I was laying in bed just thinking about this experience that I had in the Puerto Rico this past August.

I was staying with my friend at a hostel in PR in a more rural area. Not touristy but still not a super dangerous area (although I did see a woman get robbed at 12am, in a place I probably shouldn’t have been) anyway, this was my 4th time traveling to this area in PR so, being proficient in Spanish, I had gotten to know the small town locals well and was quite familiar with the area (also had a few boyfriends here and there).

So, my friend and I as well as a bunch of people from the hostel went out to the various clubs around the town and we drank and danced all night. ....Then my ex showed up at around 2am— he had been looking for me the whole trip. Going against my better judgement, I went home with him.

Now, I feel as though I should mention here that while the area in PR that we were staying in was overall quite safe in the daytime, at night it was a different story. Robbery, rape, and street animal attacks are quite common, but as long as you were with a local, it was usually fine.

So we went back to his house and...you know. Anyway, he was drunk and I was drunk so he passed out and he wouldn’t wake up to drive me home (figures). All I knew was that I DID NOT want to stay the night. I had to get out of there. But clearly, I wasn’t going to walk alone at 3am 15 minutes to the hostel. So I scrolled through all my contacts on WhatsApp desperately searching for people that could help me out. The service was really bad which made things even more complicated. It would frequently go in and out so even if I got in contact with someone, I couldn’t be sure that I would have reliable service to coordinate where to pick me up.

FINALLY, I got good enough service and was able to hit up my friend who lived in the area who was always very reliable. And HE WAS ONLINE. I was relieved. So I messaged him and told him where to pick me up and when. The service made it difficult to know when he would be outside so I decided to wait in the driveway for him.

So I made my way down 3 flights of stairs through other small outdoor landings and telephone wires and I get to the gate that leads out the driveway. I was really scared, with all the barking, meowing, and the sounds of drunken men down the block. Regardless, I step outside and close the gate behind me. Then I turn around and there’s this HUGE (I’m talkin like mutant size) dog growling behind me with white puffy foam oozing out his mouth. I’m petrified, I can’t move, I can’t think. All I do is attempt to open the gate, which made a loud noise and eventually I was able to step inside. The noise actually scared off the dog so I was safe at that point.

I realized that it probably wasn’t a good idea to wait for him there, so I stepped back inside the house, desperately trying to get a signal. When I finally got a signal, I received 3 text messages from my friend letting me know that he was close by. I look over the balcony and there’s a big puffy Lassy lookin dog come strutting in, followed by a man on a motorcycle. It was my friend who I had called. I was literally ecstatic and I waved him down and ran down the stairs and hopped on the motorcycle. He looked at me up and down and rolled his eyes (granted, I deserved that). “So....who did you spend the night with?” he said with a smirk.

This was a really eye opening experience. I was extremely reckless in this situation and if I hadn’t known so many people in the area, it could’ve ended a lot worse. What I’m trying to get across here to the people who are thinking about solo traveling is to always know where you are, who you’re going to be with, and make sure you know how you’re getting home.