A note from Jordan Diaz
Being born in the United States to a Cuban family, you are taught many of the traditional Cuban cultural norms from a young age. Sometimes this means learning more of the American norms outside of the home, with one of my first personal experiences being a story my mom loves to tell- how when I began kindergarten the only English word I had under my belt was “Bathroom”. I use this example to highlight how myself and many people from one cultural background who grow up in another end up learning the traditions and value of their home through lived experience and interactions with people outside of their family. The United States is the only country I have ever called home, it has been my permanent residence throughout my life (even when over the last few years we’ve been away from home more often than not) and I feel myself to be deeply Cuban and American simultaneously.
When we began traveling to Cuba a decade ago a large part of what drove us was to experience cultural norms we had been taught through our family on a larger scale and to consolidate what we had been told with the reality of what Cuba is today. The largest part of our motivation was to connect Cuba to what we felt was Cuban within ourselves. This decade has given us a huge assortment of wonderful experiences in Cuba with the family we have made there and time and more visits continue to provide us a source of satisfaction and connection to our roots.
We have visited Cuba many times, as well as visited and toured many other countries in Europe and South America with our wonderful guests. We continue to expand our horizons with Your Custom Travels now having visited 7 countries and planning to expand to 10 by the end of 2021. We have continued making connections with vendors of unique experiences and high quality details, and have expanded our network globally while branching into areas of interests for ourselves and our guests.
All of these experiences have allowed us to grow and share new cultures and adventures with you, and we have also realized that a thirst that we experienced before leading our first tours to Cuba has resurfaced. This time we feel drawn to our other cultural half, our home here in the vast and diverse United States. Since we began our work of leading tours we have continued to take several personal vacations around the US every year and the combination of our desire to explore more of this country with the reality of current restrictions and difficulties in some aspects of International travel due to Covid-19 have served as a strong impetus to launch our third sister brand, Your Continental Travels, which will now function alongside both Your Cuba Travel and Your Custom Travels.
Your Continental Travels will focus on two kinds of travel throughout the United States which both carry our signature detailed planning, focus on unique locations and experiences, and the attention to service our guests expect. We will be offering our traditional guided tour packages where ourselves or one of our team members will be with you throughout every step of the trip, as well as offering fully planned but self-guided adventures for the first time. We will offer any level of service you are looking for along that spectrum and will always ensure your experience is memorable.
As a Cuban-American, I grew up in a family that instilled in me a deep sense of heritage. Now I am excited to continue to explore this beautiful country and expand on what my home country means to me. I hope to be able to deepen your own connection to our home and to surprise you with unexpected experiences in a familiar place.
