So, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged - and I am sorry for that. Since this pandemic hit, I’ve been in a bit of a funk (as I’m sure most of us have felt). But it’s officially summer, and things feel like they’re slowly getting back to normal.
Which brings me to this post: getting back to traveling. Because you ALL have had questions on what it was like, so I’m spilling the deets.
My three other vacations may have been cancelled… but not my [annual] trip to Puerto Rico to visit my boyfriend’s family! Believe me, I was as shocked as you. I kept up on all of the travel advisories and updates before heading to the airport. We made sure we spoke with his family before seeing them and got their blessing to visit. Our trip was during July 4th, which was only a couple weeks before Puerto Rico officially opened up for tourism.
First thing’s first: prepare. Packed up in my suitcase: hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, hand wipes, body wipes, extra masks and filters, etc. I also began taking elderberry gummies (shout out to BioSchwartz) about a week before my trip to help build up my immune system, as I usually do before a trip. I keep up this habit during my trip and a few days after I return home.
Now, the actual traveling. Living in NYC, I had to take a subway, a NJ Transit train, and an air train to get to my terminal at Newark International Airport. This had been my first time on any of those in over four months. The rides were quiet, smooth (shocking for MTA), and not crowded at all.
Once we arrived at the terminal, NO ONE was there. I think I saw two people other than some employees. We went through security, as we always do, and made it out in less than five minutes. It was one of the easiest trips I’ve ever had.
There were no restaurants open in the airport, so we just had to get some packaged food to munch on. Which didn’t bother me as I was officially on vacation, and you bet I grabbed those Goldfish, Cheez-It Snack Mix, and dark chocolate covered pretzels.
I flew JetBlue, and they boarded from the back to the front (instead of the usual “zones”). It was very easy and efficient, I’m not sure why this isn’t the way they always board. On the plane, there were no middle seats booked. It was pleasant to have some extra room. Of course I wiped down my entire seat and anything I could have touched with my packed disinfectant wipes. (Others were asking if they could have a wipe since they did not come prepared.) There were no meals, but the flight attendants did bring around plastic bags of packaged food: I received a small bottle of water, granola bar, and kettle pop chips.
Upon arrival at SJU airport in Puerto Rico at 2am, we lined up and were greeted by none other than the US Army. They asked my name, location, phone number and sent me on my way to enjoy my vacation. I’m not sure why we weren’t asked to do a rapid Covid test, as there were signs everywhere for them. But we had gotten tested in NYC before leaving and both were negative (this was not a requirement).
And then we were in our Airbnb in Condado, Puerto Rico. It felt like a dream, and I made sure to soak up every minute of it. We woke up to the beautiful Caribbean water and our 5th anniversary. We filled it with some authentic Puerto Rican food at Latin Star, Piña coladas in pineapples, and the beach.
For dinner, we headed into Old San Juan for a fancy dinner. Now this is where we ran into trouble - we knew PR had a 10pm curfew and had to be back by then, but the restaurant employees said no one took it seriously. So we stayed past 10pm, but you know what stops at 10pm? Ubers. Cabs. I called every Puerto Rican cab company I could find on Google (and tried not to get hysterical). Fun fact: “Puerto Rico Car Service” is actually in Brooklyn, NY and couldn’t help us one bit 🙃. Nevertheless, ONE man answered and was like, “give me 15 minutes.” So we waited in an Old San Juan plaza, with cops all around doing nothing. The cabby picked us up, we told him how grateful we were, and he only charged us $12 for the trip.
For the majority of the trip we spent our time with Gio’s 91-year old Abuelo, biological father, and half siblings. They took us to a magical local restaurant in the middle of the Puerto Rican mountains; it was incredible.
We did, however, explore where we were staying as well. I highly recommend Condado, especially if you’re younger. It’s a hip town, filled with so many restaurants, bars, and things to do. We tried a new restaurant every night and were never disappointed. In this spot, NO ONE cared about the curfew. Restaurants were seating people at 10pm to begin their meals, everyone was out and about socializing.
And then before we knew it, we had to hop on a plane at 2:30am back to New York. One thing I will say about the mask situation - I don’t mind wearing them, but it is VERY hard to sleep in one.
All in all, we had an unbelievable trip. Covid didn’t cancel our vacation, our chance to get away. As long as you are careful, you should travel too. If you’re not comfortable on public transit or in a plane, try a roadtrip. Life is too short not to live it. So get out of your house and soak up summer, before it’s too late.
