State Department issues a world-wide terror alert. This should make your holiday travel relaxing. Additionally, a specific threat terror alert for Malaysia, Indonesia, and all of South East Asia has been issued.

In that light, I think we’ll be vacationing on Isla Culebra instead of southern Thailand.

It’s been a long, difficult year at work for both me and my wife, and we need serious decompression and a little bit of a tan. If we can’t relax on vacation, there’s no sense in going. That’s the whole point.

Plus, I’ve never been anywhere in the Caribbean. The only beaches I’ve ever been to were in northern Germany, Italy, California, Oregon, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. And while many of the beaches I’ve seen were spectacular, I’ve yet to be anywhere besides Florida that has the white sand, crystal water combination that everyone seems to find so enticing.

Isla Culebra is a tiny island sitting between Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas. Geologically, it is part of the Virgin Islands, but territorially, it is Puerto Rico. My friend Erin has been there innumerable times and loves it, describing it as “laid back and mellow.” She works with the Turtle Project there, providing safe haven and protection for breeding letherback turtles.

The island’s pretty much undeveloped and considered the “last virgin” Virgin Island. The location provides for nice boat trips to surrounding keys and islands, including prime whale watching between Culebra and Culebrita, as well as totally deserted beaches one has to hike to because there are no roads. We’ll be staying for quite a while, so we plan on taking some boat trips to Saint Thomas, as well as spending a bit of time on the big island, especially San Juan for the culinary aspects.

It cost us $200 to cash in our Thailand tickets, but it’ll be worth it to relax. But on the down side, going to Puerto Rico is much more expensive than Thailand (if you get free airfare, like we had). The villa I had booked in Thailand was going to cost $80/week. The villa I booked on Culebra is considerably more, but also, extra plush:

Although it looks like a duplex, this is a single villa. The bedrooms are on one side while the great room and deck are the other. The pool is in a private courtyard in the middle.

I can taste the rum punch and ceviche already…