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Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job
In this introspective travelogue, author, speaker and adventurer Heidi Siefkas shares her transition out of the corporate world’s Cubicle Land to life on the road in Cuba and beyond. Heidi highlights another side of Cuba as well as perspective gained from years of travel to the once-forbidden island. Along the way, she seizes opportunities for adventure in Kauai, Italy, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, and other far-flung places, but always returning to Cuba for more.
Not unlike her previous books When All Balls Drop and With New Eyes, Heidi tells this story with a good dose of sass and humor in her signature down-to-earth vignettes.
Cubicle to Cuba will teach you about Cuba, but it will also inspire you to think outside the cubicle, travel more, and embark on your own Life 2.0 full of adventure.
Not unlike her previous books When All Balls Drop and With New Eyes, Heidi tells this story with a good dose of sass and humor in her signature down-to-earth vignettes.
Cubicle to Cuba will teach you about Cuba, but it will also inspire you to think outside the cubicle, travel more, and embark on your own Life 2.0 full of adventure.
- GenresTravelogue
276 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 31, 2016
About the author
Heidi Siefkas
5 books26 followersHiya. I'm Heidi Siefkas (Seef-kas)! Although I'm originally from small-town Wisconsin (You betcha), I currently call South Florida home. However, as an adventurer, I'm rarely home long. I'm also author of three non-fiction books: When All Balls Drop, With New Eyes, and Cubicle to Cuba. You can connect with me at www.heidisiefkas.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
I invite you to share photos on social media that show where you are enjoying my books, When All Balls Drop (#whenallballsdrop), With New Eyes (#withneweyes), and Cubicle to Cuba (#cubicletocuba).
I invite you to share photos on social media that show where you are enjoying my books, When All Balls Drop (#whenallballsdrop), With New Eyes (#withneweyes), and Cubicle to Cuba (#cubicletocuba).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 8, 2017
Once again Ms. Siefkas strikes again with inspiration with Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job. I am so amazed by this woman, she is so determined and independent and strives for what she wants. I love that! I adore Heidi's relationship with her father, it makes her memoir so much more easier to relate to. I honestly don't enjoy memoirs that much, but I love Ms. Siefkas stories. They're full of humor and they are real, not fake or worded with no emotion. I am so happy that I got the opportunity to read more of Ms. Siefkas stories, it is such a pleasure to a write a review for Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job. Overall I give Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job five stars!
March 16, 2019
Heidi Seifkas’ book is a real page turner! From one adventure to the next, with incredible and fun insights on cuban life and culture. I love the humour, the straightforwardness and the spirit of the book. It made me reflect on my own cubicle life and inspired me to go out and explore with an open mind and open heart. A definite must read for travelers seeking tips on Cuba and traveling off the beaten path. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it!
March 3, 2019
I probably loved this book more because I met the author in person and could hear her voice in my head as I read. She is quite an authority on modern day Cuba and shares alot if what she has learned in This book.
Well worth the read, well written, informative, entertaining, and it will make you want to.plan a trip..enjoy!
Well worth the read, well written, informative, entertaining, and it will make you want to.plan a trip..enjoy!
May 27, 2019
Overall good story. Bugged me how often the author would plug her other books she’s penned. Okay, okay, I get it! It’s as if she was advertising her novels and how she gave away books to people she knows.
August 17, 2018
Kinda all over the place. Ended up skimming through the last half but the tour guide stories were interesting. Should have read this before my Cuba trip!
November 16, 2020
I loved this book and didn't want the story to end! It's a fun and easy read and made me smile throughout. Heidi inspires me to live life to the fullest, as she does.
January 13, 2017
Heidi Siefkas isn't the first author to leave a corporate job for a life of writing and adventure; but she's one of the few who found this path heading to Cuba: a land exotic, forbidden, and in many ways not too far from her own familiar world. And while her adventures begin with and always seem to return to Cuba, they embrace a lifestyle that takes her on world travels which are also narrated here.
Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job follows Heidi Siefkas through Cuba after she makes a life-changing decision that catapults her from a safe, secure, albeit demanding cubicle job to an uncertain, vivid life as a world-traveling writer, and it "...will teach you about Cuba, but it will also inspire you to think out of the cubicle, travel more, and embark on your own Life 2.0."
Unlike many workers, Siefkas didn't leave because her job was changing for the worse. She left because she felt 'stuck' in the choices she'd made, even though she was in a managerial position at a new start-up. The overall structure of her life was frustrating, so when an unexpected call from a friend offered the chance to travel to Cuba in a new capacity as a tour guide, she decided to take the plunge into the unknown and accept far different working conditions than the set roles and cubicle world politics that were stifling her.
Cubicle to Cuba chronicles this process of change, but what really sets it apart from a travelogue or the usual "I left my job for freedom" approach is the author's attention to detailing the daily experiences of Cuban travel and life; especially when she outlines the spirit of Cuba's peoples.
With passages such as these, Cubicle to Cuba deftly reveals the heart of the country and its peoples, juxtaposing cultural observations with travel tips and experiences revolving around bathrooms, water, safety, and more. After setting its foundations in Cuba, Siefkas visits and contrasts other places using a precise "you are there" feel and specific insights that allow for clear comparisons of Cuba's differences to, say, Hawaii.
Cubicle to Cuba is a lively journey that is highly recommended for general readers and, especially, for two audiences: those who want experiential accounts of Cuba, and corporate workers who dream of taking the leap into a different kind of lifestyle.
Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job follows Heidi Siefkas through Cuba after she makes a life-changing decision that catapults her from a safe, secure, albeit demanding cubicle job to an uncertain, vivid life as a world-traveling writer, and it "...will teach you about Cuba, but it will also inspire you to think out of the cubicle, travel more, and embark on your own Life 2.0."
Unlike many workers, Siefkas didn't leave because her job was changing for the worse. She left because she felt 'stuck' in the choices she'd made, even though she was in a managerial position at a new start-up. The overall structure of her life was frustrating, so when an unexpected call from a friend offered the chance to travel to Cuba in a new capacity as a tour guide, she decided to take the plunge into the unknown and accept far different working conditions than the set roles and cubicle world politics that were stifling her.
Cubicle to Cuba chronicles this process of change, but what really sets it apart from a travelogue or the usual "I left my job for freedom" approach is the author's attention to detailing the daily experiences of Cuban travel and life; especially when she outlines the spirit of Cuba's peoples.
With passages such as these, Cubicle to Cuba deftly reveals the heart of the country and its peoples, juxtaposing cultural observations with travel tips and experiences revolving around bathrooms, water, safety, and more. After setting its foundations in Cuba, Siefkas visits and contrasts other places using a precise "you are there" feel and specific insights that allow for clear comparisons of Cuba's differences to, say, Hawaii.
Cubicle to Cuba is a lively journey that is highly recommended for general readers and, especially, for two audiences: those who want experiential accounts of Cuba, and corporate workers who dream of taking the leap into a different kind of lifestyle.
February 5, 2017
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book-tou...
Before reading Cubicle to Cuba, I already knew I was going to enjoy this book, considering I’d loved the author’s first two books: When All Balls Drop, and With New Eyes: The Power of Perspective. Heidi has a down-to-earth, humorous, sassy writing style that makes me read her books at record speed, and Cubicle to Cuba was no different.
As the title states, the book begins with Heidi sitting behind her desk (well, no, in the opening pages she’s drinking mojitos in Cuba, but then we move back in time and she’s behind her desk), in what she calls “Cubicle Land”, a rather accurate term. While her job sounds at least somewhat enjoyable (not as horrendous as I had feared it would be from the title), it’s still not her dream job. Working for a start-up is stressful, with directions being changed overnight at the whim of managers and the president, and when a new job opportunity arrives, Heidi goes for it. Even if the job is set in Cuba.
I’ve never been Cuba, and I never really had any interest in going. It’s just not on my list – not like New Zealand is, or Italy is, or Greece, or Egypt, or lots of other countries. But now I’ve read this book, I’ve seen a whole new side to Cuba, and it does spark my interest. I can understand why Heidi keeps coming back for more.
The chapters are short, making this a quick but enjoyable read, and as usual, I enjoyed the author’s humor and clever writing style. And I’d have to say that from all her books I’ve read so far, this is my favorite.
Before reading Cubicle to Cuba, I already knew I was going to enjoy this book, considering I’d loved the author’s first two books: When All Balls Drop, and With New Eyes: The Power of Perspective. Heidi has a down-to-earth, humorous, sassy writing style that makes me read her books at record speed, and Cubicle to Cuba was no different.
As the title states, the book begins with Heidi sitting behind her desk (well, no, in the opening pages she’s drinking mojitos in Cuba, but then we move back in time and she’s behind her desk), in what she calls “Cubicle Land”, a rather accurate term. While her job sounds at least somewhat enjoyable (not as horrendous as I had feared it would be from the title), it’s still not her dream job. Working for a start-up is stressful, with directions being changed overnight at the whim of managers and the president, and when a new job opportunity arrives, Heidi goes for it. Even if the job is set in Cuba.
I’ve never been Cuba, and I never really had any interest in going. It’s just not on my list – not like New Zealand is, or Italy is, or Greece, or Egypt, or lots of other countries. But now I’ve read this book, I’ve seen a whole new side to Cuba, and it does spark my interest. I can understand why Heidi keeps coming back for more.
The chapters are short, making this a quick but enjoyable read, and as usual, I enjoyed the author’s humor and clever writing style. And I’d have to say that from all her books I’ve read so far, this is my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews