I'm interested in moving to islands... ideas?

[Tab]

1) I'm an American citizen
2) I still need to work. Career is in software development, but can work most anything (including cooking)
3) Hopefully my wife can work as well.
4) U.S. Virgin Islands, or an expat country, or...?
5) Where do I find job listings for these places (aside from general google search)?

[rogerashton]

1. South Padre Island Texas?

Beautiful, but it is in Texas.

[Old Codger]

2. I would suggest

A tall one

[upaloopa]

3. Rock fever

It costs about $2,000 to fly between the mainland and Hawaii round trip. It cost hundreds to fly between the islands.
I saw quite a few old White guys on the big island last year. They ran away to the islands now they can't afford to leave. They have rock fever meaning Hawaii even if it is the big island doesn't have a lot of room.

[cbayer]

4. If you leave the US, you may not be able to work.

Many countries have very strict rules about foreigners being employed.

If you can work from your computer for a US firm, then things get simpler.

I would start by narrowing down where you can and can't go.

[Tab]

5. That's why I'm thinking the US Virgin Islands

I'd love Aruba, but you'd have to be a dutch citizen

[cbayer]

6. What are the rules for the US Virgin Islands?

Some places you have to show that you have a certain amount of money or be willing to buy a piece of property.

[CBGLuthier]

7. There are lots of jobs in IT in Mauritius. Cost of living is fairly cheap.

But it is a long, long, long way away. They have a very good program for foreign workers.

https://www.mauritiusjobs.mu/

There is also The Azores but I don't know much about them other than my wife talks about moving there.

[DFW]

8. Just saw this post

I met an American guy who was doing just that. Had an apartment in Berlin, too, but made sure he spent less than half the year in Berlin so he didn't have to declare a German residence. He spent most of his time in Mauritius and a few weeks a year in the States. Seemed to be having the time of his life.

Although it is far, you can get to Mauritius from most large cities in the USA with just one change of plane. There are nonstops to both Mauritius and most big US cities from Paris, and probably London and Frankfurt as well.

[Tab]

9. I haven't let go of this idea

People in my family are on Social Security as well as SS Disability. So we'd need to stay somewhere we could continue to receive these and have them fund us. We're willing to give up our home and various possessions to just move somewhere and live in a simple (but safe) building. Want to be by a sea or a lake. Age of occupants would run between 50 and 80 (just four max). I'm damned if I'm going to give up everything to live in a homeless shelter in northern New England. We'd rather put a down payment for rent or ownership in some place where the tropical environment makes up for the harsher environment up here.

[Baobab]

10. Land grabs problematic

Watch out for scam real estate developers who take advantage of people in your situation, they evidently push people who have living all their lives in various places out. They may have lived in some place all their lives but have no legal title and no birth certificate because they were home born, that means they don't exist legally in some poorer counties and cannot own land, and often a majority of the population is that way. Major scams are happening around the world that are displacing people in that situation - Basically what I am saying is that be mindful, don't assume that people who are offering to sell you land or a home - acquired it in an acceptable manner. A lot of the time these days they didn't. I would not want to live somewhere where the family that had lived there previously was run off the land by some RE developer looking to take advantage of the influx of Americans by strongarming locals out of what should be considered as their homes.

the same thing is happening on a large scale with farming land in Africa. Just Google "Land Grab" to read about it. Big corporations are doing this on a large scale.