Author: RaShonda

This blog was created to share my tips and experiences as it relates to travel. Follow me on this journey.

Sensational San Juan

On By RaShondaIn travel tipsLeave a comment

Happy 4th of July! It’s been nearly five years and hubby and I took our first kid-free long weekend getaway together. We hadn’t been to Puerto Rico since our first wedding anniversary so it was great to be back. A little mishap between my husband and our four-year-old left hubby with a broken nose, but we didn’t let that ruin our trip.

So anywho, we literally ate and drank our way around San Juan. Started with lunch at Raices, it’s a tourist trap but the mojitos and mofongo never disappoint. Decided to try something different and ordered the red snapper with creole sauce mofongo and like I said before it always lives up to expectations.

After lunch we enjoyed walking around downtown San Juan and taking in the sights. It hadn’t changed much from our last trip in 2015.

Dinner at Mario Pagán Restaurant was a nice treat. It was sophisticated and intimate, but not at all stuffy. After reading the reviews, I knew I had to try the lobster for my entree and chocolate soufflé for dessert. Both were phenomenal. They also had a nice selection of cocktails. Can’t forget to mention the service it was top notch.

We tried to keep the party going because we rarely have kid-free time, especially an entire weekend, so we wanted to make the most of it. Unfortunately, the Condado area wouldn’t let us be great. We tried a few places and one place said they were at capacity (looking at you STK – the place was empty) or you had to be a hotel guest. It was 10:30pm and we had given up and hopped into an Uber to head back to our hotel.

We ended up chatting with our driver, between him loudly singing Bad Bunny songs, and he told us we needed to check out La Placita, which is local market by day and party scene by night. Apparently, it’s the spot on Fridays so we told him to take us there. If you want to bar hop, people watch and spend the night dancing in the street, this is the place to go.

We found a restaurant that had seating outside, ordered more drinks and enjoyed taking in the sights. The people watching was A+, everyone from college kids to cougars in their club gear were out and about.

Needless to say we had a great day one in San Juan.

First Family Vacation to “One Happy Island”

On By RaShondaIn travel tipsLeave a comment

As I mentioned in my previous post, we wanted to take baby on his first vacation to some place that was child-friendly and not too long of a flight.

Since we were paying with American Airline miles, it had to be one of their destinations, fortunately AA is the largest airline so the options were basically endless. I ended up narrowing down our options to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, aka the ABC Islands. When it came down to it and after reading countless reviews, while Aruba is the most touristy of the bunch, they had the best and most affordable AirBnB options.

Traveling with a baby definitely adds a new element to finding the right accommodations. We knew we wanted a nice and quiet place, with a full kitchen, a pool, and easy access to the beach, Continue reading “First Family Vacation to “One Happy Island”” →

The Luck of the Irish: St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin

On By RaShondaIn travel tipsLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since going to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. KLM was offering a great deal on flights from DC to Dublin, tickets were only around $300 roundtrip, so we jumped right on it.

Before going on our trip people tried to convince us that Irish people don’t celebrate St. Paddy’s Day like we do in the US. Lies. While it originally wasn’t a big drinking holiday, over the last few decades it’s grown and people from around the world gather there in their finest green, white, and orange to imbibe with the best of them. Also important to remember, it’s St. Paddy’s Day not St. Patty’s Day, I learned this years ago but many in the US haven’t caught on.

Visiting Ireland had been on my list for years ever since seeing a special on their famous castles, namely Ashford and Dromoland. Unfortunately, because our time was limited, we decided to focus on Dublin, with a day trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. I love how cheap flights are once you get to Europe. Our roundtrip flight on Ryanair from Dublin to Edinburgh was under 30 € and it was just over an hour each way. Continue reading “The Luck of the Irish: St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin” →

Who Says You Can’t Travel With a Baby?

On By RaShondaIn family travel, travel tips1 Comment

FullSizeRenderThere are a number of mommy bloggers and Instagrammers who make traveling with babies and children look so easy. They are truly my inspiration and serve as a constant reminder that having a baby shouldn’t put an end to exploring the world.

As soon as I had baby’s birth certificate in hand, I submitted his US Passport application and it arrived less than 3 weeks later, via routine delivery. Literally the day it arrived, I completed the online Global Entry application and scheduled the interview for less than a week later. In case you’re wondering, yes babies still have to complete the “interview process” and take a photo for the Global Entry card even when they’re asleep. LOL. Continue reading “Who Says You Can’t Travel With a Baby?” →

2017 Was a Blur, But I’m Back!

On By RaShondaIn international travel, travel tipsLeave a comment

I know it’s been a while, but hey life and babies happen. In November, my husband and I welcomed a bouncing baby boy. He’s now 12 weeks old and has been keeping me very busy.

It has always amazed me how much people I know seem to change once they have children. They go from being very sociable to practically becoming hermits. They barely leave the house, so what reason would they have to travel out-of-state or across the world, but to each its own.

Travel is a part of who I am so I knew having a baby wouldn’t stop that. In fact, last year while pregnant I traveled to Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Chile, Panama, and Greece along with some domestic travel. Continue reading “2017 Was a Blur, But I’m Back!” →

Chillin in Chile

On By RaShondaIn travel tipsLeave a comment

Being that I’m the Queen of finding flight deals, when I heard there were flights from Washington, D.C. to Santiago de Chile for $181 round trip, I jumped at the opportunity. We ended up getting our flights for a little over $200 and I reserved exit row seats on Copa Airlines for no additional fee.

I’d flown Copa before last year when I went to Guatemala for a whopping $124 so I already knew what to expect. They are part of Star Alliance, not a low-cost carrier, they just seemed to offered some extremely low fares to specific destinations every once in a while. Quick tip for if you’re seated in an exit row, be prepared for them to ask you if you speak Spanish. Even if you don’t, just say un poco (which means a little or a bit). As long as you can understand basic Spanish they usually don’t have a problem, we’ve yet to be booted from our exit row seats unlike people who flat out said they didn’t speak Spanish. Continue reading “Chillin in Chile” →

United: 99 Problems and Customer Service is #1

On By RaShondaIn travel tips1 Comment

Over the past few days, everyone, I mean everyone, has been talking about the dreadful experience one passenger had while seated on a United Airlines flight leaving out of Chicago O’Hare. By now, everyone has seen the horrifying video and disturbing photos. I’m sure Pepsi and Kendall Jenner are happy this incident took the spotlight off of them.

Still can’t believe it took United’s CEO days to issue an apology after he stood firm that what had occurred on that flight was not a problem. It took backlash from literally millions of people and losing around $950M in market value for him to see the error of his ways and finally apologize to this poor man. Continue reading “United: 99 Problems and Customer Service is #1” →

My Secret to Packing Light

On By RaShondaIn travel tips5 Comments

packlightOver the past ten years, I can literally count on my fingers the number of times I’ve checked a bag. It all started in 2005 when I went to Spain with my parents after Business School.

I packed a carry-on with an outfit and some toiletries for the flight and checked a large suitcase for our 2 week trip full of my cutest outfits with all the shoes and accessories to match. We arrived at baggage claim with our group and I waited and waited, no bag. Continue reading “My Secret to Packing Light” →