A Summer in Havana: Friends, Politics, and the Vacation From Heaven
About Cuba itself? My trip was a vacation from heaven. There was something about the energy of the Cuban people that made me feel like a long lost member of the community who had finally come home. Words cannot express how uplifted I felt to just walk about town hearing salsa, merengue, and Afro-Cuban music blaring from homes and businesses.
Juneteenth in Savannah
I had never been so hot in my life – not even in the Caribbean with its “mad dogs and Englishmen” noon-day heat. That day the heat didn’t matter. It was Juneteenth and I was in Savannah, a city I have loved since the first time I walked down the steep steps to River Street, saw the slave memorial and read Maya Angelou’s tribute to those who “got on the slave ship together.”
Ask the “WanderWoman”
Reader questions with answers by Elaine Lee; world traveler, author and adventurer. This issue's topic: What's the scoop on traveling alone?
Last Sail of a Great Adventure
This travel adventure began, not on the sea, but on the ski slopes. In 1997 Sunsail Yacht Charters asked Paul Mixon, a San Francisco Bay area skier, sailor and event planner, to market chartered yacht vacations to African Americans through the National Brotherhood of Skiers. No one, least of all Cap’n Paul (as he is known to his sailing friends) knew he’d still be at it 14 years later.
Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago – The Greatest Show on Earth!
This was my seventh Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago and the experience was still euphoric! Some might say “one Carnival is enough”, but for me it’s addictive, bringing me back to Sweet T&T again and again.
Sankofa Odyssey – Aeolian Odyssey
“Wow... a live volcano - how ancient this scene must be,” I thought to myself. Hundreds of thousands of mariners must have passed through here, gasping at this same sight of the primordial earth spraying into the sky, falling to the surface, and then flowing in to the sea. I felt as if I had a proud connection with them and with others when I was gone from this earth.
Dining Out – Cuban Style
While considering dining options in Trinidad, Cuba, we had decided on a well-known restaurant. But then our plans changed. One of the professors on our trip explained that she had been walking on the beach and was approached by a gentleman, a native Cuban who noticed our group. Would we like to dine at his home?
American Gypsy: The Unlikely Travel Adventures of a Black Girl In Vietnam
What on earth is a 40 year old black woman doing cycling through Vietnam? It was a complete fluke that I ended up traveling with complete strangers on a cycling tour through Vietnam.
Iceland Getaway
Let me guess what you’re thinking: "Why did you want to go to Iceland? Isn't it cold there? Where is Iceland? Does anyone live in Iceland? Isn't that a long way to travel for a weekend getaway? What's in Iceland?” It was the latter question that convinced me to take the trip.
Carnival in Rio
One of my world tour “bucket list” items has always been to do Carnival in Rio. I have been to Brazil many times, but never around Carnival. I decided to do it this year.
