Early in February of 2022, my wife and I, along with my brother and a family friend visited San Juan, Puerto Rico for a week. Upon arriving I was immediately surprised. First of all, we departed our home airport in Charlotte, NC with a temperature of around 20-degrees Fahrenheit; yet landed in San Juan that afternoon at 87-degrees and about 70% humidity. I knew the weather would be warm, but WOW. Immediately the jackets and long sleeve shirts came off and the short sleeve t-shirts got put on. We left the airport and headed to the AirBnb we were staying at. Upon arriving I noticed that the apartment had a regular keyed lock to enter. Shockingly though, we also had to use a key to exit the gate. Obviously this wasn’t expected since We are used to fire code regulations that allow exiting a dwelling without hinderance. This was my first time in another part of the world that wasn’t quite as “normal” as what Im used to at home. Not in a bad way, just different. The city’s infrastructure seemed sub-par with major roadway and sidewalk cracks and failures. The power lines were low hanging in areas and the streets had piles of trash in some areas. Make no mistake, it wasn’t as bad as I’m probably making it sound, just a shock to me. The beaches however, we absolutely phenomenal. They were clean and not crowded at all. The waters weren’t clear, but certainly were more clear than the North and South Carolina beaches I’m used to seeing here. We stayed outside of downtown San Juan, but visited the inner-city during a day that we were there. We also went to the rainforest in Puerto Rico one day, which was also cool. Obviously I had never been to a rain forest so that experience was cool. And yes, it actually felt like a rain forest. Tall trees with canopies, high humidity, foggy, birds, bugs, everything. It was also neat seeing the closeness of proximity from a tall mountain to the sea-level beaches. I never once felt scared or nervous about anything during our trip. San Juan was a good visit and we didn’t do anything that put ourselves in a vulnerable position to be nervous. Overall, an absolutely excellent trip if you’re going for the beaches and relaxation.
February 23, 2025