Hello, My People! July 2025 Edition

My nephew once walked into a room full of family and friends, threw his arms wide, and shouted, “Hello, my people!” I think this is the best way to greet people I’m genuinely glad to see like you.

Me at Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto 2019

Hello, My People!

I have so many exciting things to tell you, all connected with the December 2nd publication of my debut memoir A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey to Become Cubana-Americana.

Let me start by sharing with you my newly renovated website where you can:

1. pre-order the book - NOW. DO. IT. NOW.

2. read an excerpt - You can do this AFTER you pre-order.

3. find an event near you - get your A Little Piece of Cuba in person! Come to an event or let’s schedule one for your book club or group! Y’all know I’m fun.

4. expect more exciting and fun things, like the book’s trailer and blooper reel for the audiobook of A Little Piece of Cuba to appear later this summer. Bloopers, especially in Spanish, are one of my marketable skills.

Lucky for you, this Substack is about to get a whole lot busier, starting with the new title. Tiny Escapes with Barb explores how travel near and far leads to the richest gift of all: your very self. In addition to a new post every other Wednesday, Day Trip will arrive for you on Monday mornings. Day Trip brings to your inbox a little factoid, a little imagery, maybe a recipe, a little trapdoor for you to slip through in your Monday routine.

New subscribers to Tiny Escapes with Barb will receive a link to my entertaining essay How Excitement and Anxiety Pack the Luggage. I carry more around in my day-to-day existence living and working in New York City than I do for most trips, and my best and lightest piece of luggage was a twenty-four pound duffel bag that I took on a 28-day trip to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. How Excitement and Anxiety Pack the Luggage is SO much more fun than another bullet list of packing tips, but trust me when I say that packing light is not for the faint of heart.

Starting September 1, Read Aloud: Tiny Escapes with Barb will be available for a paid subscription so upgrade before then. Audio production for Read Aloud: Tiny Escapes with Barb is skillfully handled by Todd Lockwood (check out his Substack here) except the ones that sound a little crackly (those I do myself).

I chose this photo of me at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan, for today’s edition of Hello, My People! because it shows me passing under many gates to embark on a whole new adventure, and with the release of A Little Piece of Cuba into the world, a new adventure is exactly where I am headed. I look forward to having you along for the journey.

With love and gratitude,

Barb