Cuba
Just 90 miles from the southern most tip of Florida, the spirited island of Cuba is so close… but yet for Americans, has been so far. At least for the past half century. But it’s not just the fact that travel here was forbidden that makes this country an intriguing destination. It wasn’t until travel restrictions were loosened by President Obama’s historic agreement between the US and Cuba in December 2014, that Americans could finally begin to experience what they’ve been missing… a tropical paradise rich with culture and as authentic as those vintage cars. World-class cigars, white-sand beaches, old Spanish colonial buildings, locally produced rum, and a culture centered around a party of Afro-Cuban beats and salsa dancing showdowns. When you arrive in Cuba, it’s hard not to let the lively energy of this nation drawl you in.
With relations between the US and Cuba continuing to improve, I felt an urgency to visit because I wanted to experience the country as we’ve come to understand it… unashamedly stick in a time warp. After Fidel Castro’s Revolution in 1959 put a new totalitarian, Soviet-style regime in place, the United States began to feel threatened by this Communist run government sitting just ninety miles south of Florida. A between the US and the Soviet Union began to heat up as the Soviet’s started growing a military presence in Cuba, eventually leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Missile strikes were avoided, but the stand-off started the Cold War bringing a halt to US tourism and implementing a trade embargo that has lasted five decades. As a result of not being able to trade with the US, Cuba has essentially been frozen in time… 1961 to be exact.
For older generations, a trip to Cuba is stepping back in time. For me, it’s an opportunity to get a glimpse of what it would have been like to live in the ’60’s before cell phones, computers, credit cards… the list goes on. It’s an experience that’s beyond comparisons and one that won’t be possible forever. With relations between the US and Cuba first beginning to improve in 2006 when Fidel Castro ceded power to his younger, more liberal brother Raul and then again in 2014 with Obama’s historic accord, followed by Secretary of State John Kerry reopening the US Embassy in Havana in August 2015… the groundwork is being is laid for full diplomatic relations in the future. As of now, the trade embargo still stands and American firms are still restricted from doing business in Cuba, but as the Cold War era gets further in our rearview, most are expecting the ban to be lifted in the foreseeable future. And yes, that means a Starbucks and McDonald’s popping up on every other corner is the sad reality.
So if you want to travel back in time and experience a simpler existence, go now because Cuba is already changing… and fast. the boom that American businesses have been blocked from participating in, is already in full swing and the island is getting a make-over. Construction is rampant as buildings are being renovated to catch up with modern times and cell phones and internet connections are becoming more accessible.
But for now you can still enjoy being unplugged and out of touch with the rest of the world as you cruise around the island in a classic Cadillac convertible while enjoying a culture of people who are conversing and dancing in the streets rather than being glued to their smart phones. So I rounded up a group of girls who I thought would appreciate this experience as much as me and off we went for an unforgettable week in Cuba.
