I’ve mostly relaxed the last couple of days. At my age, when you travel for an extended period of time, it starts to wear on you.  Especially when it’s solo travel. There’s no one to help with the luggage, driving, or directions, and it’s stressful driving in Puerto Rico.

I took walks on the beach, swam in the pool, read, went out for dinner, and of course took photos.

Friday evening, I took an Uber to La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce in San Juan. There are lots of bars and restaurants in this area and it’s mostly pedestrian only. From my Airbnb it was only a 15-minute walk, but I think it’s best for a female solo traveler not to walk alone at night.

Uber has a new procedure that displays a four-digit pin on your phone. You give that to your driver before they take you on the trip. I asked the Uber driver about it and she said it’s a new safety precaution because a 30-year-old Uber driver had been murdered a few months ago. She also said a couple were walking in the Condado area of San Juan around 1:00 a.m. a few months ago.  They were robbed and the woman was raped. Her last words of caution were not to tell anyone I was alone. I said well that’s going to be difficult because people can see I’m by myself.

There was a significant police presence on different corners, I felt very safe. It was fun watching people dance and seeing all of the colorful buildings lit up.

I stayed for about 1 1/2 hours and had two drinks. I spoke with a Puerto Rican man for a while. We mostly talked about my travels on the island. I only spent $25, for the Uber rides and drinks.

There was some excitement last night, my Airbnb host called and said there was a tsunami advisory because of the large earthquake in the ocean above Honduras. It was canceled pretty quickly.

I changed my flight to leave this evening instead of Tuesday. I miss home.

Hasta la vista, baby  🇵🇷