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Best Places To Travel During The Holidays With Your Family
Thinking about taking your family on a Christmas vacation? Although it has long been tradition to wait at home for Santa to arrive, a number of American families spend Christmas away from home each year. Christmas vacations are becoming more and...

Educational Travel Planning
Planning your own educational trip If it's just for school, for your kids or for the neighborhood kids, it's nice to have a purposeful educational trip that will surely be enjoyed by the children as well as teach them. Of course there is the...

Seven Secrets for Successful Travel
ndependent travel in Europe - Seven Secrets for Success One: Do not try to see and do too much. You may end up actually seeing very little. I think it is better to see more of fewer countries/regions and see them properly.  You may not want to...

Ten Tips Before You Travel
1. Read up about your destination. You can do this from a guide book or using the internet. It's worth reading up about the place you are due to stay, even if you're going there on business. You can find out about leisure activities while you're...

Travel - Dealing With Jet Lag
How to Get Jetlag-free Travel People who travel a lot experience jetlag. Athletes, who travel to different countries for their tournament, attribute their poor performance on jetlag. Business people, who go to various places for business...

 
Travel to Cuba: The Caribbean's Forbidden Island

Think Cuba, and vivid images come to mind: of men in Guayabera shirts and Panama hats, tropical breezes and cool drinks, steamy Latin rhythms and sultry women. It has always been an intriguing place, steeped in truth and in fiction by the novels of Ernest Hemingway.

In the pre-Revolution Batista days, Cuba was the sin capital of the Americas, a wild haunt of mobsters, corrupt politicians, loose women and petty thieves, all vying to stake their claim to a share of the profits from gambling, prostitution and other lucrative rackets. The easy money attracted some of America's biggest celebrities and high rollers, as well as a flood of tourists eager to indulge in the island's many carnal pleasures.

After decades of blight and neglect, the Caribbean's largest island is radiating a new self-confidence. Havana has regained much of its past allure, tourism is once again thriving, old bars, restaurants and hotels are enjoying a proud comeback, and stunning new attractions are being built.

Cuba is a destination worth discovering that's at its best right now. As a travel desination, its relative political isolation has kept it from being overrun with tourists. Once the U.S. government lifts economic sanctions and the travel ban, there will be a flood of investment into Cuba's economy that is sure to


change the face of the culture and landscape.

Cuba is home to just over 11 million people, with more than 2 million living in the capital, Havana. The island's Cuba's rich culture, interesting political history, and continued economic hardship make it one of the world's most eye-opening nations with a wealth of places just waiting to be discovered. The food, music, and, most of all, the warm hospitality of the Cuban people all combine to make it a great place to visit.

U.S. officials say open trade and travel to Cuba would strengthen Castro's oppressive government. But critics argue that the Cold War-era U.S. embargo, aimed at forcing a change in Cuba's leadership, has not achieved its goals after being in place for more than 40 years.

Despite the embargo, last year, 200,000 Americans visited Cuba (most through Canada or Mexico).

As one taxi driver put it, "We have the best cigars, best rum, best music, and most beautiful women in the world. What more could anyone want?"

I can't argue with that, and don't think you would either.

RESOURCES The Cuba Report, an expatriate guide, was recently published. For more information or to order, visit www.thegloballife.net.


About the Author

Phillip Townsend is the author of The Cuba Report, available at www.thegloballife.net