Hello. Hi. Been a while. It's been a bit since I last blogged anything and I'm a bit sad by that. I tried to stay consistent and it didn't really work out for me but it's fine. It's been a busy few weeks lately and now, well, I have plenty of time on my hands again since I'm working from home now due to our favorite little friend making his way around the globe. Not salty at all. Anyway, I just got back from my trip about 24 hours ago (EARLY Sunday morning) and I'm pretty sad, I miss the beautiful Puerto Rico already! I thought I would document my trip on this blog because it's great content and hopefully someone will enjoy reading about my little adventure. I'm excited to show all of my cool pictures of everywhere I went and the things I did while there so let's get started!

 So, first things first, I got on the plane. This flight was definitely a lot better than the flight I took to Paris, France back in October. For one, this flight was only four hours long and that was a thousand times better. Even though I didn't have movies to watch or a blanket and a pillow this time around and didn't get any sleep at all, it was still a better flight because I had music to try putting me to sleep and wasn't sitting in a very uncomfortable chair for 14 hours. It was only 4, so there are always some plus sides to everything. But let me tell you, the view from a plane just never gets old. The first one just being as we were getting ready to take off from Dallas and the second being that of the nighttime view of Puerto Rico at 4am. Pretty sweet.



Can we just talk about the view from our beach house? Like, what?! Let me tell you, being able to fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves quite literally right outside my window was the best thing ever and just didn't seem real. Waking up to this view wasn't half bad either. It was nice to be able to wake up, get ready for a chill day with just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and being able to eat a fresh breakfast on the porch listening to music and watching the waves in the background. It honestly doesn't get better than that and I finally understand why people like the beach so much.

Not to mention that actually being able to spend a couple hours on the beach just reading while getting a tan for the summer was pretty nice. I ended up finishing one book within a couple days and started another. I was really happy to finally have time to just read and relax without being interrupted.


The first couple of days in Puerto Rico consisted of going to the beach and just chilling for the day, taking the whole day to just drive around a bit and relax on the beach. The next couple of days were a little more exciting, driving to one of the more popular beaches and later going into Old San Juan to do some shopping after grabbing dinner. It was really nice to explore a new beach and get in some shopping for souvenirs, especially since I always dreamed about seeing the beautiful pastel streets of old San Juan so being able to go was amazing. After dinner, we ended up going to a castle, that of San Felipe del Morro which was beautiful.

The top of the castle overlooked the beautiful city and was breathtaking. The pictures I took truly don't do it any justice, it was something you really had to be there in person to see to be able to feel the full affect of the beauty of San Juan and I wish I could've shared it with my friends, they would have loved every little inch of what we were able to see from the top.

It was also pretty funny to see iguanas everywhere. It seemed like on every other perch of the castle, there was just an iguana chilling, minding their own business and living their best lives. It was pretty cool too, I've never seen one out in the wild, only ever in zoos and aquariums. Definitely wanted to bring one home but I didn't think the airport would've been okay with that. 


It was breathtaking. I didn't want to leave. I really, really could've spent my entire life there. It was crazy to think that I was looking at something so beautiful to end off my day and thinking about where I was and what I was doing was just cool.

Our last day was bittersweet. We packed everything up by 11am and checked out of our beach house and headed into the rain-forest. Yep, totally normal. We decided that we would drive through the rain-forest to get the last bit of sightseeing in and my nephews ended up going zip-lining once we got there. I was in no condition to go zip-lining so I sat with my sister and just waited, the time went by pretty quickly so I wasn't bored for too long.

Afterwards, we drove through the rain-forest for a couple of hours and it was beautiful. I've never seen that much green in my entire life. We stopped a few times to check out some of the attractions like a tower, a couple waterfalls, a quarry, a swimming hole and of course, stopping for some snacks. The views were amazing from the different overlooks riddled all over the forest, each one giving us an overview of just how big and far the rain-forest truly was.

Even though the rain-forest was super cool to drive through, it was also a little sketchy. For one, there were no clear lines actually dividing up the left and right side and the roads were VERY small, probably only slightly wider than a single lane. It was quite a bumpy ride which was a little fun, not gonna lie, but it was totally nerve-racking whenever other cars were on the road. Having to drive on the very edge of the road to let other cars pass safely was fun.
But I mean, for what it's worth, we got to see some beautiful sites on the very last day of our visit there. I ended up finding some seashells along the rocks of a swimming hole we accidentally found.

Being surrounded by incredibly tall trees and hearing the water running along the rocks was so relaxing, it honestly felt like I was in a Jurassic Park movie.

It felt like we were in one especially while driving through the rain-forest. It cemented it whenever I realized we were also driving in a Jeep. Coincidence? I think not. I was definitely looking for a T-Rex and a few raptors, not even gonna lie. I didn't find one by the way. I was a little sad.




Later, after spending most of the day in the rain-forest looking for dinosaurs and eating a very small hot dog in the pouring rain for 10 minutes, we headed out to get one last visit to old San Juan in and get in the very last minute shopping for more souvenirs.

Our first stop: Senor Frog. Great food, awesome atmosphere, and VERY long straws. I was too short to drink from my own straw but it's okay, the food was amazing and it was entertaining to see the employees riding around the place on hover-boards. Afterwards, we walked down the streets and did some shopping and I managed to get everyone a little something. I of course got my own little treats that I'll be able to use everyday such as a backpack, a new wallet, and a couple pieces of jewelry. I was sad to have to leave this beautiful city once it was finally time for us to head to the airport and get ready to go home. As much as I missed home, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye. San Juan has my heart and I can't wait until I get the chance to go back.

This trip was something I truly needed and I didn't even realize it until I was there, on the beaches, drinking a pina-colada out of a pineapple, feeling the water through my fingers and hearing the waves crashing. The past few months have been nothing less of eventful. It's amazing how much you realize about yourself when you're in a place that's different from what you're used to, it's like it brings you more in tune with your emotions and your thoughts. I realized there that I still had a lot of things I was hanging onto, not able to fully heal from, and quite frankly, things that I had been carrying with me that I thought I had let go of but didn't.

While I was there, I left a lot of things behind. I'm not going to get all emotional here and cheesy, but while there was a lot of healing that I've done over the past four months, there were things I still hadn't healed from. And while being there, I finally did. I was able to clear my mind of certain things, certain people, certain thoughts, and I came back ready to move forward. It was a freeing feeling and I will never be able to thank Puerto Rico for being that special place for me to realize that I'm gonna be okay after all. Thank you, San Juan. I came back ready to continue on with what I have here in my home state and truly see where life takes me. Until next time!