TRAVEL by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer
Travel Buzz Holiday travel with the family
G
oing to great lengths to be with loved ones over the holidays is a time-honored tradition – but some people go much further than others. Take the Seth family, who packed up the kids and the parents and headed to India. The Matta family don’t have to go quite as far, but their native Puerto Rico is a quite bit further than the “over the hills and through the woods” of holiday lore.
The Mattas The Mattas – Gisselle, Eduardo and daughter Elena, now 9 – have traveled to Puerto Rico, the island of their birthplace, for three of the past four winter holidays. They’ve gone together before, but as Gisselle said, “When you’re home for the holidays, you spend a lot of time visiting extended family, rather than visiting new places.” So in 2012, they decided to change that. Instead of staying in the metropolitan area, where their extended family lives, they rented a large house with some friends and family on the opposite side of the island. They celebrated Christmas at home in Bellaire, and then headed off to the island, where all of them, including those who live on the island, headed off to Cabo Rojo. The trip was the beginning of a new tradition: spending the holidays together. The next year, one of her nieces in Puerto Rico wanted to join friends on a ski trip in Vail, so they rented apartments in the snowy resort town and tagged along. The next two years it was back to the island. This holiday they’re planning another sojourn out West – this time to Arizona, where Eduardo’s brother moved recently. Now with four New Year’s holidays behind them, they’ve developed a routine when headed to the island: They fly into San Juan on a red eye and arrive early in the morning. They spend that first day visiting extended family, and then head off to a more remote location. In 2012, when they rented a house in Cabo Rojo, everyone stayed in the same house. They took the kids kayaking, stand-up paddling, to the beach, the nearby lighthouse, and to the Mayagüez Zoo. In 2014, they went to the east coast of the
island: Palmas del Mar, in Humacao. One family’s parents already had a house at the resort, and they rented another house to be near each other.” They rented golf carts, quickly commandeered by the teenagers. Gisselle enjoyed runs on the beach. On New Year’s they ushered in 2015 at the Beach Bohio, a tiny restaurant. They all lined up to see the fireworks over the ocean. Last year they circled back to Cabo Rojo, but this time they rented a couple of apartments. Eduardo’s sister and her husband have a boat so they took advantage of that to navigate to different beaches around the area. They went to the beach of Boquerón and to Desecheo Island, a small, uninhabited island off the northwest coast, listed as a wildlife refuge. Desecheo was previously used by the U.S. Army during World War II as a testbombing range, and later used by the U.S. Air Force for survival FAMILY TIME Gisselle, Eduardo and daughter Elena Matta travel to Puerto Rico training. The public is or another vacation destination with their extended family every winter holiday. not allowed to set foot keeps on giving. “Elena is 9 now, and she has on the island, but the nearby reef is popular for learned to appreciate the trip more than a toy that diving and snorkeling. They also explored the she may get tired of,” said Gisselle. “We try to learn little villages in the mountains, where country about the place where we are going, and help the restaurants serve traditional Puerto Rican food. kids ask relevant questions, help them think outThe family welcomed 2016 in La Parguera, a side the box. Sometimes the experience is more small fishing village in the town of Lajas. enriching than a nice gift.” The Mattas think of the trips as the gift that
TANGLEWOOD/RIVER OAKS BUZZ DECEMBER 2016 26