NYC Stopover

After my quick trip to Burlington I packed up and left on a 9:30 am Vermonter-Amtrak train to Penn Station.

The closest station outside of Burlington was the teeny tiny Essex Junction Station, so I hopped in an Uber in Burlington and took off for my train. After waiting in the “terminal” with about 4 other people the train arrived and just as quickly as I got into Vermont I was on my way out.

My choice to ride the train wasn’t one that I made for efficiency - the total trip time from Essex Junction to NYC is about 8 hours and a flight from Burlington to Newark is just over an hour from takeoff to touch down - but, I had a romantic vision of riding through the Vermont fall foliage on my way into the city and I needed to fulfill my fantasy. I popped one of my CBD chocolates from Monarch and the Milkweed and kicked back in my seat, ready to enjoy the ride.

The trees were just starting to turn from their tired end-of-summer green into rich golds, reds, and purples. Our quiet ride through the start of the new season cut through the northeastern US countryside and the man working the dining cart was surprisingly muscly and handsome, which all made for a particularly beautiful trip.

The track wound through southern Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and finally New York, covering a lot of ground in 8 hours.

Once I arrived at Penn Station I hustled to drop off my luggage and meet up with my friend Vince at the Hudson Theater. Continuing the theme of fantasy fulfillment, we were meeting there to see our beloved Jake Gyllenhaal and another guy perform Seawall A Life. I was running late, but made it just in time before the play started.

The show itself was heavy but Jakey and guy #2 did an excellent job telling their separate stories in a way that I felt really connected with the audience. Quite emotional overall.

Smudge!

After the play ended, Vince and I met up with our friends Rosie and Michelle to grab dinner and drinks in K-town. Over scallion pancakes, glass noodles, and plum wine straight from the bottle we exchanged stories about celebrity encounters and reminisced about our bizarre college days. We finished off the night with a few lychee-tini’s at a karaoke bar across the street and then called it a night. I went back to Michelle’s and caught up with her and her mom before crawling into bed.

The next day Michelle had to work at her job, so Vince and I made plans for a day out and about before I left for Spain that afternoon. First stop of the day was breakfast at Absolute Bagels in the Upper West Side where we grabbed very necessary bagels and met a cute puppy named Smudge.

After wiping all of the cream cheese off of our faces, we caught the 1 train and took it all the way to the end of the line for stop number two - Wave Hill. Wave Hill is a combination of botanical garden and historic estate, so you can expect to see a mix of both while you’re there. We spent the majority of our time in the succulent greenhouse and adjacent pollinator garden. The pollinator garden was stuffed to the brim with huge, blooming flowers and herbs and absolutely buzzing with all sorts on bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It was a treat to be able to sit there and take it all in.

After finishing up at Wave Hill, we made our way back to Manhattan. Hungry after walking around the gardens all morning, we stopped at Levain bakery for some cookies and then headed to Riverside Park to meet up with Michelle. With only a few hours to go until I had to leave for the airport, we popped into an Indian restaurant for early dinner and then I was off to Newark.

TSA was a nightmare to get through but I was able to make it to my gate just in time for takeoff. Off to Zurich and then on to Barcelona after the perfect little trip in the city.

48 Hours in Burlington

I haven’t spent much time in Vermont. I’m not a skier and neither is anyone else in my family, so the typical tourist draw to visit the Green Mountain State wasn’t really something that captured me. That being said, Vermont has been on my mind a lot recently. I visited a friend a few years back on New Year’s Eve/Day and was completely enamored by the place by the time I left. So, I decided that I needed to visit again.

This time around I focused on Burlington - tacking my visit onto the front end of a three-week vacation. Having never visited before, I relied on the internet and my Uber drivers for most of my recommendations on what I should do and where I should eat (or drink).

My first day was *technically* only a half day in Burlington seeing as I landed at BTV around noon. And to be honest, I was so tired when I arrived that I immediately passed out for a two-hour nap in my hotel room. I guess staying up all night packing for my trip was exhausting enough to put me out for a while?

When I finally got up and got myself together I walked from my hotel towards the downtown Burlington area. I ended up booking my stay at the DoubleTree hotel, which is somewhat of a hike from the city center. But don’t fret - if you’re looking for a place to stay that’s closer to downtown there are plenty of other places to stay. Although, by making the choice to walk I was able to roam through parts of the UVM campus, which is enormous and sprawling and beautiful. I was also able to take in all of the big, old houses on Main Street and get a glimpse of the city in front of Lake Champlain. A very pleasant introduction.

I really took my time walking, so when I officially made it into the town center it was time for dinner. Everyone recommended that I go to Honey Road for dinner and I’m so glad that I did. The restaurant is marked with a bright pink neon sign and by its patron-packed patio. I went inside and took a seat at the bar - my preferred place to sit in a restaurant. The interior is small-ish but feels fairly open due to its high ceilings and modern furnishings. This place has the look. The staff at the bar was great - recommending all sorts of favorite entrees and appetizers that would be best for a vegetarian like me. After mulling it over with a Heady Topper in hand, I decided to go with a few dishes: the baba ganouj, kale salad, and summer green beans. A total 10/10 meal in my opinion.

After dinner I walked up Church Street to grab some ice cream at the “original” Ben & Jerry’s. Apparently the real original was torn down but the existing storefront is credited with where it all began. I grabbed my favorite B&J flavor, The Tonight Dough, and walked back up Church before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Day two in Burlington was a bit more eventful than day one. I made the decision to spend my day exploring the city on foot, but unfortunately my plans were compromised after the weather shifted and it ended up raining for most of the day.

Not willing to be defeated, I dodged raindrops on my walk to the town center and found myself at August First, an airy, warehouse-type cafe, for a cup of coffee and a dry place to wait out the weather. As the sun finally started to peek through the clouds, I started hunting for a place to grab a late breakfast. I decided on Monarch and the Milkweed where I dined on a veggie and egg breakfast sandwich (at the recommendation of my waitress) and a green salad - always need the greens IMO. After finishing my meal but before leaving the restaurant, I grabbed a few CBD goodies from their glowing dessert display case. Then, on to the next.

Stop number three of the day was the lake-side park at the end of Main Street, where I picked up one of the available rental bikes to ride around a bit. The bike path that runs alongside the lake shore was closed for maintenance while I was there, so I ended up riding down Pine Street to seek out the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet. I eventually found it and it was really tall.

After a half hour or so, I turned the bike around and started to head to my next stop: Foam Brewers. The interior of the brewery is cozy, with steel and deep blue accents throughout. The vibe all around was kind of similar to that of a backyard brew project - friendly, tasty, relaxed. The rain was still at bay so I decided to sit on their patio where I sipped on a hazy IPA and pet a yellow lab puppy. Sublime.

I had worked up an appetite on my bike ride and decided to head over to American Flatbread for some pizza and another beer. I arrived almost immediately after they had opened for dinner, so the place hadn’t filled up yet but the smell of pizza was already wafting through the air. I cozied up to the bar and ordered a veggie and pesto flatbread and another local beer on tap. I liked the dark, classic bar feel of the place and took my time finishing my beer. When I finished up at A.F. and it was time to head out, I found that it had started to rain again - this time even harder than before. I was weighing my options, deciding whether or not to call an Uber and head back to the hotel or wait it out once again. Standing on the stoop of the restaurant, the sign for Monarch and the Milkweed caught my attention again. I figured I could wait out the rain with some dessert and a cocktail in hand.

What was supposed to be a quick stop along the away turned into an evening chatting with local restaurant-goers and the restaurant wait staff. Although I was a stranded stranger who took up a space at the bar for most of the night, the bartenders were very kind to me by offering great company and a few tasty drinks.

My full day of touristing finally got the best of me and when I arrived back at the hotel I fell asleep almost immediately. The next day would be a full eight-hour travel day on the Vermonter Amtrak train into New York City - a trip I was looking forward to purely for scenic reasons. I needed to rest up for a full day of sitting on my ass.

I found myself enamored with Vermont after my time in Burlington and would absolutely love to visit again. If you find yourself up that way, don’t hesitate to walk around and stumble into whatever draws your attention. Odds are you won’t regret it.

What I packed for 2 weeks in Spain

I’d like to think that I’m generally pretty organized when it comes to packing and preparing for a trip. I try to do as much research ahead of time as I can for activities and must-see places. I also try to plan out my wardrobe and needs for anything that might pop up while I’m away from my closet and medicine cabinet. Rainy day? No prob - I’ve packed a raincoat, umbrella, and the only pair of waterproof shoes that I own. Upset stomach? I’ve got it covered! Lost a button while loading your suitcase into the overhead bin. Tranquilooooo, I have a sewing kit that comes with 5 extra buttons and 5 different sized needles.

This method of packing was always comforting to me. I felt that I could basically handle anything that was thrown at me while traveling. The part of the “method” that was not comforting was that I was always dragging an extra large suitcase around with me when I most certainly didn’t need to be. Huffing and puffing my way up and down cobblestone streets and in and out of trains and planes and cars seemingly made sense when I thought about how prepared I was for the unknown. But in reality, I was manifesting that unknown into a 60 pound suitcase.

That 60 pound suitcase not only represented a “prepared” version of myself, but it also represented what I was really trying to prepare for: an unknown experience.

I’ve always had some anxiety over travel. And don’t get me wrong, I love to travel! But that loss of routine, walking into an unknown space with nothing but yourself and a bag, and the physical effect of travel on your mind and body is something that I’ve always struggled with. I practiced what I thought was necessary to protect myself from something scary, something different, happening to me by stuffing bags full of useless things that I thought I needed to feel safe. It never quite worked out for me and I always came home thinking “I really didn’t need to pack that extra pair of shoes or that dress I’ve never worn OR that old Super 8 camera that maybe doesn’t even work but would maybe be cool to experiment with?”

I came to realize that I was a bad packer and I wanted to change that. So, I challenged myself this time around to use one small suitcase to carry all of my clothes and toiletries for my entire trip (disclaimer: I pretty much succeeded, but I did buy more things than I expected while I was traveling… more on that later). I wanted to see how it would feel to go somewhere foreign without my usual artillery. I also wanted to leave behind that sense of uncertainty and open myself up to whatever came my way. And yes, for me that stemmed from packing a lighter bag.

Photo from Amazon.

Just for some background, I was in Spain from late September through early October, which is a different climate than say winter or summer in Spain. All in all, there were still a lot of warm weather days and sunshine (typically 65-85 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the region), which seemed like summer to me.

I decided to buy a new suitcase and went with a bag from the Amazon Basics line. A Hardside, 21-inch bag that was within my price range and had reasonable reviews (see photo with suitcase and suitcase model for scale).

Before I pack, I like to write out a list that covers what I generally think I need and then I re-work it as I start to pack. Here’s my final draft for this trip:

Clothes

• jeans (2 pairs)

• sweaters (2)

• plain t-shirt (1 or 2)

• tank tops (2)

• blouse (1)

• scarf

• pajamas (2 pairs)

• exercise clothes (2 shirts, 2 pairs yoga pants)

• underwear (7 pairs)

• bras (2-3 regular, 2 sport)

• tennis shoes/walking shoes

• boots/heels

• sandals

• socks (7 pairs)

• accessories

  • earrings (3 pairs)

  • rings (2-3)

  • sunglasses (1 pair)

• dress (1)

• jacket (1)

• outfit for flying/traveling (this ended up being a sweatshirt and joggers for me)

Toiletries

• toothbrush & toothpaste

• hair brush

• face wash

• moisturizer

• deodorant

• floss

• shampoo & conditioner (I bought a shampoo bar from Lush for this trip. I prefer it over a travel-sized shampoo bottle. I did buy a travel-sized conditioner bottle though.)

• bar of soap

• everyday makeup

• makeup remover wipes

• hair ties/clips/bobby pins

• curling iron

• dry shampoo

• chap stick

• hand lotion

• tampons/pads

• vitamins/travel-sized medicine (I couldn’t kick my old habit on this one… I packed benedryl, a few cold medicine tablets, gas-x, anti-acid tablets, advil, and neosporin)

Electronics

• outlet/voltage adapter

• phone charger

• headphones (I have a pair of noise cancelling headphones that make traveling 10000% better. Do yourself a favor and buy some now)

Miscellaneous

• travel guidebook (I bought Lonely Planet’s Spain travel guide for this venture. It was incredibly thorough and easy to navigate.)

• book to read while traveling (Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential)

• ATM card

• Euros (I left with about 250 euros and did alright. From my own experience and what I heard from others it’s better to use a credit card - you get better conversion rates and for the most part, everywhere takes card now.)

• chewing gum

• reusable cutlery and water bottle

• passport

• Eurail passbook

Everything on this list ended up fitting in my suitcase and in one cloth shoulder bag that I used as my personal item to carry-on. I worked hard to fit in every piece securely and to do that I rolled my clothes so they could squeeze into small spaces. I also used a few packing cubes so that the majority of my things were compartmentalized.

Now, here’s the thing - there were still quite a few things that I really did not need to bring along.

Here is the list of things that I did not need to pack even though I really though that I did:

• a blouse - I could very easily dress up any of the six (6!!) shirts that I brought with me, so why would I pack a blouse that was instantly wrinkled when I packed it up?

• exercise clothes - It was a fine idea, but I only ended up exercising two or three times on this trip and could have easily just dressed in a t-shirt and the pair of joggers that I packed for travel. The sports bras were good for any day, so I could have made any outfit into a work-outfit.

• heels - I don’t even need to explain this one. Wishful thinking I guess. I wore them once and regretted it. Dumb.

• shampoo/conditioner/bar of soap* - this is kind of 50/50 for me. I ran out of conditioner a few days into the trip an just bought some at one of the Farmacia’s along the way. I could have bought my hair and body soaps once I was in Spain, but I think it’s more of a personal preference thing.

• ATM card - my bank thought I was making fraudulent withdraws in Spain so they froze my account (lol). But seriously, using a credit card was the better option throughout the entire trip. I would recommend having some Euros to pay for drinks quickly, to get souvenirs from smaller vendors, or to cover any unforeseen circumstances (cleaning fees, laundry, etc).

• A miniature medicine cabinet - Medicine also exists in Europe and in every part of the world. I only used my daily vitamins, advil (there were a few dehydrated mornings), and one anti-acid after a particularly filling day. Buy it if you need it, otherwise you’ll survive.

Even though I over packed (again!), there were still a few things that I wished I had brought along. Here is a list of a few things that I should have brought with me:

• another dress (or two) - sundresses are famously lightweight and small. I really could have used a few more options on the hotter days, and a some additional sundresses would have been nice to choose from.

• shorts - it was still hot during the day in late September/early October. Shorts would have been nice for some of the sweatier times when I was trying to pretend that I wasn’t d y i n g in my black jeans (wtf).

• my DSLR camera - I have an iPhone 7 that works perfectly well, but I am really lacking the high quality photos that I wanted to take while sightseeing. If you’re choosing between looking like a tourist with a big camera and trying to blend into Spanish society - go with the camera. You already look like a tourist, so don’t even try to pretend.

Hopefully this long-form list that I threw together helps you avoid some of the mistakes that I made along the way! There’s no better feeling than being able to lift all of your belongings over your head and into the over head bin. Just kidding, there are definitely some better feelings, but this one ranks pretty high in my opinion. Happy traveling!

A glimpse into my life over the past year or so

Featuring: a lot of solo dance parties in my hotel room, places near water, and everything else in between.

No rules

March was one of the busiest, most activity-packed months I’ve had since moving down here, which meant I did a bunch of great things with great friends on little to no sleep.

Nicole and Meghan finally made their way down to me the second week into March and we started things off with a bang. They arrived on a Thursday, which by college standards is technically the weekend, so we took that to heart and made our rounds to some of my favorite spots in Old San Juan.

The original plan was to meet Cara and some of her friends from Richmond at the courtyard bar at Hotel El Convento. Charlie Sepulveda (a Grammy-award winning jazz musician !!) has a regular slot on Thursdays at the hotel so we decided to stop by for a drink and some music. Ours and Cara’s schedules got a little mixed up and when we arrived at the hotel they had already made their way to destination number two of the night, Birra & Empanada.

Since we were already there, Nicole, Meghan, and I decided to split a bottle of wine and listen to Charlie play all of our favorite Etta James and Louie Armstrong songs in the background.

After finishing up at Convento, our next stop was Birra & Empanada – a top contender for my favorite bar in all of San Juan. Cara and her group were kindly guarding an 8-top and protecting it from everyone else who was attempting to take up that valuable table space, so we sat down quickly and started eating.

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Birra always has four types of baked empanadas for purchase: three meat-filled and one (sometimes two!) vegetarian. I’m biased, but I think the veggie empanada is the best. Not sure which vegetarian version was available that night (a combination of going there so many times and copious mojitos blurred that part of the night for me) but ugh, the spinach one is my absolute favorite. Lots of cheese. Lots of spinach. Lots of love. To really tie it all together, there are also roughly 15 different hot sauces made in house and they’re typically kept in reused, bear-shaped honey bottles. People are constantly shuffling the bottles around from table to table while simultaneously trying to hold on to their favorites before someone else swoops in for a taste. I’ve heard that a few regulars will bring in their own sauces to keep behind the bar, so if you’re lucky you might get to try an extra rare one.

We spent the rest of our time at Birra stuffing ourselves with empanadas, drinking too much rum, and laughing hysterically. Then, it was on to the next.

Factoria is a staple in OSJ that I couldn’t let anyone to miss, so we made our way up the hill and stopped in at my other favorite bar. Pretty much every cocktail on the menu is fantastic, but I’ve gotten stuck on the Lavender Mule. It’s a floral twist on a traditional Moscow Mule that’s much lighter, less sugary, and comes with a little sprig of lavender as garnish. What’s not to love?

It was around spring break time and the bar was packed with people from all over the place and that made for some good conversation. But we soon got tired of talking, so Nicole, Meg, and I spent the rest of the night bouncing between the two back bars. We switched between pretending to know how to salsa and wiggling around to whatever trance reggae (??) they were playing in the very back bar. It was a blast and my feet hurt at the end of the night.

The next day was a total wash. I had to work, so I spent most of the day chugging water and eating as much bread as I possibly could. The girls spent their day trying to re-hydrate and lounging by the pool (I’m still jealous!). By the time I got off work, we were all ready for some pizza and some sleep, so we checked both of those boxes and looked forward to a better Saturday.

On Saturday we drove up to El Yunque to test out a trail that my coworker had told me about. The Mount Britton Trail is up towards the top of the mountain and is currently the only access point to the El Yunque Peak Trail. The original trailhead for the Peak Trail is still under construction and hasn’t been reopened since Maria, so this is the best way to get to the top and not get in trouble.

The Mount Britton Trail starts out as a set of stone steps that weaves around a flowing stream and turns into a more natural path as you reach the official Peak Trail. It took us roughly 20 minutes to get from the trailhead up to the point where the Britton and Peak Trails diverge, then an additional 45 minutes to the top of the mountain. We didn’t make it to the Britton Trail since we were pressed for time, but I’ve heard from others that it’s a nice view and a decent hike.

Hiking the El Yunque Peak Trail was a challenge in some portions, but really only because of slope and the fact that it was pretty hot and humid. Most people that we saw along the way were wearing tennis shoes (some were even in flip flops), so the trail is manageable for all hiking skill levels. I myself was over prepared, decked out in my hiking boots and some hefty socks, and in the end just made myself sweatier.

On the way up to the top, our surroundings were fabulous. To our left was the mountain face, which was lush and green and completely covered in palms, cycads, and tropical flowering plants. Flowing around the lush greenery were a few spring-fed streams that cultivated cute, moss-coated inlets along the cliff face and made for some great snail and coqui habitat. To our right, there was a view straight down into the valleys of the lower rain forest. Beyond that, Fajardo’s coastline and the very blue ocean.

At the peak there’s an old lookout structure, marked with a USGS Benchmark that didn’t offer much more information other than the elevation and where we were. I still haven’t looked into what the story behind the structure is, but it’s sturdy and is great for a panoramic view of the entire rainforest. We had a few Medalla’s up on top and then turned back for a double-time trek back down the mountain. We were kind of racing against time seeing as the park closes at 6 pm and we needed about 30 minutes to make it back to the gate. It was 4:35 pm. That being said, there was no need to worry – Nicole (a profesh trail runner) lead us back to the trailhead, hopping from rock to rock and making sure our path was safe as we wound our way down the mountain.

We made it to the trailhead with time to spare and made it through the entrance gate at 5:45.

After such an intense workout, we needed to treat ourselves. So after taking some much-needed showers and sprucing up we headed out to dinner at Verde Mesa in Old San Juan. As always, everything was impeccable. The food, the drinks, the atmosphere – it’s all so elegant and cute that’s hard not to feel happy while you’re there. I’m very fortunate that they don’t mind me coming in every week.

Keeping the night moving, we headed over to Calle Loiza to visit Gustavo at Azucena.

Azucena is this sweet little converted house in the heart of Loiza that does great work turning locally-sourced ingredients and botanics into tasty plates and cocktails. It’s one of my favorite restaurants on Loiza. Plus, my favorite bartender works there.

The girls and I sat out on the patio with some of Gustavo’s friends and family that had also stopped that night, enjoying some wine and new company. We were having a great time, but our exhaustion after that hike crept up on us quickly. We called it a night and went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.

And what a next day we had in store.

We booked an all-day snorkeling and beach excursion to Culebra, which is a smaller island off the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico. I’ve heard from every single person that I’ve met in Puerto Rico that I absolutely had to go to Culebra and today I was finally going to make that happen!

We decided to go with a private tour company rather than taking the public ferry over based on all the horror stories I’ve heard about trying to get ferry tickets. Stories like people arriving at the dock at 3:30 am to TRY to get tickets to one of the earlier boats. Even at that time getting a ticket is not guaranteed. This company that we went with provided transportation to the island on a 30-passenger power boat, access to the Culebra marine preserve for snorkeling, all of the necessary snorkeling equipment, lunch, and then an afternoon on Flamenco Beach. It was a pretty good deal and covered all our trip requirements.

Now, I’ve grown up on boats my entire life. I really pride myself on my sea legs and my iron stomach when it comes to sea sickness. But this trip seriously put that pride to the test. I’d heard about the rough waves and the strong currents between the main island and Culebra and expected some necessary roughness – but these waves were INTENSE. For an hour and a half we were knocked around from one side of the boat to the other, sprayed by the waves coming over the bow of the boat, and rearranged every time the boat slammed down from a wave crest. Rough was an understatement.

Once we made it into calmer waters, we moved toward the marine nature reserve for some much anticipated snorkeling. We had watched some weather in the distance for most of the morning and hoped that it wouldn’t make its way over to us, but we weren’t so lucky. It started raining while we were in the water and continued to rain when we crawled back onto the boat and it kept raining and raining and raining.

While we waited and hoped for the clouds to break, the crew prepped lunch for us and gave us more than enough rum punch to keep us satisfied. And although we were satisfied, we started to feel our last remnants of hope fading away as we made it into hour two of waiting for the rain to stop.

So, there we were, shivering cold, tipsy off sugary rum drinks, and laughing hysterically at our terrible luck, when all the sudden the clouds broke. Immediately it was like we were on a completely different trip and we were desperate to get some sunlight on our weirdly cold bodies. Nicole, Meg, Gustavo, and I all jumped into the water and made our way up to the shore as quickly as we could, beaching ourselves in the driest stretch of sand we could find. We laid there, letting the sun warm our clammy skin and the completely still ground settle our sea sick stomachs.

Everything about Flamenco Beach is beautiful. The sand itself is remarkable - completely white and the texture of angel food cake - and the water is warm and crystal clear. We spent the rest of our afternoon literally frolicking up and down the beach (which unfortunately caused a toe injury when Meg kicked the only rock on the beach :( ), soaking up all of the sun that we had missed so bad, and taking in as much of the scenery as we could before we headed back to the big island.

When it was time to leave Flamenco we reluctantly climbed back onto the boat, only wishing that we had more time to spend on the beach. Oh, and we wished that we had our cell phones with us on the beach to document just how beautiful everything was.

Unfortunately, not all our troubles had melted away and as we were riding back one of our boat’s rudders blew out. Our captain seemed ready for anything though, and we were only stranded for about 15 minutes before he fixed the problem. Our luck had changed again, thank god.

On the way back home, exhausted from a day of ups and downs, we stopped at the Luquillo kiosks for some very necessary mofongo and giant mojitos. Great for a recharge after a day of minor chaos.

The girls only had one more day in town, so we ended the trip the way we had started it – at Birra & Empanada. This time, we sat outside in the tiny courtyard in the back of the restaurant. Our waiter lent us a portable speaker half way through our evening and we all played DJ while talking with some bartenders visiting from Canada.

That same weekend an event called Tales of the Cocktail was taking over San Juan, so people from all over The States, Canada, Latin America and more were visiting the city to support a great cause, network, and drink some good drinks. This meant that a lot of interesting cocktails were available to try all over town and we absolutely took advantage of that. Factoria had opened up their entire building for the event, so we walked from floor to floor and room to room doing a taste test of everything they had to offer. It was a lot of fun pretending like we were meant to be there.

All in all, I was beat by the end of the trip but for very good reason. Hopefully I’ll see Meg and Nicole down here one more time before I head back to Cleveland ;).

Mom's in town!

It has definitely been a while, but here I am! Back and ready to regurgitate several months worth of excursions, visits, and adventures.

My mom came down to visit San Juan at the end of February for somewhat of a trip re-do after a stressful visit over Thanksgiving (eye infection via Sahara Dust). Fortunately, this time around there were no watery eyes or sand allergies in the way of our good time.

Mom arrived around noon on a Saturday and after lunch at my hotel in San Juan, we went on our way down to the El Yunque rain forest for a one-night getaway in the jungle.

Thanksgiving this past year ended up being a reunion between the Bilski family (that’s me) and the Morton family (Middle Bass neighbors that we’ve known for all of eternity). It’s been several years since all of us were together and really one of the few times we were all together off island (moving from a smaller island to a bigger one, I suppose). So, to spend the holiday with old friends was really spectacular. While we were all catching up over an over-the-top charcuterie that my mom had thrown together (seriously, these things are insane), Logan and Rachel mentioned some of the travelling they had done around the island on their own. West, south, up high, down low, they had essentially touched all corners of the island. But one place that they mentioned really stood out. This dreamy little getaway on the southern side of El Yunque called Casa Flamboyant. Mom and I were totally infatuated with the place after seeing Rachel’s pictures and ended up booking a night at Flamboyant almost immediately (thanks Rachel!).

So, on we went to Naguabo to our home for the night.

Casa Flamboyant has a fabulous history. I can’t remember all of the intricacies necessary to really do the whole story justice, but basically it was built in the 60s by a fantastic wealthy man who wanted a secluded getaway in the jungle. Friends of this wealthy man included Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and many other eccentrics who would come to visit and party (and do a lot of drugs) in this little piece of paradise. I can only imagine what these walls have seen.

The property itself sits on the edge of a mountainside, surrounded by lush, green foliage and close to zero human neighbors. After driving along a twisty, 1 1/2-lane road up into the mountains, we arrived at Casa Flamboyant. Encapsulated by a cement wall, we weren’t sure if we had made it to the right place. But almost if on cue, our welcoming committee popped through the dark, wooden front door to greet us. Ricky, one of the owners of Flamboyant, and Obie, the resident dog in charge, gave us a quick tour of the grounds and amenities, which included a stunning flower and herb garden, a sprawling terrace with a spring-fed infinity pool, and an unreal view of the hills and valleys of the rain forest meeting with the east coast of the island.

Mom and I arrived a little later than planned, so right away we ended up getting cozy on our private terrace (!!!) with an ad-hock charcuterie (so, I know I say ad-hock, but compared to Kate Richardson Bilski’s other creations, this was just beautiful and not fantastically breathtakingly beautiful like the others are) and a couple bottles of wine. I think we were in bed before 10 pm that night, drifting off to sleep with a chorus of hundreds of thousands of coquis singing all around us.

The next morning, Mom woke up and did a quick yoga session out on the terrace and then we headed up to the main house for breakfast. Fresh, local fruits and Monte Cristo sandwiches were on today’s menu and I was lucky enough to score a vegetarian version of this absurd sandwich (thanks Ricky and Florian!).

Obie

After we finished up our breakfast, we decided to hike Flamboyant’s private trail down to the river at the bottom of the valley. 100% humidity and a few sporadic rain showers left us a little damp, a little muddy, and a lot sweaty, but the trail itself and the river at the end made all of our scrambling worthwhile.

We packed ourselves up after finishing our first hike of the day and decided to keep the ball rolling on the north side of El Yunque. After saying goodbye to our fantastic hosts, Ricky, Florian, and Obie, we started winding our way through the back roads again.

The weather turned sour as we were driving north, so our afternoon hiking aspirations were cut short. To pass some time and feed ourselves, we decided to stop at the restaurant just outside of the park entrance - Treehouse Cafe or something like that. It was bad, so I definitely don’t recommend including it in your El Yunque plans (we should have gone to the Luquillo kiosks - sorry Ma!).

Having drinks and dinner at Verde Mesa

I had to work for the rest of the week, so the remainder of the visit consisted of the two of us leading our separate lives until I got back from the office around 6 pm. Fortunately, I was able keep my energy up after work on a few nights so we could go to some of my favorite restaurants in Santurce and Old San Juan. One of the nights when we were feeling especially drained we ordered pizza in and that was great.

Rain ended up being a pretty constant threat throughout the visit, but we got lucky on our zip lining day and we stayed dry for the entire excursion. Toro Verde is probably one of the most famous zip line parks on the island, and having been there once before I knew we’d have a good time. The park has some pretty intimidating route names like “The Beast” and “The Monster” (you have to wear a parachute and a full-body speed suit on The Monster in case you like, you know, fall off??) but it’s safe and in a really interesting, mountainous part of the island. We ended up going with the 10-line package, which consisted of several routes that gradually got longer as we moved through the park. Now, I certainly didn’t want to leave Toro Verde without accomplishing something that sounded impressive, so we took a ride on The Beast to finish it all up. It was rad.

Mom’s last night in town came faster than expected, so we ended the trip in a very savory way - by eating our weight in Mexican food and then finishing the night with a few drinks in Condado.

There’s nothing like having a little piece of home come to you when you’re far away. So Mom, you better come back!

Three accounts of life after the hurricane

These are three stories that I have heard over the past week from people I’ve met around San Juan.

The woman in the hair salon

She is originally from the southeast side of the island, living in a house on the beach with her husband and their four children. Before Hurricane Irma hit, she and the kids went north to San Juan to avoid the first onslaught of wind and rain while her husband stayed back with the house to weather the storm. Irma came and passed and there was a lot of damage done, but it was still in a state that it could be lived in, needing only a few repairs. But Maria was around the corner, and just before the second storm hit she got a call from her husband telling her that she needed to say good bye to their home.

She stayed in San Jan with the kids and was eventually joined by her husband once he could safely make the trip into the city. They stayed there for months, waiting and waiting for the first available and affordable flight for their family to get off of the island. Leaving Puerto Rico was near impossible for months for several reasons. The first reason being that there were zero flights on or off of the island for two to three weeks after Maria hit. Even if there were planes coming in the riots at the airports would have been enough to drive anyone away. The second reason being that as soon as flights became available to leave SJU the option to buy a ticket was near impossible due to astronomically high airline prices. And somehow even with these insane prices, seats on the plane were selling out instantaneously.

After a few months in San Juan, all four kids came down with some sort of viral infection that was diagnosed by a doctor on the island but could not be treated based on limited medical supplies. This “fortunately” allowed them to qualify for medical evacuation status, and put them in a queue to be flown off island as soon as possible. One day they went to the airport with a few suitcases, waited in line, and were randomly selected for seats on the med-evac plane to Florida.

They touched down in Miami and were able to make it to a hospital that offered the kids treatment for their infections. That night, all five of them (mom and four kids) cozied up in their hotel room and mom said it was the first time in three months that she had seen her kids physically relax since the hurricane. It was like they could all breathe again.

They’re all back in San Juan now, waiting for all of the replacement windows, siding, doors, etc. for their house to arrive from the mainland… which should happen in about six months. While they wait for the new materials to arrive and for construction to finish up, they have decided to try out upstate New York for a year. They move in October and will experience their first true winter in one of the snowiest and coldest places in the northeast. A new adventure for this family.

The woman who lives on the 12th floor of her apartment building

She’s driving Uber now to supplement her income and is currently working towards repairing the damages in her apartment that her landlord has not taken care of since Maria.

She lives on her own and has lived on her own supporting herself for the past few years in the same apartment complex that she is still living in now. After Hurricane Maria came through, her windows were blown out and she lost power for several months.

Around the same time that the hit, she had undergone ankle surgery and was recovering at home. Since the power was out, all building functionality, including the elevator, had stopped and she was recovering while essentially camping in her own home. Living on the 12th floor without a functioning elevator and a broken ankle left her with no option but to slowly climb up and down the 12 flights of stairs to her apartment every morning and evening. She would leave her groceries in the trunk of her car because she wasn’t able to carry more than the few gallons of water necessary for bathing, drinking, filling the toilet, etc. at a time. Having her pantry in the trunk of her car was no different that storing something in her non-functioning refrigerator.

The apartment is still a mess, with windows boarded up and water damage throughout. She was denied an insurance claim last month since she is not the owner of the complex that she lives in. The landlord still has not used the funds they received from their claim to repair what is damaged in her apartment. Power returned about 6 months ago and now the elevator is working again.

The man who was afraid and is still afraid

He purchased a house near San Juan a few years ago to be close to his family and the city. When Maria rolled through he lost all power and home functionality for about 3 months, which took a toll on the home and his mental state.

He was afraid to touch any of the water that was accumulating around his house for fear of infection. Even after water was accessible from the faucets in his house, he was still afraid that the it was contaminated with disease and used as little of it as he possibly could. He only drank and bathed with bottled water.

He was finally able to afford and secure a ticket off of the island at the end on November 2017 and flew out hoping to never return. He stayed in the States for about 6 months, visiting with friends and travelling around, completely content with leaving everything behind in Puerto Rico. He only just returned to the island to check in with his family and to try to get his house back in order.

After hearing about the three incoming hurricanes this week, he immediately bought a ticket off of the island. He won’t chance it again.

Let's go surfing

To me, surfing is something that has always seemed like the epitome of cool. This thinking is probably (definitely) influenced by the 2002 movie Blue Crush, which stars Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez as cool and hot surfer chicks who live in Hawaii and are just trying to get by. Blue Crush has a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and after watching this movie with my friend Hannah last year I'm surprised that it’s even rated that high. But, as bad as this movie is, I probably watched it a total of 20 times between the ages of 10 and 12. WHICH leads me to my point that Kate Bosworth surfing was cool and I wanted and still want to be as cool as her.

So this weekend I put thoughts into action and signed up for my first surf lesson.

I was surprised to learn that Puerto Rico is actually somewhat of a surf Mecca for people all around the world. Rincon, on PR’s northwest coast, has been rated as one of the best places to surf in the world and draws in thousands of surfers (new and old) yearly. So naturally, I needed to find a way out to this surf paradise to really do it right.

Google Search (my travel BFF) lead me to my guide, Ramse, a lifelong surfer and instructor based out of Rincon. Communication was brief before we officially set a time for the lesson, but Ramse did a really great job of making sure I knew what I needed and where to go before we got started.

Playa Jobos

I left San Juan for Rincon at around 6am on Sunday morning and made it out to our meeting spot, Playa Jobos in Isabella, around 7:45am. Tired from a long work week, I was surprised that I could rally that early for something that was guaranteed to wipe me out both physically and mentally. But, thoughts of Kate Bosworth pushed me (and my inner twelve year old) to get on that board! follow my dreams! and give up my job as a hotel cleaning lady to marry the vacationing NFL quarterback!

Playa Jobos is a wonderful beach that was fairly busy for a Sunday morning at 8am. Situated on the edge of a cove off of the Gulf of Mexico, Jobos has the perfect makeup for good surf. The cove has big, eroded rock formations that cut into the choppy gulf and prevent the waves from getting too extreme. That being said, the way that the current flows in past these rocks still sets the beach up for some pretty consistent swells that make for exciting rides.

The lesson itself was standard. Learn the basics of surf safety, balance, and coordination on land and then head out to the water. I was fortunate enough to score a one on one lesson, so our time on the shore was brief and we were out and paddling pretty quickly after the intro.

Now, I’ve had some experience with a paddle board up on Middle Bass, but a surf board is a little smaller and more fickle, which became apparent after falling off once or twice on the trip out.

A fitting sticker that I found walking around near my hotel. Additional insult above.

When we finally made it out to the surf there were about ten other people (locals, seasoned surfers) floating at the edge of the cove. Being the only newbie and non-Spanish speaker in the group I was expecting to feel like an outsider in this big surf family, but I was totally wrong. True to form, the surfers of PR were all smiles and completely supportive of my several failed attempts to stand up on my borrowed long board. It’s humbling to have the support of a group of people when you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing, even if it’s just from a few big smiles and “esoooooo”’s here and there. What could have been a rightfully embarrassing experience turned into an experience that was still a little embarrassing but mostly carefree.

I did end up successfully riding a few waves into shore after some impressive collisions with the reef and the board itself (Dad, if you’re reading this my teeth haven’t fallen out yet) and was the the best feeling in the world. I’ve had friends over the years tell me that surfing is like nothing else. It’s hard but it’s worth it. Addictive. And they are all right.

I eventually lost stamina around 10:30 and had to call it quits for the day, but I really wish I could have spent more time out in the water. I am thankful though that I wore myself out because the sunburn that I have earned from the back of my neck all the way down the the backs of my ankles has been brutal. Anymore time out there and I would have most definitely singed my own skin off.

My body took a beating this weekend and I’m still aching from everything but it was so worth it. The twelve year old in me can’t wait to do it again nor can the twenty five year old. And just in case you were wondering, I’m totally going to watch Blue Crush this week and it’s going to be bad and I’m going to love it.

Plan your own surf adventure here: http://surflessonspuertorico.com/

My first week in San Juan

I am truly the best at putting off writing about my travels. SO, I'm hoping that the pretty penny I spent on this domain name will keep me accountable for the next year or so. TBD.

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Carolina Beach at sunset

I made it to San Juan in the afternoon on June 28th (happy birthday Mom!), exhausted from a late night of packing and then an early wake up call for a 7:20 am flight out of Cleveland. In my delirium I was still able to make it out of the airport without a working GPS (!!!) all the way to my first home in San Juan - the InterContinental Hotel, which sits right on the beach in Carolina.

I'm still working out the different areas in greater San Juan and how they relate to city central, but from what I've heard so far there are different "counties" of San Juan, like Carolina, Condado, etc. These counties are still part of San Juan, but they harbor neighborhoods that differ quite a bit from place to place, making up their own significant little cities. 

Carolina is definitely more touristy, with a lot of fast food restaurants and souvenir shops along Avenida Isla Verde. Most of the resort hotels are also located on Ave. IV (I don't think it's actually abbreviated like this, but it totally should be) so the beach is typically filled with all sorts of different people from all over. A good number of locals also make their way out to Carolina Beach for some quality time in the sand and surf after work or on the weekends. 

Back at my hotel, I had a great room on the 15th floor that overlooked the swimming pool and then straight out to the beach. I'd often wake up in the mornings and dramatically open the curtains that led to my balcony to really relish in the fact that this was my home for the next 10 days. And with my new early morning schedule, I'd often see the beach before the onslaught of people arrived, typically catching one or two people on their pre-sunrise early morning walks.

Fortunately for me, a family friend (Mark) is also down here working on the same project that I am in a different facet. He's been nice enough to show me around and include me in the plans that he and his good friend Clay have put together. The night that I arrived, Mark, Clay, and I all had dinner at Paseo Caribe, which is a huge shopping center with a gourmet food court built into the center. For dinner, I had mussels in garlic sauce and the boys got Pho. Lots of options and a pretty cool dining space as well.

Later that weekend, Mark showed me the snorkeling spot in the bay near his hotel in Condado that he likes to frequent. There are several man-made reef structures placed near the shore of the bay that are home to all sorts of fish, urchins, octopus, and other various sea critters. It makes for an exciting snorkeling experience that is surprisingly accessible. The waters were pretty turbid while we were out, but there was still plenty to see throughout the snork. 

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Work has been pretty time consuming since arriving, which is to be expected but has still taken some getting used to. I work Monday through Saturday from about 7 am until 5:30 pm with 30 minute bus rides on either side of the work day. It feels good to be busy, but as someone who values sleep, it has been a big adjustment getting used to a 5 am wake up call. It's probably for the best though. Who knows, maybe I'll come out a morning person at the end of this? (Unlikely)

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My favorite part of the pork trail

Although there's been lots of work there has also been lots of play. A small group of us had the day off for the 4th and made our way out to two small towns south of San Juan, Aibonito and Guavate. Aibonito has a yearly flower festival (Festivale de Flores) that takes place up in the South-central mountains of the island. Plant vendors from all over come to show off their best blooms, sell some of their green inventory, and sample all sorts of fried snacks from the carnival food vendors that also set up shop. We made our rounds at the festival and then wound our way back north on twisty, mountain roads to "the pork trail" in Guavate - a stretch of road-side restaurants, called lechoneras, that specialize in roasted pork and other Puerto Rican comfort foods. My heaven (not). The place we decided on for lunch, El Rancho Original, was recommended by Clay who had been on the trail once before. It did not disappoint. The restaurant itself is situated mountainside, next to a crystal clear stream that flows through the back garden. Although I couldn't enjoy the pork, the spread of root vegetables piled on my plate, strong rum drinks, and stream-side dining really made it an incredible time. Not to mention, there was live music everywhere we went, which led to my (terrible) return to bachata dancing. I definitely have some footwork to practice. 

A visit to Viejo San Juan this past Saturday led to the discovery of some fantastic new restaurants and bars (I'll write about these in a later blog post) as well as a look into the going out culture in PR. To put it simply, everyone here likes to have fun and I like to have fun too. 

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La Factoria, Old San Juan

It's hard to believe that I've just been here a week now and I've already seen so much. And alternatively, that I'll be here for another ~75 weeks and still have so much to see. Now, onto the next week and next hotel of my adventure down here! 

See you later Cleveland!

And just like that, I finally got the call to move to Puerto Rico. After months of build up, hurry up and wait, and a lot of uncertainty, I was given 7 days notice to pack up my things and fly south - an exciting reality that still doesn't seem real. 

My week in Cleveland before my big move was filled with friends, family, food, and more drinks than advisable. Basically, the best send off that I could have asked for. Thanks to everyone who made me feel loved (and missed!) in the time leading up to my deployment. I so wish I could have packed each and every one of you into my suitcase to join me on this journey. 

So here it is - an official welcome to my blog, which will hopefully give you all a taste of what my *new* life is like in San Juan! 

LOL (Lots of love), Leah