6:37 pm

Step 1 do not look at the spice cam twice a day

Step 2 do not visit the forum every day

Step 3 unsubscribe from all the emails that mention how "these prices to St Thomas won't last long"

Step 4 Unfriend all your people on the island who often update their profile with new pics of beaches, sunsets, ruins, baby donkeys, etc.

Step 5 Who am I kidding, it will never work.

Step 6 Book a trip and feed the addiction. It's the only way to even beat it back for a while.

Am I right??

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:00 pm

Yes, you're right! I've been back home from a trip to STJ for less than two weeks and I'm already looking at villas for next time

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:19 pm

Step 7 - book the next villa and airfare before you go down for this trip (it's the only way I get myself onto the ferry to go home)

Next trip is in April - sending in my villa deposit for August this week and checking airfare every day waiting for a drop for August.

david@va.beach · Post by **david@va.beach** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:25 am

Shake dat money tree!!

18N 64W · Post by **18N 64W** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:58 am

So glad to hear I'm not the only one! My husband and I send pictures to each other every day from previous STJ trips and from the webcam shots. I look up reviews and visit the forum more than once a day! It has pretty much taken over my life

but...I am absolutely ok with that!

ski2play · Post by **ski2play** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:09 am

Colorado Mom, You say "addiction" as if it is a BAD THING!

Michigan girls I knew I loved you! Getting back on the ferry the last day is such a walk of shame for me.

NJsurfsup · Post by **NJsurfsup** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:41 am

Yep, the St. John siren song is too alluring. Ooh that would make a good villa name, dibs on that for when i hit lotto

watergirl · Post by **watergirl** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:26 am

Buy and old "fixer-upper" on the island and decide to do all the work yourself while you're on vacation!
LOL!

ednjess · Post by **ednjess** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:38 pm

I can no longer deny I have a problem...

November 2014 I decided to address it.

We booked a small studio from Jan 1 - Feb 8. We are back 2 days now. It was my hope that the extended stay would somehow relieve what seemed to be an addiction with St John. Needless to say my little plan didn't work.
I took work with me , worked on the computer in the morning, although internet was a challenge at times. We would hit a beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon. After week two the desire to go to the beach every day eased. We learned how to sail a Hobie thanks to Kendall at Cinnamon. Made friends with locals, had them over for meals, they had us over as well. People started recognizing us around town. It was a good feeling.

I think the solution may be going cold turkey.

ColoradoMom · Post by **ColoradoMom** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 11:34 pm

Book a trip before the ferry ride home? Now that I hadn't thought of!! Love it!

Bigcheeze · Post by **Bigcheeze** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 6:08 am

That's what I have...addiction/obsession/over zealousness. I don't care. The only cure is to keep feeding my head and dream of the day spending 3-4 months at a time on island will be a reality played out for real and not just in my head.

parafins · Post by **parafins** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:33 pm

I have visited the rock 6 times since 1994. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that island.Like you I keep up to date on happenings and search Youtube for anything related to the virgin islands. I have not been there since 2011 and it's killing me. All my life I have lived on the Indiana/Michigan border and have hated cold and snow as far back as I can remember. I'm thinking stongly about moving to the islands in 15 years. If I have to live in a shack and beg for scraps so be it! As long as I have a good snorkel mask i'm good!

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:17 pm

I agree parafins - every day. This year I will log my 6th and 7th trips. I used to love the season changes in Michigan, but I'm over it now. My youngest is a sophmore in High School. We have decided that after she gets a year of college under her belt we are moving to St John. Five year out at the latest. We have our moving fund started that gets deposits every month. Every improvement done to our house now is completely focused on adding market value for a sale in a few years. Before every purchase I make (outside of consumables), the first question is "Will I take this to STJ with me?" If the answer is no - it's probably not coming home with me. We will be dramatically downsizing (I'm very interested in the whole tiny house movement), so once a month I force myself to fill one box with items for donation. Last month it was a massive amount of clothing and shoes. We will make our dream a reality, we are committed to it now

Bigcheeze · Post by **Bigcheeze** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:08 pm

Hmmmm I think I see a correlation between us Midwesterners in the Mich/Ind confines. Especially when it will be 0 below and 15" of snow on the ground and you say to yourself...wait, what's holding us back.

My 15 yr old dau already has said she will move down...get scuba certified....Coast Guard captain Certified...get her RE license...wait tables...be tour director...clean villas during turnover day...babysit...(she won't take any biz Les) rent dingys...make villa videos...coordinate marketing for island businesses...

And I think to myself..."self" she gets it...I just hope she has a position for me...LOL

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:39 pm

Bigcheeze wrote: you say to yourself...wait, what's holding us back.

That's exactly what I said to myself. I have been working my butt off since I was a teenager. I've been a small business owner working insane hours for many years now. Why should I not be able to do this if that's what I really want? I've paid my dues, I've raised 4 kids giving them the best available education and opportunities. It's my time now - I will happily give up my high stress lifestyle and ridiculous work schedule and work whatever job I can get. I can clean, wait tables, bartend, whatever and be perfectly fulfilled. It will require a massive change in my lifestyle, but I'm am perfectly OK with that.
My 15 year old just said to me the other day "Let's just move now". I pointed out to her that she would have to give up her water polo "career" and revise her college plans, so she conceded that moving there would have to wait, at least for her, until she finished college. 2 of my 4 kids "get it" - not too bad I guess

Now you just have to plan a summer trip so our 15 year old daughters can hang out together on the rock!

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