MGal Moves

I love a tropical trip in the winter, and I love starting out my new year in a new place. 2025 was a big year for travel, and I’m glad that Puerto Rico stood in for the Latin America leg. Written the day after I got back, “It’s a colorful place that geopolitically feels like a gray area – a place where local pride, sovereignty, and independence of colonization demands to be recognized by many, and a place that, simply, is still America. The one week Leticia and I spent there brought about an apagón (blackout), a gubernatorial inauguration, a rain storm during a hike in a rainforest (learning that it was aptly named), and a very warm impression of Puerto Ricans.”

Day 1 – A travel day. If we had dinner, I’m afraid there’s no record of it. We decided to spend half of our days at an Airbnb in a residential neighborhood and the other half at a hotel in a tourist area. Our main priority when landing at night was getting to our accommodation right away.

Day 2 – The sun was shining and it was about 80 degrees. We wanted to prioritize sightseeing on the first day, building in rest days later in the itinerary. We got a quick, fruit-filled, but forgettable breakfast at La Coffeetera by our Airbnb before Ubering to Viejo (Old) San Juan. While there, I developed a fondness for pigeons, pet infinite cats, saw crystal blue water, visited National Historic Sites managed by the NPS, and bought snacks. Viejo San Juan has a grid layout but we pinned some landmarks on the map to guide our direction, including Mundo Taino, Capilla del Cristo, Catedral de San Juan, La Fortaleza, Parque de los gatos, Casa Blanca, San Felipe del Morro, Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetary, and Castillo San Cristobal. We had a bad lunch (like inedible flavor) in the middle of that walk and eventually went back to Loíza. We did dinner and drinks nearby, and I was surprised how not busy everything was, but I guess it was a Monday.

Day 3 – We woke up this morning to a blackout, an unfortunate regular occurrence on the island. Leticia and I have our own unique tolerances for the unknown, risk, and traveling as women. I think the evaluation of Puerto Rico is that our defenses were too high for what proved to be a comfortable place. However, I don’t think anyone can blame our caution on the blackout day. Part of me genuinely believe a purge would happen if DC or NYC experienced blackouts the way Puerto Rico does. The Puerto Ricans handled it like champs, and I felt, whether by osmosis or self-delusion, that the air felt kinder and more carefree. It meant, however, that our New Year’s Eve was not full of hopping around or clubbing. Evidently, some places in San Juan have generators (especially ones in tourist areas) but we couldn’t know exactly who had power and where power would be restored. By the time we went to bed, 86% of San Juan had power restored, but not our Airbnb. It forced us to take the day slower. We went to La Placita, a little plaza (okay translations!) with a market in the center and restaurants surrounding it. We had our first (and best) mofongo, listened to live music, walked around the neighborhood, sat at a park, and eventually went to the beach, the only place where electricity wouldn’t matter. We went to Condado, where we would be moving to our hotel the next day. When we went back to the Airbnb for dinner, we were still out of luck with power, but we turned the apagón into a romantic dinner date. We stayed close to our home base and went to a nearby bar to watch the ball drop, where the vibe was happy but still lowkey.

Day 4 – As planned, we moved to touristy hotel on this day and relaxed. By this point, I think I can admit the thorn of the trip was restaurant selection. Latin American countries famously shut down on New Year’s Day I found myself frustrated that restaurants that accepted reservations had no availability a week before (poor planning on my part), and restaurants that did not accept reservations had hour-long waits. I think restaurant selection is my own personal weakness in trips – I’m more likely to take a gamble to find a hole in the wall gem than to listen to a viral TikTok. Yes, TikToks are vetted (kind of, by a stranger? Why trust them any more than a Google Review) but they’re also subject to crowds and overhype. Recently, I’ve been leaning into Reddit for food recs due to its upvoting/downvoting system. If anyone has hacks on how they plan their dining experiences on trips, I’m all ears.

Day 5 – We don’t talk enough about biomes: Tundra, Boreal Forest (Taiga), Temperate Forests (Deciduous/Coniferous), Grasslands (Temperate/Savanna), Deserts, Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Dry Forest, Woodlands/Shrublands (Chaparral), Aquatic (Freshwater & Marine). Lately, I’ve been biome-hunting. When I learned Puerto Rico has a tropical rainforest in El Yunque, I wanted to go. I had stored up lots of Bilt points (You can get 1x points back when you pay rent and use it to book travel or transfer to almost any airline! Referral codes are coming out again in February). The 7-person tour group experienced a drive to El Yunque, about an hour from San Juan, a challenging hike down to waterfalls, swimming, and then, an absolute downpour. Imagine my surprise that a tropical rainforest… rained ( I was surprised). I was even more surprised how dangerous the conditions were to hike back – over slick, muddy rocks and up slopes where you could not get a foothold. It was one of those situations where you and your emergency contact are in an emergency. Fortunately, we kept our wits about us, as did the 8 year old girl and 70+ year old grandparents in our group. Compared to the hikes I did in Morocco, Japan, and Washington State, El Yunque was by far the most treacherous. But our tour didn’t end there – we drove to Luquillo Beach, a place that struck me as part tourist trap, part local fav. When you pull up, you’re faced when dozens of food kiosks, and beyond you have a huge beach. We got to kill a few hours and tried coquito (Facebook recipe that we made for Christmas) which provided the perfect counter-stress to El Yunque. By the time we got back, we wanted to settle for something close to the hotel.

Day 6 – I have no idea what we in the mornign and early afternoon. We talked about going to the Miramar or Isla Verde neighborhoods during the day. Maybe we didn’t have enough of an itinerary for either and went to the beach again? I have no photo evidence to explain where we were. Long in advance, I had booked a rum tasting for us. I read the Bacardi Experience was more hype than its moneys worth, so I tried a small, independent company in Old San Juan. The day before was the inaugurations of the new Puerto Rican governor. It was a good thing we went to El Yunque that day, but we could still see much of the set up ubering into Viejo San Juan on the Friday. We didn’t realize until we were on the rum tour that it wasn’t exactly the kind of rum we were looking for. The founders reminded me of the type of guys my brother Ryan would’ve been friends with in college – not locals if you get what I’m saying. They wanted to create a liquor but thought the whisky and gin markets were too competitive. One of the founders had a family connection in Puerto Rico and came down in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria (which is still impacting the island to this day). They intentionally are not competing with Puerto Rican rum producers – their alcohol is much more catered to traditional whisky drinkers. It wasn’t for either of us, and it was yet another strike on my trip research record. We kind of centered our whole late afternoon/early evening around this tour though, which is why we returned to Viejo San Juan for dinner. This was a good meal, followed by a fun bar. If we weren’t going home the next day and tired from a week of traveling, I think we could’ve marched up and down Calle de San Sebastían and fallen in love with the bar scene.

Day 7 – WIP

Day 1, Sunday

• Land in San Juan at 8:15pm
• Stay: Airbnb in Santurce by the Loíza neighborhood

Day 2, Monday

• Breakfast: La Coffeetera – skip
• Explore Viejo San Juan
• Lunch: Salty Señorita Old San Juan – skip
  • Yeah, it sounds like a tourist trap, but it was our only option with so many things closed or packed. The food was horrible.
• Dinner/Drinks: La Pachanga, Calle Loíza – recommend

Day 3, Tuesday

• Brunch: Restaurant El Popular – recommend
  • My favorite mofongo of the trip. When we were grumpy from a hot, blackout morning, this hit the spot.
• Explore and listen to live music in La Placita
• Chill at the Laguna del Condado Profesor Jaime Benítez Rexach National Park
• Go to the beach in Condado – no power needed
• Dinner: Order Dipea Wings and dine by Airbnb candlelight – recommend
• New Year’s Eve: Elevado – skip in other circumstances

Day 4, Wednesday

• Shop along Calle Loíza: Electroshock – recommend
• Brunch: Juliu’s Restaurant and Grill – skip
• Beach day: drink out of pineapples
• Mid-day drink: Oasis Tapas & Lounge – skip
• Dinner: Ruben Café Condado – skip
• Explore La Placita at night for live music and karaoke
• Stay: Condado Palm Inn San Juan, Tapestry Collection by Hilton – recommend

Day 5, Thursday

• Breakfast: Pinky’s Condado – recommend
• Day Trip: El Yunque Rainforest and Luquillo Beach tour
• Sunset on the beach
• Dinner: 1950 Condado – skip
• Drinks: The Atlantic at the Tryst

Day 6, Friday

• Brunch: Chocobar Cortés Condado – skip
• Explore Viejo San Juan (again)
• Rum Tasting: Scryer Rum – skip
• Dinner: Casa Luna Restaurant – recommend
• Drinks: La Sombrilla Rosa – recommend; gay bar!

Day 7, Saturday

• Travelled back to DC for a snow day – whiplash!
• 5:30am flight to DC

Book: How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr

This is one of the best non-fiction books I read in 2025. The American education system does a wonderful magic trick of teaching about the world’s greatest empires – Rome, Persia, Britain – but never letting its children think they live in an empire of their own. This book marches through time, describing the main tools, places, and events that make up the empire story. There are several chapters about the Puerto Rico story – Roosevelt and the Spanish American War, unethical medical testing on inhabitants, revolution, and a 1954 attack on the Capitol come to mind. Reading this history made for a richer experience, like knowing who the airport is named after (Luis Muñoz Marín) and imagining the scenes of the police shooting over a hundred bullets into Pedro Albizu Campos’ home on Calle San Sebastián in Old San Juan.