Puerto Rico trip report from 10-14 April 2026.
People are way more fashionable here. Almost everyone—obvious tourists or locals—had some sort of swag going on. (Well, everyone besides me!) I'm not sure if it's a Puerto Rican thing, a Hispanic thing, an island thing, or a something-else thing. Old San Juan itself is also fashionable! The buildings are painted nice colors—green, pink, blue, you name it—in a tasteful way. It's not loud. Shops are well decorated and offer everything from low-range souvenirs to high-end designer clothing.
The rainforest was pretty cool. We went to El Yunque National forest and slid down a natural water slide, jumped off a few cliffs, and used a rope swing. Water shoes are super useful!
Food was okay. Lots of fried food and very meat-based. Rum is their drink of choice and a lot of it is produced there.
We stayed at our residence more than any other trip we'd ever been on. This is almost certainly because it was an Airbnb vs. a cramped, livingroomless hotel for most of the other trips we've been on together (Chicago, Seattle, Boston (kind of Airbnb, but way cramped), Montreal). There's also a big element of sitting down when you get home and how much momentum that kills. From now on I'll suggest hotels so we're out and about more.
I do not like beaches or sand. Sand gets everywhere. It follows you like the plague. It's difficult to get off. Uber drivers will cancel on you multiple times if you're standing right by the beach because they too hate sand when it relates to their car's interior. Airbnb owners certainly hate sand with a similar passion. I can imagine investing in all-weather mats for vehicles to be worth it. Air showers for Airbnbs? Maybe not.
A lot of stuff was comparable or more expensive than in the mainland. I was expecting cost of living to slightly outweigh import costs, but evidently not!
A few stories: