Tropical Family Vacation
Hey all welcome back to my blog! And thank you for visiting my
website. If you follow me on social media then you know by now my kids and I
went on a trip recently. I received a few questions prior to and after the trip
so I wanted to write a complete blog answering all questions.
Whenever I'm planning
something, I don't do everything all at once, to keep myself from getting
overwhelmed financially. In February I saw that Southwest Airlines had a great
promotion going to a variety of destinations, but I chose Puerto Rico. Growing
up I wanted to spend my summers in a Spanish speaking country; soaking up the
culture and living like a native. Years of “adulting” somehow allowed me to
forget my desire to live such a life until recently. I knew I wanted to take
family vacations and being that it would just be my two children and I, I
wanted to ensure I was going somewhere safe. I had heard a few things about
Airbnb and decided to book a place to stay through them. I booked a small
cottage like two bedroom two bath home in the city of San Juan for a great
price. We spent five and a half days there. I rented a car from Dollar, and I
will never ever rent a car in another country again. Unlike most rental car
companies, I was charged additional fees for tires and maintenance of the car.
I opted out of getting the toll road pass, I figured if I would do what I do in
the states, find an alternative route. Although the roads are similar to the
U.S. the roads in P.R. are still not what I’m use to driving on. Many of the
traffic lights were not working, more than likely due to Hurricane Irma, which
makes it a bit scary if you don’t know what you’re doing. Most places downtown,
similar to our downtown areas in state, require paid parking so be prepared for
that. It was nice being able to get up and go but the next time I travel I’m
using Uber. I calculated that Uber would be more affordable to use. My kids and
I went shopping at the local Walmart for groceries and we cooked majority of
the time that we were there. We went to the local children’s museum in
Carolina, Museo de Carolina, and let me tell you it was so far the best museum
that my children and I have ever gone to. It didn’t cost much to get in and
explore, parking is $3. We went to Escambron Beach in San Juan, I honestly
thought we would have more beach days, but it didn’t go that way. Every day was
filled with something so I’m not complaining at all lol. On Sunday we went to a
church located in Guaynabo, PR which was about 30 minutes from San Juan. 
On our second to last day (which was Monday) in PR my kids and I went to Old San Juan, I almost booked a
tour but I figured we could tour the city for ourselves and that we did! Bear
in mind that you need to find a parking garage, while at the 1st
fort I learned the hard way with a parking violation. I tried to get it
dismissed but it didn’t work lol, so I went on to see the 2nd fort. The
forts in Old San Juan are breathtaking! The walking is vigorous but my goodness
it was worth of every minute of huffing and puffing. While we were leaving the
2nd fort to go back to our Airbnb we met another mother and her two
children. They gave us their kites; we spoke for a while and ended up having
dinner together. That night was honestly the only night that we actually ate
authentic Puerto Rican food, which we enjoyed immensely. On our last day we spent
most of our day sitting in the airport waiting for our flight, if I could do
that day different I would have checked our bags, took an Uber to the mall and
then went back to the airport and caught our flight home. My kids and I had an
amazing time, I’m so looking forward to taking more vacations as a family and
as an individual. 
Thanks for reading, check out my previous posts and check out the store page!
Stay Blessed,
Marie J. Francois