In the early months of the pandemic, my husband (Rohit) and I eagerly signed an 18 month lease for 1 bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. We thought that we were getting a great deal with the slashing rents in Manhattan. Fast forward 4 months, and rents were 20%-30% lower than what we’d signed. We also realized the pandemic was not ending anytime soon as we’d initially believed. The odds of going back into the office soon seemed low.
What felt like a great deal at the time began to feel like handcuffs locking us out of possibilities of working remotely, a dream we’d had for as long as we knew each other. I hadn’t seen my parents in nearly a year and we decided to try and get permission to work from London, initially just over the holidays. We wanted to spend both Christmas and Thanksgiving with them so to avoid multiple flights, our work gave us permission to stay in London in both November and December.
We made a decision to skip our 18 month lease before leaving for London, moved out of our New York apartment and ended up spending 5 months in London, having the best time with my parents and sister. In those 5 months, even during a countrywide lockdown in the U.K., we realized how much a new place had to offer in terms of things to do and places to explore without the time constraints of a vacation.
We decided we wouldn’t go back to New York and instead planned to spend one month remotely working in different states around the U.S. so we would enough time to explore and really get to know a place. Our trip started in Puerto Rico and we dedicated the rest of the trip to being close to the Rockies and national parks. We booked New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Washington, Oregon and Nevada. I’m writing this just after our trip to Puerto Rico and will update the post as I complete the subsequent trips.
Puerto Rico:
Our first destination, Puerto Rico, was a tropical paradise that completely charmed us with its incredible sunsets, waterfalls, beaches, forests, hiking, snorkeling and food. The link below has details on our recommendations for things to do on the island and a week by week breakdown of how we spent our time.
http://thediyvacationer.com/2021/05/08/month-to-month-in-the-u-s-guide-to-puerto-rico/
