saildoggie - no, one cannot generalise by that. What I'm saying is that on the very rare occasions when something unpleasant occurs against a visitor, the high likelihood is that the perpetrator came from the background I described above. I am NOT saying that all people from that background behave like that. I've lived in these parts for 31 years, have owned 3 cruising yachts and sailed everywhere in this region, and have never encountered violence or theft against myself. But, the truth is that human beings are the product of their past

sail445 - you are totally wrong. I would hardly describe the life here as "basically stress-free" and if you believe that it is, then you know nothing of how people live here.

Their living conditions are NOT simply what they made for themselves. They are what they made for themselves with the meagre scraps that were kindly left them by the former colonial power. Try building the Empire State Building if there are no bricks available from the very beginning.

All the islands have a so-called welfare system and an educational system in place, not just those that remain European overseas territories.