San Juan Reflections

Now that one of Donald Trump's surrogates called Puerto Rico a "Floating pile of garbage"- the people you surround yourself with should tell you everything you need to know about someone. Berating Puerto Rico for a cheap joke borders on racist.

I had an opportunity to fly to San Juan on Award Miles. It cost half the miles of a usual trip. I adjusted my work schedule to take a couple more days and not use vacation time. Best of all, the hotel was comped.

Usually when I stayed at a hotel represented by my company there was a small fee. Always less than rack rates. About sixty dollars per night. Hotels wanted agents to visit their properties. It was an experience and for the remainder of my tenure I recommended the ESJ Towers.

It was a nice property right on the beach. Days were spent at the beach or in the swimming pool. At the pool there was a man working on a laptop. He was finishing a project while enjoying the sun.

He liked travel. Sounds like someone I would want to know. This might have been hybrid work. I never officially became a business traveler. By visiting properties I represented on the reservations side I called myself a "Monkey Business Traveler."

I wasn't there in an official capacity. It helped my job, more than the excitement of travel does that normally. What the working man said joking has resonated ever since. "We work so we can travel."

That's a good reason to make money. There are casinos in San Juan. They are not gaudy like American casinos. One of the locals told me about the Puerto Rican baseball league. They play in the fall and some players go to the Major Leagues.

Old San Juan would be a good location for a James Bond movie. He never has chases on wide roads. It's an historic area and exotic. If they ever make another James Bond movie. A lot of the area looks like Florida.

The presence of Publix could have told you that. With a flight on award miles, a comped hotel and reasonably priced meals- this trip was less expensive than staying home. It is a little silly when people applaud when the plane lands in San Juan.

It's a tradition. The only other time I heard applause on an airplane was en route to Miami. When they announced the temperature in February- the warmth was not limited to the weather.

I met a good crowd in Miami. The people encountered in San Juan were rather nice as well. There is an equality about swimming in the ocean that leads others to socialize. Puerto Rico was a really nice island to visit. There have been debates about making it a state. Pros and cons abound- it is a beautiful place many will recall and revisit long after an insult comedian fades into deserved obscurity.