PR 1 Puerto Rico

I just spent a short week in Puerto Rico. I fled there to escape the cold of Washington, New York and, yes, Miami (where it’s been cloudy for a while now). There were three destinations on my list: Yucatan, Mexico was an option. Belize as well. And Puerto Rico. I decided not to go on my own to Belize after reading the Frommer’s Belize guide. I really want to visit that country (so small and so diverse!), but not alone. And if I do decide to visit Belize with someone else, I might just as well visit the neighbouring Yucatan at the same time. So hence, no Yucatan either.

I didn’t know much about Puerto Rico apart from the singers that the country has produced (Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and Ghent-resident Gabriel Rios), it’s most typical sound (reggaeton), the song by Vaya Con Dios and Marco, a law enforcement officer from Fort Lauderdale who used to be a pen pall of mine and who I met twice while touring in Florida. Most probably the coolest blatino I had ever met!

Anyways, back at the house of the couple I’m staying with in West Miami, I have mixed feelings about my visit of the Isla Del Encanto. I had never associated Puerto Rico with that Pixies classic ‘Isla De Encanta’ until I saw it on the license plates of the cars. I have experienced as much joyful moments as annoying and frustrating ones. It’s been a trip of ups and downs, part of which is my fault as I naively thought I could just visit the island without serious preparation. Being impulsive was the worst thing I could do. It will definitely make me rethink about how I travel.