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I'm planning an extended trip to the Caribbean later this year. Im planning on quiting my job and sort of traveling around the area, possibly working while there or possibly not. I'll have plenty of money saved. Ill be traveling solo. I know some folks in Antigua where Ill have a place to stay etc.

My question is has anyone here done such a trip. Suggestions ? As far as working I would need just enough to get by (I know ill need the proper permits, etc.) A job that was paid in just room and board would be great.
Is this trip feasible? Thanks for any and all advice.

-Brian

If Tully Mars can do it, you can do it.

No really, good luck. I will probably head that way after college.

First--I'm jealous as He*l.

Second, I read a thread about this on Traveltalkonline.com sometime last year. The thread was geared toward the BVI and said it's hard to get a work permit because the jobs are held for the locals first. You may want to go there and see if you can find the thread or start a new one. The folks who use that website are pretty knowledgable about the Carribean and several of them work/live there. You also run into issues with your passport only good for "X" amount of days. If you decide to post, post under the BVI section it will probably get more attention there.

awesome, thanks for the replies

Several suggestions from us peoples who lived in the islands for a couple years...

1) have a "job" or skill you can do via internet. Then you don't need a work permit.

2) Boats. Get a crew job, again same, esp. if you leave from USVI or some such... all you need to start is valid US passport.

3) Chef. If you are good at making any sort of food, resorts and places will fall all over you. In the local papers we saw constant postings of "no local person having been found to qualify, ______________ resort hereby announces that they will be searching for a qualified person outside of _____________ [name of country]."

4) Any skill the locals don't have. That is how these work permits go, in the Caribbean and elsewhere... for example, my sister who married a Brit and normally could not get a work permit, taught school for 10 years in UK because she had a US college degree in just anything (actually, archeology) but was willing to take a cert course, and UK needed schoolteachers so badly. Jimmy (mine)was transferred to the Caribbean because the islands don't produce a whole lot of environmental engineers, and those island folk who do get such degrees often then prefer to take them to UK or Canada or even US where they can get more money. If they need you, you will get a work permit.

5) Get hired by a cruise line that works just in the Caribbean. Then all your days off are island days.

6) Get hired by a resort on a US island, such as St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix (the most 'Caribbean' of the USVI), or Puerto Rico. Get hired by anyone in those places. Travel on weekends. We knew someone who got hired by a newspaper on St. Thomas. "First look" is all it takes....

Good luck. Wish US luck on Trinidad, maybe. :-?