I took a trip! The first one in a while. As I mentally prepped for being in new place and diving into new experiences, I set out to practice moving with intention. Below are a few ways that I worked to be present and with purpose while traveling through Puerto Rico. What are practices that you put in place to travel with intention?
Packing for the Trip
Traveling for me has always been a bittersweet experience. It offers an opportunity to break the routine and create space for different experiences and ways of existing in the world. At the same time, as someone that is deals with anxiety, newness can induce fear of the unknown and lack of control which can be deeply unsettling for me. One of the ways I mitigate this is by packing in ways that support my wellbeing and encourage the practice of values that I hold close. My go-to strategies I took on while were 1) packing with weight in mind. I get physically tired easily and I know that the weight of my luggage can feed into the exhaustion so I packed lightly. I selected items and clothes that were multi-use and compact. Check out this blog for tips on how to pack for sustainability. 2) packing for sustainability. Where possible I packed to be able to reduce the waste that comes with travel. Easy wins for sustainability include: using a durable water bottle and packing reusable toiletries.
Learning the Local History
As we moved through Puerto Rico we made an intentional effort to connect with people and to learn more about the regional histories of Puerto Rico. During travel it can be so easy to disconnect from others, however, it is when I have built connections with others that I have had the most meaningful travel experiences. For instance, one of our stops was Vieques. We were drawn to that area by the lure of the bioluminescent bay and beautiful beaches. During our trip we learned that this magical slice of paradise was once an agricultural powerhouse that supported thousands of people on Vieques and, more recently, the dumping site of the US Navy. The legacy of environmental destruction, specifically by the military, has created highly polluted areas on the island. With natural disasters, like Hurricane Maria of 2017, it's not hard to imagine the affect these legacies and disaster capitalism can have on the communities of Vieques.
By this same token, we learned the pride that many in Puerto Rico have for Bad Bunny. Como nos dijo la Paola, our car rental service representative, "Bad Bunny es como nuestro himno." It was a beautiful experience to see blast their music to full volume, making rounds through the block, singing out aloud to "tu no eres bebecita, eres bebesota!" Although these two experiences were things we picked up through observation, but when told through the people themselves, it breathed so much more life into the experiences.
Supporting Local Artists & Makers
Finally, the last practice I held close was supporting the local economy of Puerto Rico by buying directly from the people. This included everything from housing, gifts, food -- everything. Here are some recommendations for buying local:
Puerto Rican Art & Crafts - Located in Old San Juan
Artisan Forest - Located in El Yunque
Caribbean Trading Company - Located in El Yunque
Crab Island Rum - Located in Vieques
Flore.c - Can be found in select stores including Carribean Trading Company
Nori Joyeria - Can be found in the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico
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