The beauty of the tropics

It's good to be back. As much as I love the idea of traveling and getting out of the city, my heart still swells (and I often get a little teary eyed) when I see the skyline of NYC come into view on the way home. I was representing Serious Eats on this press trip hosted by Brugal Rum, and it was a fantastic time. I met some great people and got to have some real "Dominican" experiences.

On our last full day, we had the afternoon free, so I hopped in one of our cars with two other trip-goers. The language barrier between our driver and us made for an extra fun ride. We were caught in a torrential downpour that lasted far too long so almost all of these photos are taken from the seat of a car. Sadly I didn't get to take nearly as many photos as I had hoped I would, and for me, this is the kind of stuff I want to shoot when I'm in the tropics. The beach gets old quickly. I want to see how people live, where they eat, what kind of food you can get from the streets, etc.

We sampled a handful of street foods along the way and took back some fruits that were foreign to us. I really enjoyed this last leg of the trip and am incredibly grateful to our hosts and drivers for the experience. More to come!