2024 Summer Vacation Catch Up Post
Dorks on a plane - the summer of 2024 version!
This year's summer trip was to Puerto Rico, the Isla del Encanto (Isle of Enchantment), to drink rum and coffee, eat food, spend time at/in the ocean, and see history in the oldest colonizer ^H ^H ^H er, "European-founded" city in the Americas. I referred to this trip as our "Puerto Rican Sampler Platter" because we didn't thoroughly explore any one place but indeed could (and probably will) return and spend weeks and weeks!
TL;DR trip description, if you're just here for the pictures: Went to neighboring island Vieques for beaches and bioluminescent bay, returned to main island of Puerto Rico and spent beach and food time around Luquillo, with a day in Old San Juan for history. Oh, and survived a cat 5 hurricane.
For those who have the patience to read my long-winded travelogues, a few important notes to start: yes, Puerto Ricans are all US citizens, and we didn't need a passport to visit; but the Facebook relationship between the US and Puerto Rico would definitely be labeled "It's complicated." Make no doubt about it - we're colonizers there, our country is perpetrating taxation without representation, and PR citizenship has a lot of asterisks beside it. That said, there's also a lot of money that comes to the islands from tourism, and for the most part it's genuinely welcomed, as are tourists -- so long as you don't act like an entitled a-hole. Also note I said 'islands' - despite being known as the Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico is actually an archipelago of more than 100 small islands and cays (keys). We went to one of the outer islands on this trip - more on that shortly!
And yes, Puerto Rico's primary language is Spanish, and they absolutely appreciate when you attempt to use your feeble and many-decades-ago Spanish class lessons -- but between the fact that most folks also speak some English and that Google Translate exists, you can get by even if your high school language selection wasn't Spanish.
I did get excited every time I could translate a sign without looking things up though, because I'm a nerd. And if you think traffic signs in a different language (though with the usual US shapes and colors) will throw you, you can look those up in advance. [In fact I have, as you would expect, a pretty big reference library of useful phrases, descriptions of foods, and traffic signs, so HMU if you'd like that.]Links to day-by-day posts and pictures following as I get them posted - so if below does not include links when you see this, come back soon!
DAY 1: Puerto Rico 2024 Day 1
DAY 2: Puerto Rico 2024 Day 2
DAY 3: Puerto Rico 2024 Day 3
DAY 4: Puerto Rico 2024 Day 4
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