We’re celebrating our 250th episode with a focus on travel and connection today!

Our guest, Talek Nantes, is all about blending adventure with purpose, showing us how traveling can be an opportunity to build relationships and give back. She’s got this fantastic initiative called Bras for Babes, where she brings essentials to women in Cuba. We chat about how you can still travel and make an impact, no matter your age. So if you’ve ever thought about hitting the road with a purpose, grab a comfy seat and get ready to be inspired!

Takeaways:

• Traveling is not just about seeing new places, it's also about connecting with people and communities, which enriches our lives and theirs.
• Aging well means having a sense of purpose, staying active, and forming meaningful relationships with others, especially as we grow older.
• Talek's Bras for Babes initiative highlights how simple donations can have a huge impact on people's lives, especially in places like Cuba.
• Travel can help us learn new things about ourselves and the world; we're never too old to explore and grow, no matter our age!
• Building relationships during travel is key; it makes experiences more memorable and fulfilling, creating bonds that last long after the trip ends.
• Finding purpose in travel, like giving back through donations, can transform our journeys into meaningful adventures that we cherish forever.

Links referenced in this episode:

• travelswithtalek.com - Subscribe to her blog and download 101 Travel Tips ebook
• Check out the Late Bloomer Living podcast.
• Wondering why you are stuck, feeling adrift, unsure about what to do next? Check out the What's Keeping You Stuck quiz, and find out your "Stuck Type."
• Learn more about Greenwood Capital or find resources at www.GreenwoodCapital.com. Boomer Banter is sponsored in part by Greenwood Capital Associates, LLC. Greenwood Capital Associates, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm with offices in Greenville and Greenwood, SC. As a fiduciary firm,

Greenwood Capital is obligated to disclose any potential conflicts of interest with this arrangement. The host of “Boomer Banter”, Wendy Green, is a client of Greenwood Capital, and her show “Boomer Banter” has been compensated for her testimonial through Greenwood Capital’s sponsorship. Greenwood Capital is a Legacy sponsor at the stated rate of $2,600 for the 2025 calendar year.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Wendy Green: 00:00:35

Hello and welcome to Boomer Banter's 250th episode, where we are going to have real talk about aging well. And I am your host, Wendy Green. And as you know, every week we have honest conversations about what it really means to grow older in today's world.

Navigating health, purpose, relationships, caregiving, and everything in between. I hope those applause came through. Okay. Throughout my life, I have always been drawn to purpose.

When my kids were little, I was always involved in their schools in some way. And when I was in college, I was a mom then.

So I worked with other parents to create a child care co op on campus so that we could all make it to our classes and still have somebody to take care of our kids. Later, I became active in the women's movement. And, you know, that purpose has always fueled me and it fuels me.

As I put out Boomer Banter episodes and the substack essays and the coaching that I do, purpose really is kind of my foundation. So when I discovered the work of my guest today, Talik Nantes, I felt an instant connection, really, for two reasons. Okay.

Travel, because, you know, I love to travel and purpose. So Talik is a lifelong traveler, an author, and the creator of Bras for Babes. She doesn't just travel to see the sights, although that's important.

She also travels to build relationships and to give back, bringing along much needed supplies like school items, medications, and, yes, bras to women, particularly in Cuba. The tour she leads are as much about building relationships and supporting communities as they are about exploring new places.

So today we're going to talk about how travel can connect us, change us, and give us purpose well into our later years. So help me in welcoming Talik to Boomer Banter. Hello. Hello.

Talek Nantes: 00:03:03

Hi. I'm very happy to be here.

Wendy Green: 00:03:05

I am so happy you are here, too. So. So I was looking at your website and you talked about, like, from a very early age, you kind of got the travel bug. Can you tell us about that?

Talek Nantes: 00:03:18

Absolutely. My mother was very pregnant with me when she traveled from Cuba to New York City when I was born.

So people ask me, you know, how long have you been traveling? I say that I've been traveling since before I was born, literally.

And since that time, I've never stopped everything that I've ever done throughout my career. My education was in international business.

I got my MBA in international business as well as I was an international business development professional in corporate America for about 40 years and lived throughout the world as a result of my career through let's see Dominican Republic, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, England.

And I spent about eight years on and off in China, all work related and of course took advantage while I was there to learn more about the cultures and to enjoy that as well and to satiate my travel lust. And after that I decided I switched gears once I left the corporate world and created Travels with Talik.

That is a travel blog where I share my travel experiences. I uncover hidden gems throughout the world in beautiful places like Spain and China, just to give you one example. And I also do guided tours.

Specifically I've had guided tours and I continue to run tours to northern Spain, which is where my ancestors are from, and also to China. I'm just so familiar with the place.

And Cuba, my family comes from there and I'm very familiar with the place and it is a unique and culturally fascinating country that deserves to be explored and appreciated. And let's see, I've written three books. One is a travel book of Cuba and one is experiences of the Cuban Diaspora after the Cuban Revolution.

And then the third one is A110 Travel Tips and advice which you can get for free if you subscribe to my website.

Wendy Green: 00:05:38

Yeah, share with them later. Yeah. So you know, it's interesting, Talik, a lot of people that I know that traveled corporately, oh, they hated it.

And the last thing they wanted to do was get on a plane after they had finished all those years of travel. What is it about travel that makes you so happy that you love it?

Talek Nantes: 00:06:00

Well, I could not imagine somebody feeling so having traveled, there are people that, that are comfortable, everything is fine. Number one, regardless of how you feel about travel, you don't enjoy it. I've got relatives that don't enjoy it.

And that's fine with the things that they enjoy, like golfing would never occur to me to do. And there are other people like me that are just passionate about it.

So I really cannot grasp how people would say, oh my God, I've traveled all my life and I just don't want to do it anymore. That's just inconceivable. So what is it about travel that fascinates me? I guess it's the never ending wonder of it.

There's always something new to see. There's always an interesting dish to try. Last night I had a meal at a Ethiopian restaurant that to me was absolutely fascinating.

Made me think about what it would be interesting to go to Ethiopia. Just the new things to to be exposed to constant new things and new cultures and new sights and sounds and tastes and smells.

And getting off a plane in Africa.

And the first time I did it, I remember as soon as I hit the ground, I got this wave of heat and smells that hit me that I had never experienced before. And I just found that fascinating. The thrill that you get from being and landing in a place that you've never been before to me is incomparable.

Wendy Green: 00:07:30

Yeah.

And that you can tell the way you describe it, you know, it's not only passion, but your curiosity is just being so filled when you go into these new experiences. So that's awesome.

And you know, when I read your blog, I mean, you find curious things to see anywhere, whether it's in Tennessee or New York City or Cuba or Spain. You're just that kind of person.

Talek Nantes: 00:07:55

Every place has something interesting about it. Your hometown can be the most fascinating, fascinating place in the world. As fascinating as something so off the charts as Tibet, for example.

Wendy Green: 00:08:07

Exactly.

Talek Nantes: 00:08:07

And everything in between.

Wendy Green: 00:08:09

Yeah, exactly. Right. If you look for it. Yeah.

So tell me about this purposeful, this mission almost of building relationships and finding a need to fill that has now become part of your mission of travel.

Talek Nantes: 00:08:24

Okay, well, that is bras for babes. And during my travels to Cuba, I generally bring down donations. By donations, I'll bring down used clothing, not a lot, as much as I can carry.

Used clothing, eyeglasses from Target, one of those that are non prescription reading glasses, aspirin, plastic containers, batteries, pens, pencils. These are simple little things that you can just buy for, for no money practically, and bring them down.

And while I'm down there and I'm talking to people, they say, hey, you know, how about bras?

Probably because I concentrate a lot on women's groups, women's entrepreneurial groups, senior citizen centers where a lot of mostly women, because women live longer. So you go to these places and you'll always see more women than you'll see men.

And women tend to be more open and they'll talk to you more because you're a woman. And they'll say, hey, what about bras?

Wendy Green: 00:09:27

Really? They just brought that up. Just brought about bras.

Talek Nantes: 00:09:30

So many people brought it up that I said, what is it with bras here?

Wendy Green: 00:09:34

Yeah.

Talek Nantes: 00:09:35

So I decided to come up with something called Bras for Babes and to bring people, whoever goes on my tours with me to give them the opportunity to have that experience, which is so unusual in the tour world.

And when you go on a tour, you'll go to see this in the Eiffel Tower and have a meal and some are a little bit go beyond that, and they'll give you a cooking lesson or a dancing lesson, which is great to have those experiences.

But to actually bring donations down to Cuba and to share them to the people there and to communicate with the people and just to see the expressions on their faces when you show up and you have these donations for them, these gifts, they really appreciate it. So it's good for everybody.

It's good for the people, obviously, that are receiving it, and it's good for the people that go on the tours to have this different, unique, extraordinary experience, which is really unforgettable.

Wendy Green: 00:10:40

I mean, we did a trip to Costa Rica and we brought some, like, school supplies and stuff. But bras is such a unique thing. And how would you. I mean, how would you know what sizes.

Talek Nantes: 00:10:55

All sizes are? Welcome, people. You know, it's interesting. People ask me that a lot. Oh, which side should I bring? You know, is it training bras to.

To, you know, the triple Ds, whatever you got, we'll, we'll take and we'll be very happy to get it. And they will too. Right?

Wendy Green: 00:11:12

So interesting. So interesting. So so many of us, you know, we travel to see the beauty of the place and. And you travel to see that as well. But you also travel to.

For the relationships that you build. So how does that work with the finding these communities that you visit and that you make these donations to?

Talek Nantes: 00:11:35

Okay, well, first of all, I'm Cuban and I've known people there for forever, all my life, so.

And I know people that live there now and travel back and forth, and I'll talk and they'll say, oh, there's this place that there are women trying to put together a T shirt shop so that they can make them, they can print them and then sell them to tourists. Or there's somebody else that has a farm co op that's very big down there. Because food sometimes can be a lot of food insecurity.

So a lot of people will grow their own food. So these women have put together a co op and I will go and I will talk to them and, you know, what are you doing?

And I will see if it makes sense for me to bring the tour down to visit with these people. And it's not just to give them donations, but it is to have meaningful interactions with them so that you can learn about the culture.

So I encourage people to meet with artists, groups and to meet with the entrepreneurs and the lady that has a shop and performers, tour guides that are so experienced and knowledgeable about the history and the architecture of Cuba, which is utterly fascinating. So I encourage people to. Through the relationships that I've built over the years, I encourage my tour group to interact with these people.

So that's the relationship with us and the people in Cuba. It's not just Cuba. It's any other country that I go to. I try to do the same thing. Oh. It is only in Cuba where I have the Bras for Babes initiative.

Wendy Green: 00:13:16

Okay. But then we also, you know, because we're talking about relationships. It's the. Do.

Do you think that the relationships among the travelers that you bring down.

Talek Nantes: 00:13:32

That's what I was going to say. Yeah. That is such an important component to this, because you were with somebody for whatever, 10 days. First of all, we meet online before we go.

Then. Then we have a cocktail party on the day that we get there, a welcome cocktail. And then you're together pretty much constantly for. For 10 days.

And you. Inevitably, you will develop, you know, these relationships. Also we have these zoom groups. Not zoom groups. We have. What's that? Groups that are just.

For that particular group that that's going on that tour. And. And these people are able to communicate using that group where they share information and they'll share photographs.

And they actually have maintained relationships way after. I mean, I've known people.

We've been doing tours for four years now, and there are still people that are in the same WhatsApp group after seven years.

Wendy Green: 00:14:30

Wow.

Talek Nantes: 00:14:30

So there's an opportunity to not only have relationships with the people in country, but also amongst the tour participants. And that's very rewarding as well.

Wendy Green: 00:14:42

It's very rewarding and it's very important.

You know, we need relationships even more as we get older, I think, because we don't have as many as we had when we were in our school days and our work.

Talek Nantes: 00:14:55

That is a medical. That's. That's been proven, medically proven fact that the older we get, the more we need relationships. Yeah.

Wendy Green: 00:15:05

And so do some of these women come back and travel together on other tours with you?

Talek Nantes: 00:15:11

Yeah, we just did a tour to China in last March, and everybody that was on that tour were people that had been on Cuba tours.

Wendy Green: 00:15:21

Wow.

Talek Nantes: 00:15:22

And now we're talking about putting together a Central Mexico tour for next year. So I know that it's going to be the same people, because they've told me so that. That's always fun. It's always a good group.

And new people come in and they. They get infected with that. The. The tour camaraderie.

Wendy Green: 00:15:44

So that's. That speaks highly of you too. You know that they want to come back and travel with you.

Talek Nantes: 00:15:49

And, and it's. I humbly appreciate that.

Wendy Green: 00:15:52

Yeah. So tell me how.

I mean, you've, you've kind of given us some insights, but how this differs from like the larger travel agencies that, you know, you go to the hotel and you get the meal and you climb the Great Wall of China and whatever, you know, how does your trips differ?

Talek Nantes: 00:16:11

Okay, first of all, we don't stay at high end hotels. We stay in guest houses, what they call in Cuba in Spanish, casas particulares, which means private homes.

So we will stay in private homes of local Cubans. So it'll be like an Airbnb type arrangement or a Cuban guest house type arrangement.

So I think that would be the first difference that, that there is. And this is an opportunity to interact with these people.

It's usually women that run these operations that they are hostesses and they also function as a type of concierge. Like they'll make a restaurant reservation for you, they'll get a taxi for you. So they served as a very, very convenient purpose there as well.

But you can sit in the living room and watch television with them and talk to the kid and teach them a few words in English and play with the dog and, you know, where are you going to get an experience like that? Can you imagine? Just contrast that with a, an all inclusive resort. There's a lot to be said for all inclusive resorts. I like them very much too.

But this is not what that is. This is an opportunity to truly delve deep into the country and interact in a meaningful way with the local people.

Wendy Green: 00:17:39

That's amazing. So, so, so you're staying with individual families or people and then in the morning when you get ready to go.

Talek Nantes: 00:17:49

You have breakfast there.

Wendy Green: 00:17:50

You have breakfast at their home.

Talek Nantes: 00:17:52

At their home. Right. Breakfast is always included in the mornings. And the Cuban breakfast are very good. It's the best part, is tropical fruits.

There are fruits in Cuba that nobody's ever heard of and nobody's. Nobody in the United States has seen these things. They're just absolutely amazing. Explosion of flavors.

So that's the breakfasts and then we take off and we have a busy day of touring the city in the convertible and vintage cars and visiting the senior citizen centers, visiting some of the schools. The kids love that.

Of course, there's the architecture walk to have an opportunity to see the beautiful Cuban architecture and everything that the very knowledgeable tool tour guide explains. Not only the styles, the baroque style and the, the art nouveau but also talks about the history of the country.

He finds a way to, to, to blend everything that's interesting about what he's talking about. So that's. Then we have dinner and okay, we either have one big lunch or one big dinner every single day.

And the dinners and the lunches are very hearty. So if you have a hearty lunch, probably not going to be hungry for dinner. And then there's always such an entertainment throughout the country.

Cuba is a very musical country, very artistically oriented country. So I mean, you will see these musicians that you would pay a princely sum to to go to their concert in the United States.

There are many throughout Cuba. There's a lot of music venues and that's what we do in the evenings. That's a lot of fun.

Wendy Green: 00:20:46

Yeah, yeah. Is there any restrictions or things that we need to be aware of if we decide to travel as American citizens?

Talek Nantes: 00:20:55

Yes. You cannot go solely as a tourist. That is prohibited. There is. You can choose from one of 12 different reasons to go to Cuba.

That can be for religious reasons or you're a performer or what else you're visiting family. The one that most people go with that are on my tours is support for the Cuban people. So you just check that off when you buy your ticket and that.

That's all you need to do. So it would be. Some people think, oh, Americans cannot travel to Cuba. That is not true. You just have to go under certain conditions.

And that is one which is very easy. And what does that imply when you say you're going to Cuba as a result of support for the Cuban people?

That means that you're going to stay in private homes, you're going to eat at privately owned restaurants, which are the best restaurants anyway. That's exactly what you want to eat and that you are going to spend time interacting with the Cuban people. Now, you can also want to go to a beach.

Yes, absolutely. You can go to a beach. You'll go to the museums, you'll stroll around the streets, you know, ride in the.

And the convertible, take the hop on, hop off bus. You can do all of those things. But you also have to meet those criteria.

Wendy Green: 00:22:13

Yeah.

Talek Nantes: 00:22:13

Of support for the Cuban people, which is easy to do and fun and that's why you go and.

Wendy Green: 00:22:19

Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't realize that. So, so your trips to China and to northern Spain and soon to central Mexico.

And soon to central Mexico, do they follow the same kind of.

Talek Nantes: 00:22:34

No, no.

We'll stay at regular three and four star hotels in both of those Countries and all of those countries and eat at regular run of the mill restaurants. We don't bring donations. What we do is try and interact with the community. Such as take cooking lessons. Cooking lessons.

Learn how to make dumplings in the shadow of the Great Wall of China. I mean, that's pretty cool. That's pretty interesting. It's a lot of fun. Let's see what else?

Oh, there is different museum tours that we take in northern Spain, such as the Guggenheim and things like that. So we do try to interact. We'll go to markets and very big. Rather than eat at a restaurant, we'll eat at one of those experiences.

Incredible food markets.

Wendy Green: 00:23:28

Yeah.

Talek Nantes: 00:23:29

So it's a little different.

Wendy Green: 00:23:30

It's a little different, but it's still small. Small size.

Talek Nantes: 00:23:34

Yeah. They're all small groups, right?

Wendy Green: 00:23:36

Yeah. And so they really do get to know each other. Yeah. So you know a lot of that. Your tours are for women primarily.

You said sometimes men will come like a spouse or a significant other. But a lot of women have never traveled by themselves and it's a little fearful.

So what kind of advice would you give to them to, you know, make them more comfortable venturing out on a first trip?

Talek Nantes: 00:24:06

Well, it's not only women that are a little apprehensive. Men too, that, that's just human nature. Some people are more apprehensive than others. Some people have a greater risk tolerance.

What I would suggest is go with a tour. Well, a couple of suggestions. One, go with a tour. Start there.

Go with a small group tour and have that experience so that you can understand how easy it is to exchange money. Once you see how it's done, you're not going to have that apprehension when you travel. You'll be able to see how you.

For example, in Beijing, in China, we always take public transportation. We always take the subways. You might be apprehensive about taking a subway in China. Everything happens to be in English. The stops are clearly marked.

If once you do these things, that gives you the confidence to go on your own. Maybe you need to do a couple of tours before you go on your own.

Maybe you will never go on your own and you'll just like tour so much and you'll be perfectly happy with that. So I think that that is the major one. Another idea is to start, start close to you geographically and expand from that.

Let's say you live in, I don't know, New Jersey. Okay. Maybe go to New York City. Okay, you did that. Maybe go to Toronto. Same language, same custom, same everything. Maybe from there you go to England.

Again, it's different, but it's not so extraordinary. And then from there, maybe you'll go to Italy, and before you know it, you're in Tibet.

Wendy Green: 00:25:51

I'd love to go there.

So I love the idea of the tour, though, because, you know, I'm thinking of a tour we took to Quebec, and there was a woman there first time, or her husband had passed away first time traveling, and she was a little reticent, you know, she didn't know anybody. But in a group, my experience is people are very gracious about, you know, reaching out and including somebody in so you don't feel awkward.

And what do you. Have you experienced that as well?

Talek Nantes: 00:26:26

Do you mean with the people that in the country where the tour is visiting?

Wendy Green: 00:26:31

The. The people on your tour. The people on your tour, you know.

Talek Nantes: 00:26:34

Like, they're gracious about interacting with other tour participants.

Wendy Green: 00:26:39

Right. Including you in. So that when you're there all alone and you don't know anybody, you know, don't be afraid that, well, nobody's going to talk to me.

What am I going to do?

Talek Nantes: 00:26:50

No, because we are tend to be. We tend to spend a lot of time together anyway. Like, a lot of the breakfasts are always together.

Then we'll go on the tour and in the morning tour and you're going to be together. Then the, the lunches, you're together later, you, you can go on tour or you are. You can go on your own.

What tends to happen is that people will say to each other, well, where are you going? Are you going to the museum? Oh, okay, I'll go too. Or they say, hey, why don't you come along? That sort of thing.

But it's just inconceivable that, that someone would be left, you know, to fend for themselves deliberately. People are gracious. Yeah, gracious. And, and it's. It's fun.

Wendy Green: 00:27:37

And that's been my experience. And so I would say to people, if you're nervous about, you know, venturing out, a tour is the way to go, because you will be.

You will make friends, you will be part of the group.

Talek Nantes: 00:27:51

Part of the group.

Wendy Green: 00:27:52

Absolutely part of the group.

Talek Nantes: 00:27:53

And at the same time, you have an opportunity to. You want to take off on your own because you want to go see the chocolate museum that nobody else is interested in. You know, you do that on your own.

There's plenty of free time as well.

Wendy Green: 00:28:08

So, you know, normally I would ask somebody who's new to travel. So what did you learn from that experience in that place you learned, you learn about yourself. Now you've been traveling since before you were born.

Are you still learning new things about yourself and about the places you go when you travel?

Talek Nantes: 00:28:28

That is such a good question.

Wendy Green: 00:28:31

Wow.

Talek Nantes: 00:28:32

About the places. Yeah, of course. You know, I, yeah, we, we went, we crossed China, central China in a, in a four by four all the way over to Tibet.

And as we got closer and closer to Tibet, the guards got more and more, what's the word? Not suspicious, more vigilant. Grew more and more. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. So that, that's something new that I learned.

Like wow, as you got closer like that. Now what do you have then? Where are you going? What are you doing? Until we got to Tibet and everything was fine.

That's why I keep mentioning Tibet, because it's such a, an unusual place, you know, different foods. Absolutely. Yeah. You're always learning something new about, about a place.

Wendy Green: 00:29:22

What about the women on your trips? Do you feel like at the end of the trip you have a debrief and find out things that they've learned about themselves and their experience, you know?

Talek Nantes: 00:29:34

No, I have not done that. But you've given me a very good idea. What I do do is that I request trip, post trip evaluations. What did you enjoy? What could we improve?

What surprised you? What would you do different? That sort of things. So we do do that. But now I'm going to add what did, what, if anything did you learn from this?

Yeah, I think that the answers would be very interesting and very revealing. I think so going to be around those that were all the same, you.

Wendy Green: 00:30:10

Know, which is part of the reason we travel. Right. So we see that people are people wherever you are. Good, bad, mean, nice, happy, tall, short. I mean, they're just people.

Yes, but their cultures are different. You know, you go into like a grocery store in Cuba, you're not going to see aisles and aisles and aisles full of some of the snack foods and things.

Talek Nantes: 00:30:38

Definitely not. No, no. Nor will you go to a play, to a supermarket in the United States or a restaurant.

Will you find the fruit juices and the fresh fruits that you find in Cuba? So yeah. Oh, now that you mentioned, like what do people learn now? I thought of something with the bras for babes.

As I collect them, I collect them throughout the month of October in awareness of breast cancer month. And I have some of the boxes that I've gotten, I've opened it up and I have found bras that still had the tags on Them.

So that means that women went out, they went to a store and they bought bras in mind, knowing that they were going to donate this. Can you imagine?

I mean, that just renews your faith in humanity that these people had that thought to share this with somebody, that they would say to them, to the recipient, you know, I'm not just giving you some cast off bra that I used. I'm giving you a gift because you're just like me. And that just.

That surprised me very much and then just gave me such a good feeling about that somebody would do that.

Wendy Green: 00:31:57

I love that. So these bras that you collect are they're from people that are going on this trip with you or they're both?

Talek Nantes: 00:32:05

Both people. I, I just got a message today from a woman that had been on a tour, Cuba tour, like three years ago.

She sends, every year she sent in October, she'll send bras. People that are going on the tour will send them because they want to bring them down themselves.

Wendy Green: 00:32:25

I was gonna ask you, I mean, you sent me a picture where you had boxes and boxes. Like, how do you bring all that down there?

Talek Nantes: 00:32:33

Well, I, I bring some and I also ask people to bring them themselves. And I also have a friend that goes to Cuba regularly that I give him some boxes, he brings them down and then I pick them up once I'm in Cuba.

So it's a combination of things. But people want to send them and to so that they can bring them or collect them so that they can bring them down themselves. And it's not just bras.

They also bring those donation items that I mentioned. These are small, very inexpensive plastic containers.

Those are the ones that you'll buy ham in the supermarket and then you throw out the plastic container. Save those plastic containers because those are extremely valuable.

And that's free reading glasses, batteries, you know, pens, pencils, notebooks, all of those things, aspirin.

Wendy Green: 00:33:29

And you bring them with you and you can kind of be part of giving them out to giving them away. So it makes it even more meaningful.

Talek Nantes: 00:33:38

Exactly, exactly.

And we give them away not only in Havana, but we also go to other important cities like Trinidad, which is the oldest, most perfect preserved colonial city in the Americas, and which is a beautiful, absolutely gorgeous town with open air nightclubs and nightclubs that are in caves.

And we experience all of that also Tusien Fuegos, which is very near to Trinidad, and that is a city that was founded by French people from Louisiana and from Bordeaux. And we also go to Vinales, and that's where My family is originally from that whole area. And there we do.

We go navigating in underground rivers, horseback riding those who want to. Biking, hiking. Again, an extraordinary nightlife. So, yeah, as we go to all of those places, there are other places as well.

People leave some of the donations with the Casa hostesses.

Wendy Green: 00:34:45

Okay.

Talek Nantes: 00:34:46

Be it bras or whatever, you know, aspirin, batteries.

Wendy Green: 00:34:51

So you travel also outside of these tours that you take. You told me you and your husband are getting ready to do some kind of a train?

Talek Nantes: 00:35:00

Yes, we're going to go on the Rovos Rail, which is a company. Rovos Rail is based out of South Pretoria, South Africa, and they have train travel throughout the area.

They go to Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, a couple of other places. And you get on a train and you travel from. We're going to Namibia.

So we're going to arrive in Namibia and take a train to last 10 days to cross southern Africa until you reach Pretoria or Johannesburg. Pretoria and Johannesburg very close to each other. So during that time, we sleep on the train, we have breakfast on the train.

Sometimes we'll have another meal on the train or we'll stop and we'll visit a town or do a little safari or a walking safari or visit a museum or the famous sand dunes of Namibia, whatever happens to be interesting in that area. So, yeah, we're going to do that in November, so. So that should be cool. Really looking forward to that.

Wendy Green: 00:36:09

So are you ever home, Talik?

Talek Nantes: 00:36:12

Yeah, we're home. Yeah, we just got back from New York, which. Which to me is home, because that's.

Wendy Green: 00:36:19

That's where you move to.

Talek Nantes: 00:36:20

That's where I. Where I. No, that's where I've lived, was born and raised in New York City, but now I'm in Florida. So we just got back from.

From visiting family in New York, and now we're here in Florida. We're home until we leave again in November, which is a month away. We're leaving in a month for this Namibia trip.

Wendy Green: 00:36:41

And are you doing an October trip to.

Talek Nantes: 00:36:43

No.

Wendy Green: 00:36:44

Okay.

Talek Nantes: 00:36:44

No, no, we're doing December. December 11th is the Cuba trip.

Wendy Green: 00:36:48

Okay. All right. So I always like to ask my guests about aging well. So what would that mean? What does aging well mean to you?

Talek Nantes: 00:37:02

Aging well would mean to have purpose and to feel motivated as long as I possibly can.

And in order to do that, to try and stay healthy and all that implies, which is trying to move and to, I guess, stay fit, eat health, eat healthy meals, as you say, relationships are absolutely key and to have challenges. I think it's important to have a challenge. To me, my challenge is my website, which I am not technically savvy at all.

So I've had to learn a lot of things and I made a lot of mistakes. And boy, if something keeps you, if it's true what they say, that, that you, you.

It keeps your mind sharp to, to be able to solve issues and problems and wow, then I must be a genius because I mess up that, that website constantly and there's always.

Wendy Green: 00:38:03

Yeah. So I love that. Purpose. Relationship. Challenges.

Talek Nantes: 00:38:07

Challenges.

Wendy Green: 00:38:08

I think challenge yourself a little bit. Yeah. Try new things.

Talek Nantes: 00:38:12

Yeah, I understand that. Learning a new language. I was just reading up on that. That that is something that keeps your, your neurons, you know, connecting in your brain.

So I think that doing that, keeping your mind agile is as important as keeping your body agile. The two of them together is going to get you to that finish line.

Wendy Green: 00:38:31

Yeah.

Talek Nantes: 00:38:32

In the best possible shape.

Wendy Green: 00:38:33

In the best possible way. Thank you. So if you want to follow Travels With Talik on her blog, it's Travels with Talik T a l e k.com which will also be in the show notes.

And the nice thing about traveling or following Travels with Talic is that you get insights onto so many different places that she has gone to and checked out and gives you hints. Plus, if you subscribe to that, you get those 101 right tips.

Talek Nantes: 00:39:09

101 free travel tips.

Wendy Green: 00:39:11

Yes, it's an ebook, which is super helpful too, because you have a lot of travel tips in there about, you know, how to find the best deals on trains or on airplanes or at hotels or, you know, so you don't have to just break the bank to go on a trip.

Talek Nantes: 00:39:30

Exactly, yeah. How to save money. How to stay connected. What's the best way to stay connected without.

Without paying ridiculous amounts of money to Verizon, things like that. How to avoid.

How to stay safe, how to avoid pickpockets, how not to get ripped off in a restaurant, overseas packing tips, what to bring, what not to bring, things like that. It'll save you a lot of time. And I made a lot of mistakes over the years, so all the ones that I've corrected, I've put them in there.

Wendy Green: 00:40:05

Yeah. And they're all important tips, you know, because it makes your trip safer and more comfortable and more affordable.

So I would say subscribe to travelswithtalic.com I would agree. And get those travel tips. I think that's really helpful. So this has been a great conversation. I. I enjoy talking to you so much, Talic.

And I love that. Yeah. And I love that you remind us that travel is about connection between people and the cultures.

And hearing that something as simple as a bra or a bottle of aspirin or even those plastic containers that you mentioned can mean the world to someone else who doesn't have it. And we don't realize how much that is important to them. So finding trips that also have purpose in them, it can really be a life changer.

And so here's what I want y' all to take away that you, you are never too old to travel and to travel with a purpose if you want to. Whether you're 60, 70 or beyond, you still have the power to make an impact.

And you can step out into the world, bring your kindness, and come home not only with memories, but with the knowledge that you've left something positive behind. Especially with the relationships that you brief encounters. You just never know the impact you have on somebody.

So be a good friend and share this episode. And I mean it, really share the podcast with your friends. The good information we share here is not as helpful as it could be if we keep it a secret.

And for just a little bit more good news, I want to tell you about something that I have created that I hope you're going to find really helpful. It's a quiz that I think is fun and interesting and I call it the what's keeping you stuck quiz.

And it's going to help you discover your retirement stuck type. Now, not everybody is stuck, but in when you're stuck, it's like, I don't know what to do. I'm just, I just not.

It's not the way I thought it was going to be.

So once you get find your your stuck type, then you're going to get five customized emails with tips and resources to help you break free from being stuck. And I came up with this based on the so many people that I've spoken to just like you. And I know how unsettling and surprising this can be.

The link is on the screen, but I'm also going to put it in the show notes because it's too hard to say out loud. So check that out though. It's fun. It's fun to. You know, everybody likes those little quizzes.

And I also want to tell you that I was a guest on the Late Bloomer Living podcast hosted by one of my friends, Yvonne Marchesi. And the Late Bloomer Living podcast is. It's. It's a show all about embracing change, sparking joy, and living playfully.

That's really kind of key to Yvonne living playfully at any age. She encourages listeners to bloom with curiosity and courage.

And if you enjoy listening to Boomer Banter, I really think you'll enjoy listening to Late Bloomer Living. So I hope you will check it out. Talik, thank you so much for being with us. Yes.

And thank you everyone who signed in to listen and who will be there on the listening end when it's in the podcast world and come back and banter with us again about topics of interest and importance to us as we age.

Talek Nantes: 00:44:06

Well, thank you.

Wendy Green: 00:44:29

Okay. Thank you.