NextTribe: Cuba is so close, yet so hard to visit

Hi NextTriber

Have you ever been on a trip and on the last day there you said to yourself “That was incredible. I can’t wait to come back!”

That’s how we feel about Cuba.

Our first trip to Cuba (this year) was full of the usual NextTribe shenanigans and adventures, and it fulfilled our mission to have a lot of fun while connecting women to each other and to women in the host country.

If all we did was eat, dance, ride in vintage cars and see local art it would have been just another “fun” trip.

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Traveling with a purpose

But our Cuba trip was so much more than that, and it started with what’s most important to us: having a local woman our age as our guide. As allies of the Transformational Travel Council, we believe we can help change the world one traveler at a time. By connecting our travelers with local women wherever we go, we are transformed by the experience and, as we’ve been told by our hosts, so are the women we meet.

The economic situation in Cuba has deteriorated even in the months since we returned. Gas prices have increased dramatically, there’s been a shortage of powdered milk, and more Cubans are migrating anywhere they can to find employment so they can send money back home. The US trade embargo makes no sense to us, because it means most Americans can’t travel there unless they’re with a group like ours. As with most sanctions, it’s the working people who suffer the consequences.

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Women Helping Women

In spite of the hardships—and there are many—Cubans can still find joy in music. They love to dance. They sculpt, they paint, they build, even as supplies are nearly impossible to come by.

This is why—in preparation for our trip—we ask our travelers to bring whatever they can, and this year our women stepped up. Many brought an extra suitcase filled with over the counter children’s medicine, toys, makeup, shoes, whatever our local contacts told us was needed most by local women.

We don’t believe in poverty tourism. We take a lot of time to make sure our travelers go on a journey, not travel like a tourist in a “walk and gawk.” In Cuba, as in all of our trips, we encourage our guides to give us a true picture of what life is like for women in the host country.

We’re going back in February, 2025, and we’re looking for a few good women who want to come with us.

I haven’t been in Havana since I was there producing a series for a British TV network in 1998. I can’t wait to go back!

¡Hasta pronto!

Jeannie Edmunds, Chief Operating Officer

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