When he ’ s not playing his heart out for Commanders fans at FedEx Field , Allen enjoys indulging his inner foodie with Hannah at some of their favorite restaurants , such as dLeña . “ It ’ s a new Mexican spot that just opened up recently , I ’ ll say within the last year ,” he told # FlyWashington . “ Also , I absolutely love Filomena . That ’ s my go-to spot whenever I have anybody come in town , especially the in-laws .” Allen says he doesn ’ t order anything fancy at the authentic fine-dining Italian “ just the regular ravioli and meatballs .”
Along with its lively nightlife , historic monuments and diverse culture , part of what makes Washington , D . C . so special for Allen are the city ’ s diehard sports fans . “ They just talk about how they ’ ve been fans since the 1950s and 1960s , and how their parents were season ticket holders and now they ’ re season ticket holders ,” he explained . “ I think the community we have in D . C . with all the national teams and the local teams really makes it such a great city .”
The Allens make sure to schedule international travel after the NFL season ends in February and before mandatory minicamp begins in June , but Jonathan admitted that Hannah plans it all . “ Normally she takes care of everything , I just show up and go along with the show . Our last trip was through National Geographic , so they took care of everything . But normally my wife just plans it all .” And what an adventure their last trip was ! Jonathan and Hannah visited Agra in India , which he described as unbelievable . “ From the hotel we were staying at , you could see the Taj Mahal , it was gorgeous , and the food was amazing ,” he said . In addition to being fed like royalty , the couple was measured for custom shirts . “ They had it done in three hours , brought it to the hotel , it was impeccable .” They also ventured off the tourist path to take a four-mile cliffside trek up to the Tiger ’ s Nest Monastery in Bhutan , which sits at 10,323 feet . Allen described it on Instagram “ as one of the hardest things he ’ s ever done ,” but worth it for the view .
Having also been to Maui earlier in the offseason , he says they like to mix it up between relaxing vacations and active trips . While he used to love “ doing a lot of nothing , now I ’ m kind of getting to the point where I like to hike , go canoeing , whitewater rafting , whatever it may be … I like to do more physical and active vacations .”
Europe is on the horizon in the future , because it is the only continent they ’ ve not been to , as is Rwanda . “ I heard the gorillas in Rwanda are unbelievable . So that would be my next bucket list trip ,” Allen added .
A destination far closer to home that Allen is surprisingly a fan of is Minneapolis , especially as he can fly there direct from both Dulles International and Reagan National Airports . “ My wife ’ s a Midwestern girl , so I absolutely love the Midwest . My agent is in Minneapolis , so I spend a lot of time up there and it ’ s a super easy hour flight ,” he said . “ I always enjoy my time there .” The Allens used to live in Herndon so would fly out of Dulles International as it was only five minutes away . They now live in Great Falls so fly out of DCA , but that involves taking the Georgetown Pike . “ I try not to deal with that whenever I can !” he admitted . Allen would much rather be at the Great Falls National Park than sitting in traffic on the highway , and he said the trees , open space and waterfalls are what make the area so amazing to live in .
While it may sound like he has a dream life , Allen has endured his fair share of challenges and is now determined to help others in similar situations . When he was eight years old , Jonathan and his brother were taken from their mother by child services . That was the beginning of a traumatic 10 months that Allen describes as “ some of the darkest
Jonathan and Hannah Allen at Tiger ’ s Nest caves in Bhutan
Credit : Courtesy of Jonathan Allen
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