“we listened to the rain and the insects and the frogs and the birds and the ocean”

Photos shot on film from my three days in paradise at The St. Regis Bahia, Puerto Rico. This trip ended up being a very last minute girl’s trip with my sister, our cousin Miggy and our longtime friend Deb. What I remember the most from this trip is the amount of laughs we all shared. We endlessly tickled each others feathers until our stomachs hurt, and it was absolutely the best feeling ever. Three days away from work and priorities. My shoulders are no longer burnt from that strong Caribbean sun, but I still have the tan to remember it all by.

The property at The St. Regis Bahia is really quite special. I’ve been to San Juan twice before. The first time was many years ago with Puerto Rico tourism, which really allowed me to hit up some of the really important cultural aspects of the island like the history of Old San Juan, the start of reggae-ton, and the biodiversity of El Yunque rainforest. Here at Bahia, we were in between San Juan and El Yunque, and this little paradise was a quiet, calm escape; a very different part of Puerto Rico. The grounds were full of green and the air was heavy with moisture. All of it reminding you at every moment of all that is living all around us there. The days and nights were full of nature sounds, and we came to look forward to the daily 5pm tropical rainfall, which came down with such force and such gracefulness, and at such a time perfect to recharge before dinner in our spacious and elegant ocean-view suites.

We didn’t get to explore outside of the property, but it is so large that we felt like we had a full adventure nonetheless. We really made the most of our three days there. We biked, hit some balls around on the tennis court, went to visit the animal shelter and play with some strays ready for new homes, we swam, we danced, we pampered ourselves at the spa, we ate with full appetites, we listened to the rain and the insects and the frogs and the birds and the ocean, we slept deeply. We allowed our minds to lighten up a bit. This trip’s purpose was to just think about all the things we have to do in the city and tell ourselves “we’ll get to that later.”

Thank you The St. Regis Bahia for inviting us to come have the full experience. And thank you to the amazing staff who welcomed us with friendly faces and conversation. We loved being there and hope to be back again one day!