*21. Puerto Rico

Wait a minute, wait a minute. We’re doing US territories that aren’t even states too? 

So when preparing for this list, I wanted it to ultimately highlight my journey going to all 50 states. But at the same time, I want to highlight the country as a whole, and you can not forget that Puerto Rico is still very much a part of the United States, despite our government trying to ignore that fact. So I wanted to give the chance to highlight the territory, partially because the territory is as American as the other 50 states, and because Puerto Rico could very well become a state some day along with another place I will also include down the line (And also because I’ve been there, and I want the opportunity to talk about it!). Without further ado, this is where Puerto Rico would rank for me if it were an official part of the list (hence the asterisk). 

I think what I love most about Puerto Rico is just how different it is from the rest of the country. The territory has scenery and landscapes so interesting that it can sometimes feel like you're much farther away from the mainland than you actually are. Most of the Caribbean and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico is pretty flat, but much of the land is pretty mountainous. I remember taking one of the few roads that goes through the middle of the island, and I’ve never gotten carsick like I did then. It was the thinnest road going over a mountain in a tropical rainforest, and I was so bummed I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I could have. That was the highlight of my trip for me.

When we visited Puerto Rico, I don’t think we really knew what we were getting into. We assumed that there were a lot more sandy beaches than there were, and that was on us. It’s not a place like Hawaii where you can easily go to any resort and get a spot on a beach and lay for hours. Puerto Rico beaches are incredibly rocky, and that makes them absolutely beautiful, but not the greatest for swimming. Maybe we should have researched that a little better before we got there, but I think there is still so much to see like the rainforests, mountains, and massive trees.

The epitome of our lack of research led us on a 6 hour drive from the San Juan region to the northwesternmost point on the island. This was back in the days where we would drop anything on our trip to go play Putt Putt for a day. And that led us down the main road across the north part of the island with stoplights every couple blocks for like 80 miles. When we finally arrived at our putt putt course at a resort called The Lazy Parrot, they seemed pretty confused that we wanted to play minigolf. They gave us the few putters they had, even short for me at the time in early high school, and we walked past the pool into the trees to the course.

This course absolutely stank the moment we got there, like literally. It seemed like the septic tank for the resort was located directly under this course. We played maybe 2 holes before the course was so broken down that it became unplayable. And we couldn’t really even see where the next hole went anyway because it went down a steep hill and was completely covered in leaves. So we left and went to a beach for about 15 minutes before we turned around and sat the next 4 hour drive home in silence. So I recommend staying away from any putt putt places in Puerto Rico. 

Puerto Rico is so much more than what you can see in one visit however. I think it’s also pretty important when discussing it, and especially it being “American”, you have to acknowledge the history of colonization that led to it being a territory. Every Puerto Rican is American, and that is often discounted by our government. Everyone born in Puerto Rico is a US citizen and can run for president, yet they have no representation in congress and can vote for president. Still, I would understand why people would have a Puerto Rican identity, and refuse to identify as someone from the US. 

The US has taken advantage of Puerto Rico for a century, dating all the way back when the US colonized it during the Spanish American War in the 1890s. This war was all about imperialism at a time when people believed America had a “Manifest Destiny” to control much of North America from coast to coast. Yet, unlike other territories at the time, Puerto Rico was never made a US state despite in current day it having more people than 18 states. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t due to the fact that Puerto Rico is largely non-white and mostly speaks Spanish.

And so it never became a state, and then became a manufacturing hub for pharmaceutical companies in the 1950s due to it being a tax haven. But when many companies pulled out, it left much of the territory in poverty. The US government has had multiple opportunities to put more funding into making Puerto Rico thrive, but they never really have for a long time. And this all culminated in Hurricane Maria devastating the territory in 2017 leaving hundreds of thousands without power for months and it never being properly given the disaster funding it needed despite all other US states getting it time and time again. I don’t want to get too overly political, but the clip of Trump throwing out individual rolls of paper towels to people as many suffer to get food and water might be one of the lowest moments of the first term of his presidency (I know, there’s plenty more to focus on).

But I digress. Puerto Rico still doesn’t become a state today for two major reasons. The most infuriating of these is that in our polarized political environment, many assume that Puerto Rico would automatically be 2 blue US senators. The fact that it is largely that shallow just goes to show how messed up our congress is right now (even though Puerto Rico has a Republican governor and these Senate seats would not necessarily be a slam dunk in either direction). The other reason is that the country doesn’t want to take on the economic burden of making it a state. So instead the US decides to let the territory face the problems that the country largely caused and let the people suffer.

Ultimately Puerto Rico should decide its fate if it should become a state or independent. The territory is a strong people and they ultimately should decide what they want for their homeland, but pretty much everyone agrees that the current situation cannot stand. Sorry to everyone for getting a little more political today and giving a history lesson. Maybe I didn’t highlight the territory itself as much as I should have, but I really wanted to take this moment to hopefully convince you of why this is such an important issue. We should not take Puerto Rico for granted, because it does represent some of the best of what people love about America: A strong, determined people with a rich culture and beautiful landscapes not found anywhere else in the country. I’m not the best person to say this though; go watch Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.