A few weeks ago, I wrote an open letter to President Obama imploring him to give American's the freedom to travel to Cuba. In the letter, I shared my 8-year-old son Sam's passion for all things baseball. The same passion, I am learning even more, that Cuban boys possess as well.
My son Sam would love for his Little League baseball team to be able to travel to Cuba and play with the teams there (just like the New England baseball team did in August 2008). I would love to be able to introduce him to different cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices. I would also love to have my family experience time with the people of Cuba.
After reading the comments left by readers of this blog, I had the chance to have more in depth conversations with a few of them. I have to say, I want to go to Cuba more now than I ever did. I get that Cuba has its problems. I also understand that the tourism infrastructure may not be fully ready for US travelers. Further, I can appreciate Cuban-American arguments against lifting the ban.
However, after a few folks that live there commented on my blog post, it is clear that the positive aspects of Cuban travel far outweigh the negative issues related to U.S. – Cuba relations.
Here’s what I learned: I had a spirited email conversation with Juan who lives in Cuba. It turns out he is a journalist and his wife, Mayra, is a librarian. Juan has an 8-year-old son, Marcelo, who loves to play baseball. Sound familiar? Marcelo wants to be a catcher (which his dad isn’t too happy about), while my son Sam wants to be a pitcher (as long as he is a lefty, I’m fine with it). Marcelo also knows many of the US MLB players through video games. Seems like the two boys are pretty similar. Juan and I also talked about what it would mean to the boys if they could play catch one day in the future. I couldn’t have scripted this any better.
I also learned that this topic stirs the passion of Cuban people. Those who live there are intensely proud of their country and its culture and would like nothing more than to share it with the entire world – not just part of it. In the end, I learned that those who live in Cuba are just people. Once you peel back the drama and the history, the average Cuban and the average American have a lot in common.
This is what travel does. It opens one’s eyes to the possibility that just because things are done differently doesn’t mean that they are done incorrectly. Travel also highlights the fact that a country’s citizens do not necessarily reflect its leaders (i.e. 52% Democrats vs. 40% Republicans). There are more than a few paths to follow – let’s embrace the differences and let American’s have the choice to travel to Cuba.
Sam and Marcelo – based on what I see happening in the travel industry, there may be a light at the end of the travel tunnel. A lot of other companies have joined the travel to Cuba campaign, which is great to see. If you haven’t done so already, please visit http://www.OpenCuba.org and sign the petition asking for unrestricted travel to Cuba (the site is run by Orbitz).
Before I wrote the letter to President Obama, my motives for Cuban travel were somewhat self-serving. Now that I’ve had the chance to actually connect with Juan and others, this quest became even more personal. Regardless of my ability to travel to Cuba, my world just got bigger.
© Cheapflights Ltd Carl Schwartz
