I'm headed to Cuba in two weeks as a guest of Insight Cuba on its Classic Cuba program, one of six people-to-people itineraries currently offered in its Cuba portfolio.
This will be my third trip to Cuba. The first two, in 1998 and 2003, were industry events, held in Havana and attended by U.S. trade officials, tour operators and overseen by many Cuban government officials.
I rode in a '57 Chevy through the streets of Havana, stayed in the famous Nacional Hotel and had a front-row seat at the Tropicana Nightclub.
The highlight of the second trip some years later was meeting Fidel Castro. Yep, I did, I really did.
The leader kept his translator quite busy during his rambling, three-hour-long speech in a large meeting room to a group of foreign press.
As I recall, Castro spoke without notes on the economy, Cuba's history and the fine state of Cuban cigars.
Cameras weren't allowed, nor were reporters' notebooks. I did manage to hand him a copy of Travel Weekly as he exited the room.
I'm sure he still has it.
But what has me so excited about my upcoming trip is that I will be a real tourist this time, able to see and experience Cuba and its people for the first time.
I can, and will, take notes and photos. I plan to meet and talk with as many Cubans as I can. That's the point of the people-to-people programs organized by Insight Cuba.
How this has happened is a story in itself.
Insight Cuba first received its specific license to operate these programs from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2000.
The two-year license authorized people-to-people travel to Cuba.
Insight was issued a second license in 2002 and a third in 2003.
However, under the Bush administration, the regulations governing travel to Cuba were tightened and all people-to-people educational travel programs were suspended.
The last group of Americans traveling under the Insight Cuba license returned home at the end of 2003.
Insight remained hopeful that travel to the island would eventually resume, according to Tom Popper, president.
When word circulated in 2010 that the loosening of travel regulations to Cuba was pending, Insight Cuba began preparations to relaunch its programs.
On Jan. 28, 2011, after an eight-year hiatus, the Obama administration restored people-to-people travel, meaning that any American could once again travel to Cuba legally with Insight Cuba and other licensed, authorized companies.
Insight Cuba submitted its license application that very same day.
The license, its fourth, was granted on June 11, 2011, and two months later, Insight was the first organization to send Americans to Cuba legally under the new people-to-people regulations. On June 30, 2013, Insight received a two-year license, its sixth.
I'll join a small group of tourists from all over the U.S. for one week later this month, armed with a press visa authorized by and obtained from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, which handles this kind of paperwork (Cuba has no embassy in the U.S.)
We'll be meeting, talking with, learning from and interacting with Cubans in all walks of life, from tobacco growers in the countryside to musicians in Havana and schoolkids along the route to Trinidad in Cuba's central province of Sancti Spiritus.
To put it mildly, I am very excited, and also full of questions before I board the Marazul charter plane from Miami to Havana.
Insight Cuba knows its market and its travelers. The company has had a lot of experience in this, so a conference call was arranged last week with an Insight team leader and the people in my group.
It's the 15-days-out-from-departure call, a standard procedure in which Insight and its tour participants go over the Miami airport procedure, arrival and pickup in Havana, dole out lots of useful tips and answer any questions — and there were many.
Most of all, it was a chance for the group to meet each other via phone before our adventure begins.
Insight already had done a great job with its collateral material, which included a 15-page PDF on basic information, a softcover guidebook, maps, luggage tags, medical insurance card and even a black marker on a lanyard to wear during our travels. (View some of Insight's tips in the box below.)
Thomas Ciccone, Insight's group travel manager, set the tone on the conference call.
"You are in for a huge treat," Ciccone said. "You will have an amazing time. My advice to all of you: Don't leave a single regret behind. Utilize your free time to get out and try the paradores [home restaurants] on your suggestion lists. Cuba is a safe country. The people are warm, friendly and welcoming. Talk to them."
He cautioned us to be patient when checking in for our flight in Miami and to show up four hours before departure.
"The counter closes an hour and a half before your flight leaves," he said. "There will be Cuban Americans on your flight going back to visit families, and they bring a lot of stuff with them, which takes awhile."
Sofa beds, windshields and flat-screen TVs are very common items seen at the check-in line.
We were told that our Insight Cuba guide will be waiting at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana with a sign.
"There will be a lot of screaming, crying, hugging and shouting when the Cubans spot their relatives, but don't worry," he said. "We've never lost anyone or left anyone behind at the airport."
The hotel in Havana, where we'll be for three nights, is "fantastic," Ciccone said, while "outside Havana the hotels are comfortable but not elegant. Focus on the people, not the hotels."
Full participation in all activities on our itinerary is required, as part of the people-to-people license.
We asked for suggestions as to what token items we could bring to give as gifts to the people we meet.
"The kids love pens, pencils, crayons and drawing paper," he said. "The adults love soap. The soap there is poor quality, and there's not much of it. It's rationed in households for bathing and showering."
My detailed itinerary arrives in a few days. I know the general plan, but Ciccone said that it could change, due to the availability of a teacher, musician, dancer, museum director or community group on any given day.
"Pack your flexibility," he said.
I'll do that for sure, as well as about a dozen bars of soap and loads of crayons.
Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly.