Our next vacation: Puerto Rico

How long did you think I could go without making plans for another vacation?

Five days, as it turned out. Five days after we got back from Spain, I booked our flights to Puerto Rico.

Originally, my plan had been to convince B that we should go to London and Rome for our next vacation. However, keeping up our recent European-vacation-every-three-months trend is not financially responsible in the long run, especially considering the monster tax bill that we paid this week, so to play it safe, I decided that we should give ourselves 6-7 months in which to build up the reserves before we go away.

(Interesting note--we filed on Wednesday, and our refund from the State--we owed Uncle Sam, but the state owed us--has already dropped into our account. I love it!)

Seven months out puts us in November, which happens to be the rainiest month in the year in Rome. Who knows about London--it's rainy all the time, and I suspect that November is not the cheeriest month for visiting the British isles.

I just can't deal with another rainy vacation. Let's recall--our last vacation was to a rainy Spain, and the vacation before was to Germany in the winter. I want a sunny and warm vacation, darn it! A vacation that does not require long underwear. The threat of a sunburn sounds almost appealing.

So I'm going to the Caribbean during hurricane season. What can I say, I live on the edge. If it rains, at least it will be warm.

The plans are underway. I've already made hotel reservations. We're staying in Old San Juan for four nights and the island of Vieques, located off the east coast of the island, for three nights. I'm sure my descriptions can't do justice to Vieques, since I've never visited, but it sounds like it's off the beaten path compared to most tropical destinations.

Puerto Rico has a different flavor, compared to our most recent vacation destinations. Therefore, I have created a top-ten list to explain why PR has earned its place as our next vacation destination.

1. It's part of the United States, so we don't need our passports and don't have to agonize over the best time to exchange money.
2. It features some of the oldest buildings in North America, some dating from the 1500s, so the island is full of history and culture.
3. It affords another opportunity to practice my mediocre Spanish skills. I plan to make flash cards so we can learn the names of common foods on the island. Perhaps on this vacation, B won't order tuna cubes when he thinks he's getting tacos (been there, done that--thank you, VIPS in Madrid).
4. We can fly there direct in 4 hours, and our 2 flights cost the same as 1 person's flight to Europe.
5. We haven't had a tropical vacation in over 3 years, and what better time for warmth than November?
6. Puerto Rico has El Yunque, the only rain forest in the United States. The Amazon, it is not, but since I've never seen the Amazon, I suspect I will be impressed.
7. In Vieques, we have a legitimate chance of sitting on a beach all by ourselves, tropical drinks optional.
8. Speaking of tropical drinks, the pina colada was created in Puerto Rico.
9. San Juan's weather forecast has been delivered to B's iPhone for six months now, and we want to find out for ourselves if it's as awesome as advertised.
10. The time zone change is just one hour, which means NO JET LAG!