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Making Moroccan Dreams Come True

How a solo trip to Havana brought on a lifetime of travel

Lily Lum
Globetrotters
5 min readJan 12, 2025

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Havana, Cuba — 2017; All images are taken by me.

Havana; my first solo trip ever and I was wondering how on earth I got to this point. Why did I think I could travel alone, without a husband or family to another country? Was this selfish of me? Can I even afford this? What if I’m kidnapped? These were the thoughts going through my head while anxiously awaiting departure.

I am a former flight attendant, but working the flight and arriving with a full crew via a big black van to the safety of our hotel wasn’t the same. When I arrived in Cuba, there would be no black van waiting to whisk me away to a fancy hotel—not even close.

In fact, I landed in Varadero and caught a local bus, ‘The Viazul’ at the airport for $10.00 US dollars and a very scenic few hours later I was in Havana. Then a frighteningly bumpy rickshaw ride and I was at my Airbnb in the middle of beautiful Old Havana.

By the time I arrived at my apartment, it was dark. Although my rickshaw driver was super kind I was a little culture-shocked to be somewhere so far away from home, on my own. However, within a day or two I was wandering the old streets like a true ‘world traveller’.

I enjoyed an outdoor patio with live music, got lost in a residential area near an old white church…

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Globetrotters
Globetrotters

Published in Globetrotters

We are a group of ordinary yet extraordinary travel lovers sharing our experiences of exploring the world with the world.

Lily Lum
Lily Lum

Written by Lily Lum

Mental health advocate, artist, writer and traveller! Please see my NEW Jungle Boutique at LilysJungleBoutique.etsy.com

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