Traveling for Work and Meeting Local Puerto Rican Car Enthusiasts

When I was younger, my mother took my sister and I to visit her family in Peru. This was the first time I had ever been out of the country. Other than that, my most memorable vacations were spent with my father driving to Arizona to visit his family. We road tripped to Arizona so much that eventually it felt like I was from there.

When the opportunity arose to travel to Puerto Rico, I jumped on it. Not only were the flights super cheap because of COVID, but I was going with my friends. This would the first time I would travel on my own terms.

The group of friends that I was going with are all entrepreneur like by nature. My friend Sam was going to Puerto Rico to interview survivors from the 2017 hurricane for his podcast Finding Founders. Will has his own company where he produces music videos for many of the largest artist out today, he is able to work from wherever he pleases. James, a studio photographer, was just looking for a vacation get away.

Initially I would be accompanying them to Puerto Rico just for fun. It was enough of an argument for me knowing the potential for new photos that I could take. After speaking with the boss of my full-time job, it was made apparent that I could also work in Puerto Rico as well. Aside from being a freelancer, I am the in house photographer/ videographer for a wheel manufacturer and designer called Blaque Diamond Wheels. Blaque Diamond has retailers in Puerto Rico, therefore I would be able to photograph some cars for Blaque Diamond on this trip.

Upon arrival in Puerto Rico, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of photogenic opportunities that presented themselves. Aside from the beautiful tropical scenery, the ruin like aftermath from the many hurricanes that sweep through Puerto Rico are what caught my eye the most. Being from Los Angeles, rarely ever do buildings stand long enough after being abandoned to explore. Since Puerto Rico’s economy is very poor, the government does not have the funds to bull doze every building that is nearly destroyed by a hurricane. Therefore, many of these buildings will stay standing for years after being rendered useless.

Seeing these buildings for the first time, I knew that I had to utilize them for photos. Aside from shooting for Blaque Diamond, I also wanted to freelance and shoot photos for myself as well. Not only could I potentially expand my portfolio, but also get a chance to meet some of the locals. Within a dew days, I met up with Christian, Jonathan, and Christian, three local car enthusiast from Puerto Rico whom I had connected with through Instagram. Even though I was 3,445 miles away from home, it wasn’t hard to find other like minded people with similar interest.

Traveling to Puerto Rico made me realize a few things. The first being that I need to travel more.

Never have I been one to shy away from driving 100+ miles just to take one photo. I have done just that many times. With that being said, without looking for inspiration, Puerto Rico offered it. Always working within the boundaries of Los Angeles more often than not leaves me searching for inspiration. I want to be overwhelmed with inspiration wherever I am.

Watching my friends work abroad reaffirmed it as a possibility for myself.

Traveling for work is such a cliche thing for someone to want. But after doing it, I now have a need to continue doing it. My favorite thing about my work is where it takes me. So why wouldn’t I want it to take me to the coolest places on Earth? Being with friends who were doing just that made me question why I couldn’t travel for work.

There is no reason that I couldn’t.

Below are some of my favorite photos from Puerto Rico.