- Holly Bousman
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO + HAWN







Photos by: Bearded Bousman Photo Co.
If you're looking for a 1 to 2-day, exhausting-in-a-good-way adventure near San Juan, Puerto Rico, you have to visit El Yunque National Forest. There are at least four great spots to hit where you can spend anywhere from five minutes to a few hours!
Jordan and I made room in our trip to Puerto Rico for at least one adventure day. We knew we wanted to check out this Tropical Rainforest because it's the only one in the United States!
You'll Want To Start at the Portal Visitor Center where you will be given a map and specific instructions about how to travel to each site and what you will find there. Listen closely to the guide and then you are free to drive yourself from place to place!
Jordan and I only had the afternoon to spend here, so we chose to visit the two waterfalls along the map: El Coca and La Mina. I packed a cute outfit + my new HAWN necklace because I just knew this place was going to be beautiful and great backdrop for some photos. And I was right!
El Coca Falls:
When we saw how beautiful El Coca Falls are, we parked our car and climbed right up next to the falls. We had to be really careful because the rocks were slippery, and it was totally worth it once we got to the top! I just wanted to stare at the water fall for as long as possible and soak in the sight! It was so gorgeous and green here and the sound of the waterfall was so calming.
About the Jewels!
I'm always looking for a piece that will bring life to a plain outfit and so I loved this necklace from the moment Jenn, the owner of HAWN, showed it to me. I have a few tops and dresses, like this dress in the pictures, that just needs a little something to help it stand out. This necklace is perfect, especially with the pop of turquoise!
Jenn hand-makes all the jewelry in her shop, guys! How talented is she!? I absolutely love it when women make their dreams come to life. So, I asked her a few questions to help anyone dreaming of starting business get inspired and get started!
Q&A with Jenn, creator of Hawn:
How did you decide on your store name? Where did "Hawn" come from?
When I was trying to decide on a name for my company I asked one of my friends for advice. She told me to write down names or words that I liked to see if anything stood out. I started writing down names and Goldie Hawn came up and as soon as I heard "Hawn" I knew that was it! What was your motivation and inspiration for starting your business? My family and friends really kept me motivated and really pushed me to pursue my passion. As far as inspiration goes, I am inspired by so many other local jewelry designers, there are so many talented bad a** boss ladies out there. What would you tell someone just starting out in their business?
Don't give up! Things may seem hard and frustrating at times but it is so worth it to follow your passion.
What's your favorite social media platform and what's your biggest tip when using it?
Instagram is my favorite social media platform! Having good photos and just making sure to be genuine with it would be my biggest tips.
Thanks so much, Jenn, for answering these questions for us! If I have heard one piece of advice over and over again for entrepreneurs it's "Don't give up!" I'm so glad you encouraged us in this way because it's always necessary to hear that one again!
You can find out more about Jenn and her awesome jewelry by visiting her website here or Instagram here!
La Mina Falls:
Next, we drove up to the La Mina Falls where you have to take a trail for about 20-30 minutes to the water fall. I think there are two trail entrances that both lead to the waterfall in the middle, the trail lengths are the same. Jordan and I were super excited because the guide said this is the waterfall we would be the one we could jump into! Thankfully we had packed our swimsuits!! I HIGHLY recommend going to La Mina because #1 when else can you swim near a waterfall? and #2 the trail leading up to it is just gorgeous. I felt like I was in a movie (Tarzan to be exact) it was so perfect!

The water was freeeeezzzzziiinnggg and I told Jordan there was no way I was getting in! But, after some serious coaxing, I slowly got in. Which always seems like the smartest way to get into anything cold. I was letting my body "adjust," right? Welp! So much for adjusting because, not two steps into the water, I slipped and fell all the way in! That ended up being better though. Our bodies adjusted and it actually felt warm after a minute. Crazy!
It was a so fun swimming in and out from under the waterfall and encouraging other people to get in too. Everyone was squealing and being so giddy when they hit the cold water! It was really funny. This really nice dad took a few pictures of us while he was trying to convince one of his sons to take the plunge! We all tried our best to get him to come in, but he held his ground. haha

It was hard to leave because we were having soo much fun, but the park was about to close for the day and we needed to get on the trail and back to the car. As we drove out of the forest, our fun-filled day coming to an end, the trees formed a canopy over the road and the dusk light peaked through. It was beautiful and I'm getting sappy! haha
*Thank you HAWN for sponsoring this post!
Thanks for stopping by!

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