Our 1st was in May 2002. The next few years were filled with Jamaica, Mexico, The Keys-but we kept thinking of St John. We returned in May 2006, then Nov 2006 , will be back in 37 days(whooo-hoo!) and are alredy planning a return in Dec. I gotta agree with NEPOSTER-although I would like to experience other caribbean destinations and there must be other magnificent places-it is hard to beat the tried and true!

My husband and I first visited STJ for our honeymoon in the summer of 2003, which was a year and a few months after we graduated from college and thus our first vacation as adults (it was the first time we got to choose the location and make the arrangements for ourselves…we both come from families that have never been to the Caribbean, and probably never will).

And we have been back every year since. This June will be our 5th annual trip.

And I intend to keep it a yearly (or more often) tradition 🙂

My wife and I went to the Keys a couple times and finally made the leap to STJ in Feb 2005. We went 2nd time this past Dec 2006 and next trip is April 2007 (yep, 1 month). We had a Feb 2006 trip cancelled- got cancer in Sept 2005 and had the whole chemo/rad/surgery stuff. BUT our villa owner gave ALL our money back. Very nice.

Next April 2008 is our 25th and we'll make plans for our 4th trip there this summer.

We're now calling it "going home".

I'm self-employed so one misses me.....

Our first visit to the USVI was our honeymoon in STT in 1983, stayed at Point Pleasant. During that week we visited STJ twice. I vowed that someday I would come back and stay at Caneel (I'm a nut for luxury hotels and save up to splurge when I can). We visited STT again for a day while on a cruise in 1990.

My husband and I are total beach nuts and have a house on Cape Cod so we actually move there for the summer and enjoy those glorious beaches. In the winter we usually hit the islands for our warm weather beach fix. We've been on two Caribbean cruises (90 & 98). We've stayed a week in the Bahamas, a week in Grand Cayman and a week in St. Barts. For 5 years in a row we went to a gorgeous resort in St. Martin (La Samanna) on the French side and thought for sure we'd found heaven.

Then, last year we decided to try something different and booked a villa on STJ for March. Unfortunately my dear mother in law became critically ill so we cancelled those reservations (thank goodness as she passed away during what would have been our week down there). We re-booked for this past Thanksgiving week. Now I couldn't go to STJ and break my honeymoon vow, so at the last minute I added a 3 day jump start at Caneel. Our room was on Turtle Bay and it was heavenly. We never left the resort. Then on Saturday, we got our jeep, bought our groceries and headed up to Gift Hill to our villa for a week. That week was phenomenal - beyond expectations.

We came home and by New Year's had booked a week in April (25 more days!!) with 5 other couples to celebrate 7 of us turning 50 this year. You can imagine the anticipation and fun we've had planning. Our official final planning party is this Saturday.

I take 4 weeks vacation a year - one winter week in the Caribbean, two weeks completely off in my Cape Cod house (with lots of our friends visiting!) and one at the holidays with family. We've been lucky enough to have been to lots of other places and keep saying we should explore even more, but its hard to stay away from the gorgeous islands in the Caribbean. We both hate to give it up!!

So that's our story. I can't see us going anywhere else but STJ for our winter beach fix for a long, long time. Why fool with perfection?

My first visit was in 2004 when my then boyfriend (now husband) wanted to go home.....we stayed for 10 days with his grandmother.....due to medical problems on my part we have not been able to go back until this year. July 19th, 2007 through aug 2nd. In the next couple of years we hope that we will be able to move there.

Destiny N Va

My first trip to the best place on earth was in 1976 when my parents took my brother and I to StJ. They had honeymooned in STT in 1968 and took a day trip to STJ and loved it. We have gone pretty much every year to STJ with the exception of a few years. I introduced my wife to STJ in 1995 and she absolutely fell in love with it as well. In 2002 we decided to purchase a number of timeshare units at the Westin even though we loved renting some of the private villas, the Westin offered more of what we needed and were looking for. Our friends also have purchased a unit to coincide with our vacation time so it works for us and them. It forces us to take a trip every year and we have met so many nice people that we keep in touch with and get together with over the years. I am now able to share my favorite place with my two daughters whom are 3 and 5. It wasn't even a consideration to leave them at home, we always bring them along wherever we go and they talk about it all year as they know we are going back. We use to go during the winter time but times change and we now go in the summer time which is different but still awesome. We have heard that it is a bit slower in the summer and that is what we like. (Although I wouldn't mind adding in a winter trip)

We have been to a few other Islands and destinations in the caribbean but nothing compares in our minds to STJ & Jost. Curacao, Nevis, St. Barts, Cayman Islands, Jaimaca, Bahamas, and did the bareboat thing. Some of them were great but certainly did not top STJ. We also love Jost and would like to spend more time there. We spent a few nights on a boat there but it's not the same.

I have enjoyed reading other folks experiences on the island and appreciate there stories. It has definitely made our family stronger over the years as we can always go back and bring up old memories and look forward to making new ones.

Certainly not just the past 5 years, and too many years ago to recall dates, we used to head to STT and watch the trutle races the nite they cleaned the pool while women actually sat around with their little fur shrugs wrapped around them!. Now that hotel is a low/moderate housing complex! But ealy in the 70's we flew from Dorado, PR, (my first puddle jumper) to STT and ferried to Caneel. It was inclusive (all meals) and one dressed for dinner - quickly found the split between LIttle Dix and Caneel was the only way to go and did it for years twice a year reserving next time when we left. How I managed to pack and take all those clothes - or even why I wanted to - befuddles me yet! In between, I tried a cruise (my one and only ever - and never again watching those beaches slide by!), think Guadaloupe was sneaked in a couple of times, Bermuda but nothing compared. I do remember turning down the opportunity to buy out at Coral Bay for $30,000 (one of the dumbier decisions for sure) as it was too remote, too difficult to get to and just didn't see far enough into the future - and watched the Virgin Grande (now the Westin) going up ! Spent a few years doing Florida (Sanibel, etc) when my brother and his wife moved to Key West and opened a restaurant. But I had a bad case of DIF and even in lean times did Maho Bay on STJ! Where else in Feb in the Caribb could three people spend $25 a nite pp??? Since then we spent a lot of hours at Cowpet on STT traveling three or four times a winter with some others tossed in for variety. Did come to love the BVI's (all but Tortola which just didn't have the wonderful beaches that I wanted) and have pretty much covered them ... in fact, just returned from my first rental villa experience on Virgin Gorda where my new g'daughter got her first taste of Caribbean life at 8 months! Been to a few other islands - some wonderful and some not so - but each one unique in its offerings. STX was a good diversion (x2) but again those beaches on STj/STT are hard to match. Loved the TCI for the beaches and water (x2) and Pine Cay was absolutely fantastic but hardly qualifies since it's not Caribb and was way before Provo became so popular. Anguilla (x2) was fantastic for the beaches and the food and certainly much easier driving than the VI's!!! The Grenadines reminded much of the VI and how it used to be before .... one of the few places that was way way overrated and overpriced was Petit St. Vincent . the Domican Repulbic was interesting and has become more popular - there wasn't much there then - didn't much like Antigua but loved Jumby Bay off Antigua and a couple of fantastic meals on Antigua - who woulda thunk that a British island would have wonderful French fare! Maybe someday back to Barbados for a longer stay since it was just a short stay for the hop to the Grenadines (only island where the BMW and Mercedes dealerships were next to one another!) and where I learned to cook Flying Fish from the chef's mom at one of the great restaurants!. Also did the Caribb a la Playa del Carmen (and about 2 hours too long in Cancun). My least favorite island was Aruba - wind, wall to wall development and people, everyone had a Boston or NY accent and I can get that at home! Lots of changes in the USVI's and yet it seems nothing changes too much but progress for one is another's poison.
My goal is to hit each and every island and I'll just have to keep buying those lottery tickets to make it come true! .

I don't know how people find the time and the $$ to go more than once a year. I'd love to know the secret! We went last April, our first time, and I am DYING to go back. Dying I tell you! I do have 4 weeks of vacation, but we can't manage to afford to go like some people can. It's so expensive flying out of DFW, and I can never find good deals. Oh, well. I told hubby that we're going next year, regardless.

Hubby wants to take me to Europe (he's been twice for work...he's a musician), but I have absolutely no desire. I want to go to the islands instead!

my first trip down was 9/89... yep just after hugo, had plans to move to st croix but house i had lined up there lost its roof there along w/ the job i had lined up. so i did three seasons in stt returning every dec. after my first college semester and returning to atlantic city, nj every may... well this pirate was looking at 30 so i decided to cut the hair, get a job, got a wife, bought a house i couldent afford, had 3 kids i couldent afford but did well enough to visit from time to time... well career went pretty well and returned in may of 05' (5 months before i turned 40)and bought a rental villa on stt. i dont get down as much as i like but did manage to spend the month of feb down there this year w/ the saint of a wife watching the kids for three of those weeks before joining me for one. returning in 2 weeks for 8 days w/ wife and kids this time, for easter break. still get gitty and buterflys knowing i will be there soon.

Gari Ann, we treat it like any other car or house payment. We set a specific amount aside each a month for it and call it the vacation fund. Once it's good, we go! We budget everything so we know where we stand and it works! X for mortgage, X for cars, X for utilities, X for retirement, X for vacations and so forth. No surprises.

To answer the original question we have been to STJ once. Ask me this in 81 days from today and can answer twice (not that I am counting). Our first trip was in June of 2005. We were looking for a vacation spot in the Caribbean that had great beaches and were told the USVI was the place to go. We rented a villa in STT for a week with four other couples and had a great time. We took the car ferry to STJ for a day and also did a day sail that stopped at some of the STJ beaches. When we all got home we could tell that we had been bitten by more than the no see ums, we had contracted the USVI disease.

Needless to say it didn't take much coaxing to get all five couples to make a return trip this June. In fact we are all meeting tonight to make sure our plans are squared away and also to get into peak rum drinking shape. Our excuse for this year is to celebrate our 30th anniversary and another couples 35th. I am not sure what excuse we will come up with for the next trip, but I am sure it will be a good one.

81 days and counting down.

Gari-Ann,
you sound like us. We are at an awe that people are able to go so many times/year. And also, my husband has been to Europe several times for work, but I have never gone either. My idea of vacation is the beach, but Florida and Myrtle Beach has been the extent of our beach vacations (other than honeymoon in Bahamas and a cruise 4 years ago). It seems, for years, all of our money went to braces, $300 ball bats, $100 cleats, hotel rooms for tournaments, and college tuition. If I had all the money back I've spent on underarmour for the boys, I could have a real nice vacation! And, I wouldn't have had it any other way. But, now, its MY TURN!! I told the boys that I'm living for me now! 🙂 So, in 3 weeks hubby and I will be making our first trip to the VI's, but my sister and I are already planning on doing a USVI/BVI trip next year - just us! wahoo!

CShell - interesting what you said about Aruba. I've heard others say that, but my husband would like to go there. He even suggested that my sister and I go there next year for our girls trip, but neither of us really want to do a big resort. I envy you that you've been to so many places the rest of us dream of!

We got married in St. John 2006 and we made a deal that every year we'd return for our anniversary. The first time we were there it was for 8 days, this past Feb was 16 days (1st anniv.) and next Feb I'm hoping for 3 weeks.

I'm self-employed and my business is seasonal so from April-November I work 7 days a week 10-14 hour days. I'm then unemployed from Nov-April. My husband works his butt off at his job March-November working 6 days a week 9-15 hour days and the rest of the time Dec-March he's still working but not as hard.

When we plan our vacation we try and pay everything up front so that we don't have to come home from our vacation and pay off a bunch of bills. We don't use our credit card to pay for anything unless we have to and if we do we pay it off immediately. We plan ahead and pay the mortgage, car payment, insurance bills etc. ahead of time so we know it's covered and we don't worry about them.

Then we get on a plane and fly to paradise and there's not a worry or a care in the world.

Our plan is to return to St. John every year until the day comes that one of us is bringing the others ashes over.

We plan ahead and save for vacations too, but it's just not possible for us to go several times a year. Wish it were! I could use it, for sure.

Mountaineer girl, would you ever go to Europe with your husband? I am afraid to fly, so the thought of being in the air for 10+ hours just unnerves me too much. I don't think I could do it. Plus, like you, the ocean is a vacation to me. At least we can get down to the Gulf easily. We do that every year, but it's within driving distance, we can bring our dogs, and it's cheap. 😉 No snorkeling though, and that stinks.