Hi babblers! The last few weeks I’ve been reminiscing on my 2 week solo trip in Puerto Rico that I did this time last year. Puerto Rico has been on my mind a lot because of the ongoing water crisis the island is experiencing. This past July (2026) was the driest month the island experienced in the last 120 years. The drought resulted in the governor declaring a state of emergency and implemented water rationing in August causing 180,000 homes to go without water for 48 hours on and off. This is still continuing to today, among record breaking heat, and citizens are still forced to pay for water even when they aren’t receiving it. The water crisis is not just due to the drought. Like other places around the world, infrastructure negligence, colonization, and authorities ignoring climate scientist warnings are to blame.

Puerto Rico is magical and probably my favorite place to travel to. But we can’t ignore that while hotels and large resorts are able to pump fresh water in and out daily, indigenous Puerto Ricans are left desolate and paying a price for other people’s failures. In the next few decades droughts like this is the Caribbean will only become more frequent. Places like the Puerto Rico or Nepal have been and will continue to be the first to experience the deadly results of climate change, despite them being the least contributors to global warming.

I wanted to share some of the magic and beauty of the island, while also talking about the real shit going on. Please consider donating to these Puerto Rican organizations I’ve listed for you and informing yourself on the issues Puerto Rico is facing with the references I’ve included:

Start of original travel diary, first posted on substack:

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Hi lovelies! It’s me back from Puerto Rico still tan and reliving my trip a couple weeks later. Doing something I haven’t done yet on substack, we’ve got a travel diary. At first I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach documenting this trip. But on the 2nd day I decided that I didn’t want to clip everything together and put a track under, or just do pictures. I wanted you to see and hear exactly what I was, as if you were a fairy on my shoulder ; ) Below are mostly videos, a couple pictures, and a storytime for you all recapping my favorite part of my trip. I’ve broken things down into sections in attempt to keep it organized, let me know if this is something you like and if I should keep doing it!

I HAVE A STORY TO TELL YOU…

*you can listen while scrolling!*

BREAKFAST!

Everyday except for one, I made and ate breakfast in my room. (That was also the only time I ate out the whole trip) My budget was spent on my accommodations and getting there, which pretty much meant some variety of eggs and toast for breakfast every day. And always COFFEE! Unless it was raining I ate breakfast outside on the balcony, usually as close to the door as I could to attempt to stay cool and in the shade. As soon as the sun was up she was bright and hot!!!!

My one breakfast I did eat out was at Uma’s. (Special because that was what I called my grandmother.) I had french toast and an iced latte right on the beach at Jobos. This was about a 15 minute walk from where I was staying. You could walk the beach or walk through town, I preferred the beach because it was sooo hot if you weren’t near the water.

Breakfast in bed one day, I made an egg sandwich on my leftover french toast from Uma’s! I also watched Shrek while I ate my breakfast in bed 🙂

MY ROOM & VIEW!

I am so so blessed to have found the boutique hotel I was able to stay at. If you want more info message me! I was in a studio room, with a beautiful balcony and view. A little kitchen for me to prepare all my food, and a great bathroom. Literally everything I could need.

Mountains to my back and the ocean to my front, completely surrounded by beauty! I wish I got more footage of the mountains when I walked around or would take a taxi to the grocery store, one second your in town the next in the jungle.

I was so close to the ocean literally just a walk down the path and I was there. Falling asleep to ocean sounds was a dream!

Made a mess of my little sanctuary but I couldn’t ask for a better place to spend 2 weeks!

THE BEACH!

I was in the Jobos beach area, the public beach was about a 15 minute walk from me. However, where I was staying had a private beach which is where I spent most of my time.

All to myself most days! I just had to take a short walk down the wooded path, over the sand hill, and boom here I was in my own paradise. The tide was so strong here and not the place to swim but I didn’t have to go far to be able to submerge myself and float a little. Swim and ocean safety first always, so I really wouldn’t go out too far here because I usually was completely alone!! (Swim where locals swim!)

Lots of shell collecting, reading, watching the waves, listening to podcasts and music while responsibly soaking up the sun. The UV was typically 11+, and I did burn my back pretty badly one day and had to take a few days off from the sun.

The beautiful Jobos beach! You can tell why this is the public beach because it’s much calmer and easier to swim at. Going out to the buoys I had to be on my tip toes yet the water was crystal clear. I wish I had a waterproof camera because I found so many colorful fish when I swam here

MY BEACH!

Clips from my favorite beach that I first discovered 3 years prior, this first video gives you an idea of what it was like to hike the coast to get there. And then I have some clips from when I made it!

Ancient creatures embedded in the rocks 🙂

Pisces LUNAR ECLIPSE!

One of the most magical parts of my trip was that I was there during a full moon, but not just any it was a Lunar Eclipse in Pisces. I felt so special to be at the ocean during this time, even though I couldn’t see the eclipse I definitely witnessed something special.

Walking the path in the woods at sunset. I was going to go at night but thank goodness I changed my mind because I completely forgot that it would be pitch black as soon as the sun went down. *see the end of this section*

The wooded path ends here at sandy hill, once on top there’s this cool structure to mark the spot and then there’s the ocean! In the video below you can hear my reaction to watching the sun set and the full moon rise on the opposite horizon. This picture quality does NOT do it justice. Maybe one of the most magnificent things I’ve ever seen.

Perfect visual of the moon in my room 🙂

Walk the path with me at night! Thank goodness it wasn’t until a couple days after this that the pack of wild dogs appeared or else I wouldn’t have been able to do this!

RAINY DAYS!

I was there during the height of rain and hurricane season. So a lot of my afternoons were spent inside watching the rainstorms. I figured out after 2 days that I had completely clear skies and hot sun till about 2-3pm and then the clouds rolled in fast and poured on and off through the rest of the evening and night. Sometimes it rained in the morning but usually by 9am, it was dry and hot outside again.

It’s still so bright outside even though it’s pouring. My balcony usually filled with a couple inches of rain by the time the sun went down.

LAST DAY!

My last day was so bittersweet. I wasn’t ready to go, but I knew it was time. I spent the morning like all others out on the balcony, journaling, pulling some tarot cards, and drinking my coffee.

I walked down to Jobos for the last day to get a proper swim in before I left. It was weird when I came down the public beach being surrounded by people after getting used to total isolation just a mile and a half down the beach. When I was here I was suddenly very aware that I was alone, aware of my body, and how I moved.

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh *snooki voice* It felt so surreal to be leaving.

Like I mentioned before the budget was tightest on food, I had some sort of variation of ground beef or chicken in white people taco form, or in pasta, or sandwich. Lunch was turkey/ham sandwich or a PBJ. Here’s my last meal 😢 watching my favs Lauren and Dr John dissect some true crime thing.

My parting words before I hopped in a taxi at midnight and waited at the airport for my 3am flight to Orlando, then another flight at 7am back to Detroit. It’s true even all this time later, I did leave a piece of me there. When I close my eyes I can feel the ocean lull me, I can hear the birds talking, and see the palms from my balcony. It’s imprinted on me. Just like my beach was 3 years ago. And I know I’ll come back, because I already did.

BACKGROUND NOISE

Here’s what I was listening to and keeping me company during the trip!

*NOTE: I have moved everything over to Quobuz and no longer pay for spotify but I’ve run into an issue figuring out how to embed from Quobuz, so I used spotify to be able to embed in this post. I’ll be working to figure that out so I can completely ditch it. But I just wanted to let you guys know that I’ve been using Quobuz for a couple weeks and it is FAR superior. It was super easy transferring my music library over too. Comment if you want more details!*

I was in a Mazzy mood from beginning to end. I feel like their music is the time and space between summer and fall and was the perfect backdrop for travel days and naps.

Of course my album of the year was in rotation. It felt surreal to listen to these songs thinking about how I’d listen to them in the spring daydreaming about being able to spend some time in Puerto Rico feeling like it was a wish that wouldn’t come true.

I discovered After this summer and I’m in love. The 2000s, almost disney channel movie style feels so nostalgic. And at the same time the lyrics deeply connect with me at this stage in my life. It feels like my inner child come to life.

Obviously songs referencing sea creatures was very on theme. But these two EPs combined are a perfect backdrop for a beach day. It’s vibey, but you can also tune it out as background noise and focus in on a book. Or listen to it while you power walk down the beach or through town feeling like a superstar.

My favorite ballet, I was really in a Giselle mood. Especially while reading or trying to get some more practical things off my to do list. Also, perfect to listen to while you tan at the beach.

I listened to this a lot towards the end of the trip, one of my favorite albums it creates such a whimsical atmosphere to add to the magic of where I was already.

Another favorite album of mine that I really can just keep on repeat and not get sick of. Heavy on travel days.

While I was on my trip the trailer for the new Wuthering Heights movie came out and along with it so much discourse, which I did participate in lol. I was so distraught by some peoples reactions and responses that I had to immediately listen to the audiobook since I didn’t have my hard copy and make sure I wasn’t the crazy one!

Where should we travel together next?

xoxo,
Ali Ann