38. Puerto Rico

To be honest I wasn't sure if I would add this journey to my list. When I initially set out to do a forty before forty, I never thought that a family vacation would be one of the destinations or something I would want to write about. But since I've started this journey I have had some unexpected challenges. I of course know that traveling the world is not cheap, and trying to fund it on a $12 dollar an hour hotel job was never going to be easy. But as I've written before I felt stuck. All I want to do is travel, and write and be happy. I hated being confined to the hotel everyday. Not because I didn't enjoy the job or the people I worked with, but talking with guests as they come and go became more challenging than I thought it would be. And of course making less than half of what I was making 6 months before was no picnic either. I just wanted to make enough money to keep the lifestyle I was used to.

Turns out that job doesn't exist. Or at least not in the parameters I was looking for it in. Tired of retail, killing myself in food service, I needed an office. I needed benefits and I needed $25 an hour (at least). But, I have no skills outside of retail and food service, and while I have a degree it's in English, not business. Then, along came insurance. Which seemed like a piece of cake. I have a winning personality, and could sell water to a duck. Except for apparently I can't, and now I'm more stressed than I was a year ago, when I lost my job and decided not to find a new one right away. Meanwhile, my family is planning a trip to the Island of Puerto Rico. Somewhere I've always wanted to go. And having missed last years trip, I was determined to make this one. I think my mom knew I was stressed, and honestly the woman is a saint. Not many parents would be so forgiving of their 37 year old siphoning their hard earned money from them on a wish and a dream. And as it became clearer to me that insurance was not going to be the gig I thought it would be she made it clear that I was not to stress about money woes while we were away.

And that's why I've included this trip here. It honestly could have been a trip to Lake Winnie, and I would have included it on this list. I love being a solo traveler. I love making my own plans and doing things my way, and going to museums and art galleries and castles and exploring places I want to explore. I like eating what I want to eat, or deciding to spend the day sleeping in my room instead of feeling the need to always be on. When you travel with others you have to concede and take their wants and needs into consideration. I am a selfish traveler and I own this. But traveling with family that loves you, though they can be irksome, is quite the journey. You learn new things about yourself and the people you surround yourself with. You sometimes fight and get on each others nerves but then you also discover bioluminescent plankton in a bay at 10 o'clock at night, and you realize there's such things as sand flea bites that will take 3 to 6 business days to stop itching. You watch your 66 year old mother discover plantains and decide they are much "different" to the banana's she despises. And you realize this was a trip you definitely needed to add to your bucket list of sorts. I might not know what turns my life will take in the next couple of years, but I'm glad I took the time out to enjoy all the things the Island and its people had to share with me and my family.