The End

Blogging in Cambodia

My six-month sabbatical has come to an end.  I have been back at work for a month now, and struggling to find the time to sit and type my final blogs from our last trip.

I can't say that I am excited about the office.  However, I think I am good at what I do and am happy to share my twenty-five years of legal experience with clients that appreciate my skills and dedication.

I must praise my partners at Peacock Keller for the sabbatical program which has been in place for over a decade now.  Chuck Keller, a former president of Rotary International, told me how he had met a lawyer from a small firm out west that was committed to allowing its partners to perform mission work.  The remaining partners would pay the salary of the partner who took a leave of absence for service, knowing that the other partners would support him when it was his turn.  From that concept, our sabbatical program was born.

Each partner in our firm tailored his or her sabbatical to meet their individual needs.  Since my husband and I were recent "empty nesters" and he travels frequently for business reasons, it made sense for me to fill my sabbatical with travel.  I think my husband enjoyed my company and I know I enjoyed seeing firsthand what he does for a living.

Our travels also afforded me the opportunity to learn about new cultures and see famous destinations and important sites.  I made it to the top ten art museums in the world (See my blog about Madrid and Los Angeles), one of the best beaches in the world (See my blog on Culebra) and I loved Siem Reap which was recently voted the second best travel destination in the world by Trip Advisor.Top Travel Destinations 2015

Sabbatical was also a time for me to see family and friends in faraway places.  I was overwhelmed by the generosity of all of those whom we went to visit.  In six months I felt like I had a lifetime of catching up with acquaintances old and new.

Finally, my sabbatical was a time for me to be myself.  For once I wasn't a lawyer, a mother or even a community volunteer.  I had no responsibilities and was just a happy, free-spirited individual who didn't even bother to blow-dry her curly hair.  Here is a picture of me prior to sabbatical, and then Sabbatical Sue snorkeling in the Florida Keys.  It was a glorious six months that I will never forget!

Camping in Culebra, Take Two

Earlier in my sabbatical, my husband took me to the beautiful island of Culebra, Puerto Rico…to go camping.  Without much of a grumble, I survived.  (See my blog on camping in Culebra.)

Since that time, the rankings were published and Culebra's Flamenco Beach was voted one of the top ten beaches in the World!  Since we decided to return to Puerto Rico for our couples trip, it was agreed that we had to take the gang to this remote island and newly famous beach which was the only beach in U.S. territories to make the top ten.Best Beaches in the World

Our numbers were constantly changing, but at the crack of dawn on a Monday morning 10 brave and slightly hungover souls embarked on the journey from Isla Verde to Flamenco Beach.  With one rental minivan and one cabbie van, we made the one hour trek to the town of Fajardo.  At the port, we purchased our $2.25 tickets for the ferry ride to Culebra.  The ferry has no open-air seating and we could not all find seats to sit together in the cabin.  Some complained that the ride was a little rough and had witnessed several around them getting sick.  Although I am prone to motion sickness, I was luckily seated in a steadier area where the waves lulled us gently back and forth until just about every passenger had fallen asleep.

The trip lasted a little over an hour and we were all happy to disembark at the tiny little village in Culebra.  As we tried to make a plan, a low hanging cloud burst into a downpour.  Some of us dashed for a cab while the others waited for our detailed organizer, Mark, to retrieve our rental six-passenger deluxe golf cart as our mode of island transportation.

By the time we arrived at our Flamenco Beach villa, the rain subsided and everyone was happy to put their toes in the sand.  We walked to the beach kiosks for some sandwiches and then spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and marveling at how different Flamenco Beach was from Isla Verde beach across the way.  Flamenco Beach is a half moon bay with beautiful white sand and rolling waves made for bodysurfing.  Our villa wasn't grand, but we had the penthouse condo that slept eight and had a wraparound deck with amazing ocean views.  (Plus, it had many more amenities than the tent that I slept in the last time I was on the island!  

                                                                                      

                                                                                        

There is not much to do on the island, especially after dark.  We spent our days at the beach, and our nights grilling out and playing card games.  If you surround yourself with quality people, it doesn't matter where you are in the world or what luxuries you have at your disposal…you can and will have a great time.

However, if  you are looking to get away from it all, Culebra is definitely the place for you.  It is a little difficult to get to Culebra with the car ride and ferry, but our over-achiever leader surprised us all by booking a charter flight back to SJU airport.  We dropped off our golf cart at the rental shop which just happened to be directly across from the airport.  With no security gates to go through, we walked out onto the runway and boarded our private plane.

 I was lucky enough to sit in the co-pilot's seat and saw some spectacular sunrise views of the islands.   After a short 15 minute flight, we landed at SJU and one couple walked directly to boarding for their U.S. Airways flight back home. Four of us, however, still had three more days of vacation and were headed to Rincon for one final adventure!

Puerto Rico for Couples

I was down to my last ten days of my six month sabbatical and had planned a Caribbean getaway.  Originally, we hoped to travel to one of our favorite islands, Antigua.  We made an open invitation to all of our friends to join us.  Due to flight availability, cost and everyone's vacation schedules, we couldn't fit in a week in Antigua so we compromised with a long weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We decided on the El San Juan Hotel on Isla Verde Beach which is a Hilton property.  It is near the airport, on a  lively beach, and has the best lobby bar in town where all the locals come out for salsa dancing on Friday nights.  With two swimming pools, hot tubs, shopping promenade, rooftop barbecue joint and lobby casino, this hotel offers something for everyone.  We had our own newly renovated casita by the tropical gardens and our casita patio was a great spot for the gang to converge.

We've stayed on Isla Verde several times and enjoyed being able to take our friends to our favorite beachfront restaurant, the Intercontinental's Mediterranean.   It is a short walk along the beach from the El San Juan and Friday night we had 14 people gathered for Happy Hour on the beach.

 After lounging by the pool all day Saturday, we all climbed into cabs for the ride into enchanting Old San Juan for dinner at a traditional Puerto Rican restaurant, La Raices.  After dinner,  we strolled the narrow cobblestone streets of what is considered the oldest continuously inhabited U.S. city… stopping for a Pina Colada at the place that invented them, La Barrachina.

While in San Juan, we also made time to see Castillo de San Felipe del Morro aka El Morro with its breathtaking ocean views.   Of course, like all of the cruise ship passengers that pass through each day, we couldn't resist the urge to window shop the numerous boutiques in town.

Our group included several couples from our hometown, my husband's fraternity brother and his wife, and our brother and sister-in-law (a happy surprise for me.)  We left home on what was the coldest day of the season, with temperature readings of -11° and a windchill even lower.  Our local newspaper, the Observer-Reporter, publishes photos of readers that take the newspaper with them.  We snapped a photo of our group holding a paper that headlined the arctic temperatures while we were missing.  It was a great weekend with family and friends, but the fact that our timing was perfect to miss the arctic blast made the trip even more worthwhile.