Laptop Lifestyle - Puerto Rico

Growing up I always wanted to work for myself because that's what I saw growing up. My dad had his own business and I liked the time freedom that he had.

Around the age of 23, I made that a reality. I had been working in a financial institution with benefits and 2 weeks paid vacation - woooo - while I was also building up my personal training and health business - and due to repeated anxiety attacks at my desk job, I decided to leave it and pursue my fitness career full time. NO safety net. If I didn't work, I didn't get paid. And I was perfectly fine with that.

I loved it and in my first year made triple my salary and took 6 weeks vacation (with no pay).  

Fast forward to the year 2022 and I've been experimenting with leading a laptop lifestyle for the past 5 years.  Over the course of these blogs, I'll fill you in on the lessons learned.

Puerto Rico Laptop Lifestyle March 2022

I'm not on vacation, I'm on a change of location. Therefore I'm still working but I'm surrounded by beaches and palm trees instead of snow and ice!!

This is a stunning view of Condado. Walk over the bridge towards Old San Juan and be adventurous. You will find a running track and lots of options for water activities. I'm a walking kind of girl myself.

The running track has a make shift gym at the side which I discovered while Glen was running around the track. 

Glen, my husband, says San Juan is like South Beach in the late eighties and if you're like me I have no idea what that is so let me elaborate. It's a mix of high end hotels and fancy restaurants beside a dilapidated building or a cheap restaurant.

Yes, you will see a lot of roosters!!

 The VIBE

The area of Condado, where we have stayed on numerous occasions, is a beautiful peninsula surrounded by a estuary and the ocean. The are many beautiful small beaches scattered around the area which I explore when I am not working.  

The vibe is laid back and happy. There are always people out on the streets jogging, walking, scootering, walking their dogs, laughing, bands playing and people smiling.

Where to stay

We prefer to stay in Airbnb's but have stayed at the Olive Boutique hotel in the Condado area which offers unique rooms and a rooftop bar with an amazing view. They have an adjacent building with a beautiful rooftop swimming pool.

Eating Out - A girls' gotta eat

For fancier restaurants you can head to 1919 which is located in the Vanderbilt hotel  which is a luxurious hotel featuring 4 restaurants, beautiful pools and bathing decks.

There are many high end restaurants but the ones we have eaten at include Mario Pagan, Sartell and Jose Enrique. You must make reservations for all of these places.

Mario Pagan - merges international dishes with local products. Delicious food in a simple setting.  These are  some bites that we enjoyed. DELISH!!!

Jose Enrique - located in a very non descriptive building, but the food is very good.

1919 - located in the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is a price fixed menu offering very tasty food. This is the Duck Ravioli that I enjoyed as one of my courses.

Santaella - Chic restaurant serving tapas, mains & creative cocktails in an industrial-style space.

Lote 23 - a food park with hipster vibes which offers amazing foods and drinks in airstream trailers and huts. Great place to go as there is so much variety. It's hit and miss as to what will be open, so be ready for an adventure. I love Bergers and the Immune Tea. 

La Marqueta - amazing view with open air dining and drinking. Lots of different choices to tantalize your tastebuds. https://lamarquetapr.com/about-us/ 

Crush - KK, I've got to have my smoothies and if you do too, head to Crush!!  I'm stuck on their detox green smoothie - delicious and refreshing. 

There are A LOT of restaurants to visit. Be adventurous or check out the ones above.

What I learned about my laptop lifestyle on this trip. 

You can teach and do your job anywhere!! My tablet is leaning against a cement wall by the pool at the first Airbnb we stayed at.  BEWARE - don't let your table and phone over heat. One of my classes got cut short when my phone (that I was using to hot spot to my table) overheated. Won't make that mistake again!!!

Well, I'm at the tail end of being away for a month and I've moved around a few times so what I've realized is that  I need a smaller laptop!!! I've got an HP from 2017 and I love it but it's big and I don't have a case for it so I wrap it in my scarf to protect it while travelling but it's painful to keep taking it in and out of my bag going through security at the airports.  

What I do love is that I also have a tablet and a phone and I can pretty much do everything on those 2 things, but I do like my laptop for writing blog posts and lengthy emails.

I also know how important it is for me to have more than one device in case of low battery and I need my table to record my classes and see people.

Also, before I was in Puerto Rico, I was in Florida first, and I got a pre-paid phone card from AT&T for $40 with unlimited call and text and 15GB of data. This has been so freeing as before I was using my CDN plan and it was getting expensive. 

It's the little things that can make a big difference. So that's it for now. Let me know if you are leading a laptop lifestyle and what it is or maybe you are just starting to dream of living one.