To this day I have no travel experience that sticks out to me the way Puerto Rico does.

I am now writing about this adventure many years after, and the truth is that the more I travel, the more my love has strengthened for the characteristics of my experience in Puerto Rico and the island’s qualities. Not only do I look back upon the trip with delight, but also I look back and recognize the formative role it played in shaping the foundation upon which I judge travel and culture, including of my hometown. I can’t simply put down the names of the places I visited alongside fun pictures, and feel like I’ve done the place justice, or hit the right notes of what I wish to convey. It may be nice to have a dozen island pictures posted up on here like trophies, but it would be more honest to share something deeper.

The Spontaneous Island Adventure

To start, this was a spontaneous trip that hit me at a distinct point in my life: I had just graduated from my bachelor’s degree and had a few months before my first “real” job in engineering began. I was in the daze of a discombobulated mentality - an end of one era and the start of the next, and although I had done my due diligence to secure a job, there still remained a giant, partially unorganized, abyss of worries and logistics in front of me to conquer, including moving my life to Boston and handling all sorts of life chaos. The distraction of an island vacation was pleasant.

For some context, I had met a friend in Florida who was from Puerto Rico, and she offered to show me around the island if I wanted to visit. I said sure, it sounded like a fun adventure, and I booked a room for about a month, figuring I needed the distraction, the downtime, and the casual spontaneous adventure to relax my mind. A little while later, I boarded a plane and the adventure began. When the airplane touched down, the passengers clapped; as I walked out of the airport to find my friends, I was greeted with a welcome sign with my favorite emoji (below). The first day was spent getting set up, after driving to Luquillo, near “La Pared” (“The Wall” - a beach with large surf-able waves), and figuring basic logistics out.

Luquillo itself was calm. On the second floor, my room had a view over the ocean, and the rosy ocean breeze and salty smell filled the air. I had lived in Florida for many years, but never right near the ocean. The area had its sketch to it, but it was nothing off-putting - it was a tourist zone still, but I didn’t feel like there were many around when I went out. Over the next few weeks, we would road trip much of the East coast - from Fajardo to Ceiba to Humacao, explore El Yunque (the rainforest), overheat the car’s engine on a trip across the mountains going West, and get kicked out of the abandoned military base in Ceiba after trying to off-road ourselves on a dirt path to the summit of some forsaken hill, assumably a bit too close to the actual still-in-use government zone. The policeman was relaxed and smiled after casually telling us “no”, while leaning on the side of his car, almost apathetic at our vehicular attempts at summiting the hill.

Road trips are gnarly through the terrain of Puerto Rico; the wacky infrastructure can catch you off guard. I remember barrelling down the highway and suddenly seeing the car in front hit the brakes for (apparently) no reason. It wasn’t until only a few seconds away that the massive dip in the road became visible - the opposite of a speed hump. Driving too fast felt like a roller coaster. We visited San Juan and Old San Juan too - both of which were beautiful and distinctive. In the heat of the afternoon amongst a steady ocean breeze, we watched the spectacle of kites being flown in the open air over the grassy fortress hill; during the night the nearby urban areas came alive with lights, music, and graceful dancing. I tried a number of different foods like pinchos, flan, and plantains. One unique event we went to in San Juan was ComicCon. My friend wanted to be Spidergwen, so I went as Spiderman. My costume had fake muscles and looked absurd, and the event was fun overall.

At one point I got sick - in fact we both got sick - and had a raging fever. Naturally, I ignored it and pushed myself to continue adventuring. Yes, I hiked in El Yunque, a tropical rain forest, during summer, with a fever. Do not do this. That wasn’t the hottest temperature I survived on the trip, but internally I don’t think I’ve hit much higher temps. We took the ferry to Culebra - “Snake Island” - visited the famous (and touristy) Flamenco beach, and then hiked to a “hidden” beach, which was more of a secret for the locals. That hike was absurdly hot. I was not as sick at the time, but I certainly could feel my body fight against me to continue forwards. Luckily I was with a local who knew where we were going, which comforted me enough to push the boundaries w.r.t. my stamina. We never saw anyone else on the trail. It was worth it. The hidden beach featured a spikey coral reef of sorts, and peaceful serenity away from the tourist zone.

Puerto Rico has a special charm to it. It has a bit of a chaotic utilitarian culture and its own flavor of mismatched entropy. One mall we explored had a go cart track inside of it (!?). Why? Why not?! Finding someone’s house is not about street names or Google Maps - it takes a bit of word-ing and geographical charades. No location was simply “3 Pineapple Road”, it was a full explanation entailing “over the hill off the second highway ramp by the blue house with the parrot graffiti and around the corner, right before you get to Tania’s pineapple store”. At one point we ordered a pizza to my room, and my Spanish-speaking friend had to explain to them where we were, because the place really didn’t have an official address. As a bonus, they sent the driver in a golf cart to deliver it with one of those red lighthouse-like rotating beacons slapped on top. I realized that I loved this place. The laundromat downtown marked my completed clothes with a sticky note that said “El Buen Americano”, and of course this became my new nickname on the trip. Did I leave a respectful impression as not another idiot tourist, or did they overcharge me? Both? Who knows. They were friendly and my clothes were clean.

Down-to-Earth Cultural Energy

The energy of Puerto Rico, its geography, and the people’s culture resonated with me. In some ways it reminded me of home up north in the New England countryside. In a sense, I found clarity through expanding the context of different areas I saw, after adventuring on bicycle around my local neighborhood while I grew up, and having this worldview expanded further through my expeditions on two wheels in Florida with an engine.

I’ve spent a significant portion of my life two-wheeling the world surrounding me. I saw suburbs and country areas of all types, some of which really stuck out as curated to death, almost overengineered, sad, dead, unnatural, empty. Others seized the natural world’s flaws as features and created leafy paradises to enjoy, instead of shoving it to the side to make way for manmade curation and ego.

Puerto Rico reminds me of home, of the natural world that I grew up in which is at odds with the fakeness of overengineered “perfection” which I’ve now seen in many places in the world. It is closely entwined with the same reasons I created this website in the first place! Truth and down-to-earth thinking, honesty, true spirited endeavors… the surrounding themes hold a cherished spot in my heart.

I found the experience of Puerto Rico to be rewarding and genuine. It is down-to-earth; it is not over-curated; it is unique and wonderful! The people have retained their human spirit and togetherness, and it shows. Traveling there activated my reality senses and grounded me in remembrance of what community, culture, and environment really mean.

Me, about to try some flan, pre-covid era, Luquillo, PR.

Cheers,

Daniel