Is it worth watching?

I saw a commercial for a car company a few years back that started off with, Someday your life will flash before your eyes. Make it worth watching! It really makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s what started this crazy journey? I feel sorry for my lovely bride at times. She could have had a normal quiet life in the mid-west of the US. Instead she married a knucklehead who wants to live everywhere in the world. She really has put up with a lot form me. I blame that commercial every chance I get. We have lived in Arizona, Washington DC, Wisconsin, Alaska and now Puerto Rico. It’s hard to believe we have held hands for over twenty years. She really is my best friend and my soul mate. I love her more than she will ever know.

Puerto Rico has become an incredible experience and a wonderful home. We have met wonderful people in every city we go and in every place we stop. On Sunday, we met two fantastic people in La Paraguara. They also moved to Puerto Rico to experience a different life. One of them told me that life is too short not to experience as much as you can, “You only get one shot!” That must have echoed in my head for several minutes. I wonder if he saw the same commercial.

La Paraguara is a unique seaside town on the south west side of Puerto Rico. The ocean is calm and the beaches are covered with immense mangrove forests. The town overlooks over thirty small islands with beautiful white sand beaches. As you drive over the hill into La Paraguara you find yourself in awe of the view. It is breathtaking. This town also offers tours to several small islands and trips to two separate Bio luminescent bays. Of course it has the normal tourist trap stores, bars and restaurants. It is far less commercial than other towns. The University of Puerto Rico has a research facility on one of those small islands. It would be a great place to live. The climate is very different. It is a lot less humid and more like a desert. It is one of my favorite towns so far.

Now back to that commercial. It has really caused a lot of thought provoking discussions in our house. I don’t even know what type of car it advertises. It doesn’t really matter. We always end up with this. Memories are all we really have. The money, houses, cars and other unbelievable items we continue to carry throughout our lives somehow fade. In the end, memories of family and friends are what we treasure most. Of course, I like the sights, museums and monuments but I always start off with, remember when we went to? Think about it. Most of your most memorable trips are because of the people that went with you or the people you met.

I will remember La Paraguara because of the two people we met there. They were both very positive and fun. They shared their adventure and stories. They welcomed us into their town and even had dinner with us. It is not coincidental that our thoughts of the town match how we feel about them.