The PreGame: What to know before you go to CUBA

1. YES you need a visa, YES you need travel insurance (United Health is not a thing in Cuba, so forget it), and no its not hard to get. 

The Visa

In order to legally travel to Cuba, your trip will have to fall under 1  of the 12 government approved categories. You cannot just go to Cuba for "vacation, to sip mojitos on the beach and chill". There are 12  reasons to pick from and trust me, you can make one of them work to fit your trip. I traveled under "People to People". By traveling under this category, I declared that my trip will be based on learning about the culture and history of the Cuban people by immersing myself in whatever Cuba has to offer me while interacting with Cubans. That being said, I suggest that you make a mock itinerary/list of all the museums, landmarks, and learning opportunities you plan on engaging in while in Cuba. This will help you organize what you want to prioritize on your trip and will also cover your ass if you get a poop head Cubans customs agent who asks you a million questions. Or a poop head American customs agent (I got a beautiful green eyed customs agent upon arriving back but unfortunately he was a poop).  

After booking my flight (Jetblue, $157 rt, nonstop, thank you jet blue points!), I received an email with a survey regarding my trip. The survey asked all my basic information and then I had to declare my reason for travel aka pick a category. Once I checked off my reason, "People to People", I clicked submit and TaDa! all done. Now you will have to pay $50 for the physical visa at the airport counter but THATS IT. See how easy that was? Now if you want to avoid the $50 fee and are not traveling through a 3rd party country like Mexico then plan ahead. Contact the Cuban Embassy. You can get the visa through there. I don't know specifics, I just know that it takes time.

Travel Insurance

You need it because Cuba says so and yes, they will check, so just do it. Cool? Cool. When I say travel insurance I do not mean your health insurance card, I mean internationally accepted travel insurance. Try World Nomads or IMG Global, they come highly recommended by many a travel folk and Cuba says their both oki doki in their book. Take a screenshot of your receipt or print out a copy because you will have to show it upon arrival. In case you do not believe me/think i am talking nonsense..there are nurses and doctors waiting to check your health nothing short of a rectal exam before allowing you to enter Cuba. 

I did not purchasing travel insurance...but wait a minuet...why not you ask? Was I in the market for a free rectal exam by a stranger in a foreign country? No Betch, I was not. However, Jet Blue is ahhmazzzing and included travel insurance in the price of my airfare. Woohooo! Another win for my favorite airline!! If you buy your ticket to Cuba via Jetblue, no sweat they got you. Other airlines may not love you as much as Jetblue loves me, so call and ask what your airlines policy is on travel insurance to Cuba.

2. There are 2 types of currency, know the difference and get BOTH. 

CUC(Cuban Convertable Peso) pronounced "kook" is the high value tourist currency. The CUP(Cuban National Peso) is the low value Cuban currency. If you plan on traveling on a budget then get both. Credit Cards don't work in Cuba, unless you are staying at a hotel, a big "fancy" expensive hotel. So leave the charge cards at home.

Upon arrival in Cuba, you will have to exhange your money to the CUC. Ask for smaller bills to then exchange to CUP if possible. Exchanging your money at the airport means there is a 10% tax on ALL exchanges made, yea it blows. Also, I suggest exchanging your dollars to Euros before you land, to get the best bang for your Euro buck. This is because you will lose about $0.15 cents on every dollar exchanged, yea it really blows. The Euro however is a direct 1:1 exchange. While out and about in Cuba you can probably find someone to exchange money for you at a better rate. If not then just go to a bank where the rate will be better than at the airport, BUT the 10% tax will still hit you. Here are some tips when dealing with Cuban currency:

 CUC     (has monuments on it) 

Exchange rate - €1 Euro: $1 CUC, $0.85 USD: $1 CUC(airport rate)

 CUP  ( has people on it)

  Exchange rate - €1 Euro: $1 CUC: $24 CUP, $1 USD(non airport): $1 CUC: $24 CUP

 **STAY WOKE. Cubans will try to give you change in local currency and since the bills look very similar make sure to always double check. I speak Spanish, I knew the currency, and people still tried to get me..but they didn't. Don't get got! 

3. Wifi will not save you, I'm not kidding. 

Cuba wifi/internet is for lack of better words..secluded expensive shit. I don't mean scoring an invite to the secret loboutin warehouse sample sale awesomeness shit. I mean like having to wait in unholy long lines to then pay money for an internet card to then go stand in a random park somewhere to upload a super cute pic of you in a vintage car on insta to then get kicked off before the upload finishes kinda shit. I was lucky enough to not wait in line anywhere because I got my wifi card from a lady selling the cards out her living room. Yep she was sitting on a couch just handing them out to whoever knew she was selling, word on the street told me to go see her for a card..at her house.

Do not rely on wifi to help you navigate the streets of Cuba or to help you yelp it to a good lunch place or anything really other than checking in with people back home.

• Download a google maps of all the cities you will be visiting on your phone. Even without wifi the map will still be visable.
• Download WhatsApp to message people back home if your still living under a rock and don't have it. 
• Download all apps you think you'll need, just remember wifi is spotty and requires effort to get. 

Personally, I say forget the wifi. Soak everything in without the hassle and stress of being technologically connected to that which is not in the present. Live in the NOW, Cuba is NOW! But if not, below is a photo of a wifi card just waiting for you to whip out your lotto scratch off skills. Scratch off the password and type in all the info when prompted, you must have your phone on and data on to connect to the wifi initially then you can shut your data off.

4. Trust in the magic of the Cuba Casa Network

 Hotels in Cuba are expensive. A 5 star hotel in Havana can cost you $500/night and let me tell you, 5 star Havana Hotel is like a 3 star American Hotel, so save your money. The best most cost efficient and authentic way to experience Cuba is to stay at someone's house, a Casa. There are millions of casas to chose from all with different prices and "amenities". I use this term losely because amenities are things like hot water and breakfast. Keep in mind the Cuban people make an average of $40-$50 a month and the infrastructure in the country is not the same America.

Book all your casas or just book the first night, either way you will never be left homeless. Everyone knows someone or knows someone who knows someone else whose sister can help you out. I'm not kidding. This works outside of Havana and all over the island. I booked all my casas for Havana however, I did not book anything for the other towns I planned on visiting. Luckily, my casa mom from the first night in Havana had a friend who had a casa in another town and had rooms available! She grabbed the phone started speaking in loud espanol to her friend and BOOM! just like that I had a place to stay in a town 4hrs away for the next few nights. Trust in the magic my friends.

Use these sites to book/research your casa:  www.airbnb.com , www.cubacasa.com , www.casaparticularcuba.org 

These 4 things will help you while planning your trip and planning your expectations of certain things...I hope. Any more questions? Just shoot me a comment here and I'll help as best I can xoxo