Puerto Rico and the Break I Needed

I hope everyone can say their honeymoon was perfect. I sure can. As one who can sometimes be a teensy bit of a perfectionist (don't roll your eyes at me!), I honestly couldn't have planned a better vacation.

let's live here

I had a seven-month wedding engagement and delegating is not one of my strengths, so the vast majority of wedding planning and projects fell to me, with my fiancé and mom helping out when I allowed it. I'm not complaining, though; goals, projects, to-do lists, deadlines…these are my forte. I thrived during those seven months.

But let's be real: after months of diy blogs and deadlines, shopping trips and spreadsheets, thank-you notes and late nights, whiteboards covered in scribbles and sticky-notes––a girl (and probably everyone around her) needs a break.

DESTINATION: PUERTO RICO

I had never considered visiting Puerto Rico and that's part of what made it so perfect: because I didn't know anything about it––its history, geography, attractions––I didn't feel any pressure to go, see, and experience anything. I didn't feel any pressure at all. (In contrast, if we went to, say, Italy for our honeymoon, it would've been crammed with reference books and rants about the brilliance of Brunelleschi, along with lists of necessary destinations and expenses. My poor husband and I would've had no rest.)

So with a handful of travel pamphlets tucked into our backpacks, we stepped off the plane late on a humid Puerto Rican night. Our rental car wheezed like a wind-up toy as we navigated the dark roads, both of us laughing over a hilarious checklist of crazy things to look for while driving in Puerto Rico (It was totally accurate, btw!).

We had a condo on the 21st floor, which included an equipped kitchen, a balcony overlooking the ocean, aaaand a laundry room, plus plenty of beach and pool gear! How perfect is that?! (Disclaimer: normally I wouldn't really care about having a kitchen––except to keep ice cream in the freezer––but when you're married to a chef, kitchens become a great asset.)

yes, this wife has scored big time

Throughout our week in Puerto Rico, I perpetually basked in the blissful feeling each day of knowing I didn't have to do…anything. What a change of pace after the wedding! My life went from hectic to a holiday. Each day we might wander down to the beach or the pool, go snorkeling, spend a while dozing in the lawn chairs, go back to the condo to eat and lounge on the balcony. Each evening our weather app projected rain for the following day, and each morning we awoke to sunshine. Everything was close-by, from our church to the grocery store to the rainforest.

That's not to say we didn't do anything in Puerto Rico.

Blake has always wanted to see a bioluminescent bay, where the water is said to sparkle and glow. This is caused by organisms in the water, which, when stirred, light up. We found a tour company online and plugged their address into our GPS (a futile act, since not once did our GPS take us to the correct location and we always had to drive around for a while before finding our destination). I was skeptical of our probability of seeing the bioluminescence––the pictures online were clearly taken with a long exposure––but, as dusk approached, I dutifully geared up in my life-vest and slogged through thigh-deep harbor water (just don't think about it) in order to scramble––gracefully––into our kayak.

day four of no makeup (and he still loves me!?)

following the pink glow sticks was not so easy for some

The instructions were basic: listen to your partner and follow the kayaks with pink glow sticks. We trailed our guide through the harbor, then wound through a mangrove swamp slashed with shadows, eventually emerging out into the bay just as the moon rose. Our guides spent a while attempting to amuse us, while I attempted to stay clear of my fellow explorers, who––despite the fact that we were, like, not supposed to be moving, still managed to keep running into each other––and Blake kept splashing the water, in hopes of seeing the lights.

Eventually, he did.

I didn't have my camera, and my phone couldn't capture anything in the dark, but the best way I'd describe the bioluminescence is like sparks floating through the water. Or little fireflies. They lit up wherever you touched the water, streaming out behind each kayak.

Overall, the whole week was amazing: a perfect blend of laid-back lounging, easy-going adventuring, and fabulous food. The days were bright and breezy while each night, the wind would stretch the clouds out over the ocean, causing our curtains to sway. The crickets would begin to hum while the waves rolled across the sand. And, some nights, you could hear the thunder murmuring quietly in the distance.

on our way home with my new hoodie and husband