Preparing for Cuba
Travel confession time: I’m nervous about going to Cuba. By the time this posts, I’ll already be there, hopefully laughing at the tiny ball of nerves that clenches my stomach as I type.
Via Romtomtom
I feel slightly ridiculous admitting to this. I am going to a very safe, well-touristed, Spanish-speaking country in the company of my (quite large) husband who has already been there once. Hardly sounds like extreme traveling.
Bu the truth is that I was far less anxious about heading off to Sao Paulo, a large, crime-prone city where I don’t speak the language, all by myself. I knew more or less what to expect in brazil, having been to Rio three times already.
It’s that lack of familiarity that has me SO excited…and also this little bit nervous.
Via alexbrn
I am traveling with cash for the first time ever, relying on exchange houses rather than ATMs. The last time I traveled without my parents before I had a credit card was on a school trip to France. I brought travellers’ cheques. We won’t be hopping onto a wifi connection to double check an address or look up something we’ve just heard about.
All that has me on the edge of my seat wondering what the next 8 days hold. Have I totally screwed our budget? And if so, have I hopefully erred on the side of bringing way too many Euros rather than not enough? Do our Chilean cards work there in the event of a budget emergency? Will I survive an internet detox? For that matter, will I have to, or have computers become more prevalent than I think?
Via Flat-Black 66
Mostly all these questions have me excited. This is, after all, why I have wanted to go to Cuba for so long, this feeling of adventure and not knowing what to expect. I know these nerves are really just a reminder that the adrenaline rush of getting on a plane comes not from wondering what the in-flight meal will be but from getting off it again, thrown my of our element and into an adventure.
More in this series:
We’re going to…
Snapshots from Cuba
La Bodeguita del Medio: following Hemingway in Cuba
The heart of Havana Vieja
Communist Cuba: seeing it for ourselves
Our Havana tour
Trinidad, a colonial gem
Cuba’s best beaches
Getting adventurous in Cuba
The casa particular: where to stay in Cuba
One day in Viñales
Have fun! I can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Recap coming soon – we loved it!
Have so much fun! Looking forward to hearing all about Cuba!
Thanks, lady! Love that you commented.
I sent you a tweet just before asking how it is before reading this so ignore that! Can’t wait to read all about it =)
We decided not to pay for internet in any of the hotels, so I had a total detox…now I’m back online and will be getting posts up as fast as I can.
Eeeeeeek I’m going CRAZY without an update from you!!!
We both want to go back and see more of the island, it was wonderful!
i think it is just normal to feel nervous when you are new to place but once you’re there everything will change and felt like your just strolling in your own country.
I definitely would not say that Cuba felt like strolling around in my own country (any of them), but we did definitely relax and enjoy ourselves once we got there.
I am so very excited to hear about this trip and your observations on the place. I’m glad you had such a great time in spite of pre-trip jitters!
Everything I was worried about turned out to be a non-issue, and the good stuff far surpassed my expectations. Overall a great trip!
You have no idea how happy I am to be reading your Cuba related posts! I shall be travelling there next month and I had been driving myself crazy to organize everything. Now that I sort of have everything prepared I feel much better. But that is what made everything even more special, this is Cuba after all! Any particular advice??
I look forward to reading your future posts