Meet Talek Nantes

We were lucky to catch up with Talek Nantes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Talek, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I’ve always been interested in travel and different cultures. This has been a passion of mine since I can remember. I knew very early that whatever path my life would take had to be somehow related to travel. That was, and is, my purpose.

I believe three life events contributed to my passion for travel. All of these happened around the age of 6 or 7.

First, I once asked a relative where he was going and he flippently responded, “to the the end of the world.” I thought that was a real place. I became obsessed with finding it. That brief interaction nourished my lifelong curiosity about far-off places.

As a child my mother took me to visit family in Cuba. I traveled between Cuba and New York City, where I was born, for many years. When travel to Cuba became difficult, I cherished those visits in my memory and never forgot them.

My mother had a travel agency in New York City. On the wall there was a large map that took up the entie wall. I remember staring at that map day after day and imagining what life was like in places like Figi, Zanzibar or Beijing. I knew I would visit these, and many other, places on that map someday.

Those events fueled my passion for travel.

In college I majored in international business with the idea of making a decent living while traveling the world. After a successful, decades-long career as an international business professional, I became a travel blogger.

Travel blogging has allowed me to continue sustaining my love of travel. It has allowed me to share my passion with others through travel articles sharing travel tips and advice. I also offer culturally immersive tours to interesting destinations like northern Spain, Cuba and China.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My travel blog is www.TravelswithTalek.com. Through my blog I share travel tips and advice designed to help people create their own unique travel experiences.

I also offer tours. Travels with Talek tours are designed to maximize culturally meaningful experiences with the local people and culture. For example, we take cooking and dancing lessons. We engage with local businesses and meet with guides, artists, historians and others who can share their knowledge of the culture.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Having two native languages; English and Spanish always helped me in my professional development. A strong language background helped me learn additional languages like Italian and Portuguese.

My MBA in International Business was always a door opener for any career opportunity that presented itself.

Finally, persistence and a strong work ethic helped me in every aspect of my life both professionally and personally.

My advice to others interested in pursuing a particular objective is to study the topic and learn as much as possible about it. Stick with it. Don’t let setbacks discourage you from achieving your dreams.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My number one challenge is technology. Not being a very tech-savvy person who happens to run a website is especially challenging.

I knew I would never be able to accomplish my objectives if I did not have at least a working knowledge of the technology pertinent to my day-to-day activities.

I hired a person to teach me the technical aspects of running my website. This was without a doubt one of my best investments.

Subsequent to hiring tech-savvy help, I took as many courses as possible to familiarize myself with the technology necessary to do my job.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
I, Talek Nantes, own all these photos.

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