We get a lot of questions about life on the island, so we figured we’d kick off our blog with a quick little info session on what it’s actually like to live on this glorious rock in the Caribbean.

When most people imagine the Caribbean, they typically think of majestic waters in varying shades of cerulean blue, white beaches with the kind of sand that feels like it melts between your toes, palm trees, coconuts, sea turtles, piña coladas, you name it. Indeed, these are several of the many attractions to this part of the world. What most people don’t consider, however, is what goes on behind the scenes - the amount of work, grit, and grind that goes into creating and maintaining this spectacle for vacationers. Nor do people think about the day-to-day lives of the hosts, servers, bartenders, concierges, taxi drivers, cleaners, and many many others who work tirelessly to make it all happen.

So, we’re here to give you a little taste of island life, through the lens of an insider - in other words, life beyond the palms.

Here’s a little compilation of some insider knowledge of St John:

Island fever is a real thing. While we love our island home and wouldn’t trade this life for anything, being trapped on an 11 mile-long rock in the middle of the ocean takes a toll on the psyche if you don’t allow yourself occasional escape. Imagine eating at the same ten restaurants, shopping at the same three grocery stores, never driving over 25 mph … I could go on. There’s something I love about the simplicity of this lifestyle - fewer choices means fewer decisions, means less time contemplating the trivial, more time enjoying life in the moment. But it also means that every time we go out to eat there’s the dreaded, “Which of the usuals are you least sick of at the moment?” Now, don’t get me wrong, St John has some EXCELLENT dining options, but when you eat the same thing day after day (or when you can’t afford to dine at some of the nicer options), sometimes you just need something different. It’s all just part of the experience, and you learn ways to cope. For example, we’ve learned to be a lot less picky and a lot more creative when it comes to our dining options. We’ve both found a knack for cooking, which (for me anyway) never existed before. Our diet now consists of primarily plant-based food (it’s simply the most affordable way to eat healthy here, and we’ve actually gotten pretty good at creating delicious vegetarian dishes, if I do say so myself.) We also make a bi-weekly trip to St Thomas to stock up on groceries, which, despite the $50 ferry ride, is far more affordable and has many more options. The key to combating island fever: get creative! And, equally important, budget time and money to escape every once in a while. (We’re still working on this one - hoping to be able to travel a lot more in the coming months!)
We actually LOVE rainy days. While visitors to the island check the weather daily leading up to their trips, praying for sunny beach weather, you’ll find that locals do the exact opposite. While you all cross fingers for sun, you may find us doing a crazy rain dance. The reason is simple: if it doesn’t rain, we don’t have water. Yes, that is correct - no rain, no water. Our island functions on cisterns; each home is built with a cistern tank to store water collected from the roof when it rains. We measure our cisterns daily and monitor water levels to carefully calculate how long we can shower, how many dishes we can wash, and how often we can flush our toilets. A running toilet is synonymous with the devil; a toilet that runs even for a few hours can drain an entire cistern. *Ring anxiety alarm.* Now if the cistern does run out, it’s not the end of the world per se - there are big trucks with tanks full of water on call to refill empty cisterns. It’s not cheap, however; filling our 20,000 gallon cistern costs $2,000 and must be paid up front in cash. (So don’t get me wrong, it feels like the end of the world.)
The island’s workforce is divided into two categories: Day Walkers and Night Walkers. The distinction is simple: Day Walkers work during the day (teachers, tour guides, boat captains, baristas, etc.); Night Walkers work at night (restaurant staff, bartenders, etc.). And then those super ambitious (and majorly respectable) few work both “shifts”, and therefore fall into both Day Walker and Night Walker categories. No matter which category your local hustler falls into, you better believe that he or she is busting their butt to make ends meet and maintain their lives on this island (living here is NOT cheap). Please be kind, gracious, and remember that most people here live off of tip money - if they do a good job, reward them!
Be adaptable. Sometimes (perhaps more aptly, oftentimes), things just don’t work out the way you plan here. The key is to be patient and adaptable, and, in general, everything turns out okay in the end. An example: a few months back, we were hosting a group of six guests (so we were at maximum capacity), and the shower handle in our rental unit broke off of its stem. It was a Sunday evening, and every hardware store was closed. There was nothing we could do but shut the water down completely for the night and wait until morning (this meant no flushing toilets, brushing teeth, etc.) I won’t be shy about saying that I was a NERVOUS WRECK. Instead of fussing at us and throwing a hissy fit, our guests were calm and understanding. The next day, Kevin visited every hardware store on St John AND St Thomas to find a replacement stem, and guess what … not a single one had the part we needed. He ended up having to buy an entirely new shower system, knocking out tiles to replace the old piping and install the new one, then finally retiling, grouting, and finishing the shower. And he did it ALL before our guests made it home from the beach on Monday afternoon. (You can see why I love that man.) I’m still so grateful for the way that group of guests handled the situation - sometimes in this industry you meet some really cool people who make it all worth it!
Don’t pet or feed the donkeys! Locals hate when you do this. You may be honked or yelled at. You’ve been warned!
Don’t use drones in the National Park! Same idea here - locals hate it, and furthermore, using drones is against park rules anyway. Don’t be surprised if someone fusses at you, or even pulls out their slingshot. Again, you’ve been warned.
More than anything, know that the people who live and work here do it because they love this island to the core of their beings. St John is part of who we are. Life would surely be easier elsewhere, but our love for this island and this community is far greater than the struggles of day-to-day living. Smile, say Good Morning, enjoy the people and the space that make this island the unique destination that draws its visitors back year after year.

That’s all for now! I’m sure I’ll think of many more “insider scoop” items to add to this list. If anyone has questions or specific things they want to know about island life, feel free to ask in the comments below!