Kayaking at Lake Chabot in California

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Puerto Rico

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Thanksgiving break this year took us to Puerto Rico. The island is bigger than Big Island in Hawaii, but small enough to cover in 4-5 days time. San Juan and areas near it are pretty busy, while places to the west are slightly less crowded.  Day 1: Old San Juan Old San Juan is a pretty, historic area with colorful houses and cobblestone streets. The balconies, the atmosphere and the friendly people reminded me of French Quarter in New Orleans. The streets are lined with great restaurants, cafes, salsa bars, souvenir shops and market squares. As you can see in the picture below, finding a parking spot in the city is impossible. A couple of public parking places are available though. All kinds of hotels exist in this area. If you like the regular American comforts there is a Sheraton. Most of the historic hotels and apartments (found on vrbo.com) are tiny and may not meet the typical American expectations. For lunch we tried some mofongos and pina coladas (we were on vac...
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My Favorite Things To Do in Washington D.C.

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I spent a significant amount of time in 2023 living in Washington D.C. While a lot of the year was spent on managing a steep learning curve at work, traveling to conferences and shuttling between Atlanta and DC, I managed to explore DC a little. I had visited DC a few times before, but living here gave me an opportunity to explore it in more depth. I absolutely loved taking the Metro everywhere. It reminded me of living in Mumbai and I felt comfortable and absolutely safe. I took the Metro at all odd hours, even taking the last one at midnight a few times and never felt unsafe. There are several advantages to using the Metro in DC. It connects different neighborhoods in DC very well. The few times that I took an Uber/Lyft, I was stuck in traffic for long enough to regret my decision. On the weekends the charge is a flat $2 each way, no matter how far or close you are traveling. So, it seemed like a no-brainer to use the Metro.  Safety tip:  When traveling by myself, I generall...
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