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In this post,  I want to share a particular experience where I was temporarly on the fine line between a tourist and a traveler. A few years ago, I traveled to Cuba with my best friend and his familly. The destination they choose was a very luxurious beach ressort in the island of Cayo Largo. In fact, they even made arrangements so that we would’nt have to be on the Cuban mainland at all, we arrived by plane to the island directly. Once on the ressort, I felt immediately that this was sort of like a dream place. Any need we had was attended to with the outmost care. We could order food anytime, have a drink on the beach and there was even a team of entertainers on the ressort that would organize games and activities for the tourists.

Despite being surrounded by Cubans, I had the feeling that something was missing. There was a kind of akwardness in the way that my friend dealt with the local employees especially because of the languge barrier. I on the other hand was quickly friends with anyone around. I was nicknamed ‘el gringo peruano’ which would translate in something like the white guy from Peru.

As days passed, I was more and more accustumed to being more with the employees than with other tourists or even my friend. I even spent some time at their village and went out to the same clubs they did at night. I grew very fond of them and after the trip I kept in touch with some of them. We shared so many things, most importantly topinions about how things were in Cuba and what would happen in the future. Surprisingly, most of them prefered things the way they are and advocated for a continuation of most of Fidel Castro’s policiy. When I asked but dosen’t that make your life hell, not being able to leave the country, being poor, having poor living conditions, etc…, most of them answered that that was the price to pay for never being sick and unnatended or for having a free education.

What all this means is that during that trip, I could really see how distant and unpersonal a ‘tourist’ trip can be but I still felt like a ‘traveler’ because of my closeness to their culture. Never have I met people more optimistic, fun and charismatic than in Cuba. In some ways, happiness is built into them. Having that connection to those people felt special and privileged and I am gratefull that I could have that experience.

In travel litterature, we’ve seen how some people are more tourists while some are more ‘travelers’. What would you say about yourself? Motorcycle trip across south America or 1 week vacation in a luxurious beach ressort?

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