After a hellish summer of work, my boyfriend and I were in dire need to disconnect from everything.

Mexico is our go-to, due to its proximity and amazing beaches. But, as we were looking at places we haven’t visited in while, he turned to me and said, “Cuba! We need to go before all the Americans start going and corrupt it!”

I agreed. Mostly because I want to someday be able to say to my children, “I went to Cuba before everyone else did!” After doing some initial internet searching we became very excited about the opportunity to visit this once-forbidden land (for Americans.)

We really didn’t have any expectations or do much planning besides talking to a few Cuban acquaintances, figuring out how we were going to get there and where we were going to stay. I find that it’s better to travel in this more spontaneous way.

In early August, we knew that there would eventually be flights to Havana from the US; however, since they weren’t quite available when we were planning, we decided to fly through Cancun.

Americans have been “sneaking” into Cuba for years. Many people had done exactly what we did; got a ticket to Mexico and then flew from Mexico to Cuba. It was an unspoken agreement between the tourists and immigration officers to “just stamp the visa” and not the passport of any US citizen.

Once we got to Havana and checked into our Airbnb just outside of the old town, we started wandering the beautiful city.

We felt like we had to experience it all: we saw the rural and touristy parts of Havana, rolled our own cigars at a Tobacco farm, saw the beautiful landscapes and rolling hills, drank and ate with local Cubans, and danced in the streets to beautiful Salsa music.

We truly felt the love and ambiance that everyone had raved about. On one of our last nights in Havana, we were sitting in a small bar with an amazing Cuban band playing their hearts out. All of us were sitting peacefully in the bar, dancing in between the tables, when ten loud, drunk Americans came into the bar.

They proceeded to push their way into the bar, throw their money at the band to continue playing although they had already packed up for the evening and acted in a generally disrespectful and obnoxious manner.

I can understand how they wanted was to have a good time in Havana. Trust me, I love to have a good time, especially on vacation. But as a person sensitive to cultural norms, I know this sort of behavior could eventually change this beautiful country.

Americans thinking they can throw their money, power, status and elitism around without any regard is deplorable. This is not what a country like Cuba needs, especially after having some rough decades.

Cuba deserves to keep its dignity and be prosperous through globalization while keeping its truly unique identity.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very proud to be an American and feel extremely lucky to have been born in this country. But as an avid traveler, I am very aware of how we are perceived outside of our borders, and I am very conscientious of my actions overseas.

However, too many Americans are not as conscientious. Unfortunately, many Americans have never left their comfort zone or traveled outside of the country. While I truly applaud all who do, if you are going to go outside the US: don’t be a bad representation for all other Americans.

As an avid world traveler and professor of international management, here is my advice to any person traveling to a new country:

• Be RESPECTFUL of customs, norms, and traditions

• Get off the beaten path and out of the tourist areas

• Ask a local where to go

• Be open-minded and have an adventure

As my students know, I believe that traveling can truly change your life. It doesn’t have to be expensive or as hard as you think. Anyone can do it.

But if you go, be a human being open to a new understanding of ideas and cultures, and you will be so happy you did. Traveling is about new experiences, not just new things.

If you do end up going to Cuba, which I recommend, here are some things we found that were a bit different than normal for us:

1.Internet – I have been on a remote island in the middle of the jungle in Thailand and still had wifi…in Cuba, not so much. The infrastructure of Cuba is not setup for technology, and in order to get the internet, you first have to get an internet card for about $2 per hour. Then you have to find a wifi hotspot that actually works. Tip: if you see a place with around 20-50 people on their phones standing outside of it, that’s a wi-fi hotspot. We would go to the larger hotels, and sit in their lobby to use the internet, but once our $2 card was over, getting another card was a big challenge.  We would have to wait for the next day in order to get back online.  While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, and we wanted to disconnect, we realized how much we actually depend on the internet while traveling.  We didn’t buy a guide book or do any real planning, so we had to depend on my Spanish and our adventurous selves to find the hotspots of Habana.  

2.Restaurants – All general restaurants are owned by the government, but since the ‘90s, Paladars, or restaurants within a homestead, have become the popular place to dine.  Paladars are houses that have created a restaurant store front to sell food to tourists and locals.

3.Violence – Cubans are proud to say there isn’t much violence in Cuba due to their strict laws and repercussions of breaking them. Many of my friends asked when we got back how safe the country was, and we were just as surprised to say we didn’t have any issues or felt even an ounce of insecurity, even in very rural parts of Habana.  The only time we got  “taken” was when we fell into a tourist trap and ended up paying way too much for our dinner.

4.Lack of Supplies – Being the nimble and efficient travelers that we are, we only brought a carry-on bag for our seven day adventure to Cuba, thinking that we could buy any necessary toiletries we needed on site.  We went to ten different stores to find sunscreen, and on the fourth day of looking, we finally found a bottle for $20.  It did the trick, but we were not prepared for that adventure.