I’ve been intentional about seeing more of Brazil, and inevitably, that led me to its capital, Brasília.
No Brazilian I know has ever said, “You’ve got to visit Brasília.” And I get why — this city isn’t like anywhere else in Brazil. It’s orderly where others are chaotic, planned where others are organic. Built from scratch in 1960, Brasília was designed to be a symbol of modernity and unity, a capital in the country’s heart meant to pull power and people inland from the coast.
Its airplane-shaped layout, the Plano Piloto, was supposed to represent efficiency. Government offices line the fuselage, neighborhoods fill the wings. But the city’s modernist ideals came with a tradeoff: Brasília is built for cars, not people.
I stayed in Asa Sul, a district with a nice mix of cafes and apartments. My gym was a 25-minute walk away, but I loved it. Shaded sidewalks, big trees, and almost no one else walking. Each morning, I’d stop for breakfast on the way, grab a coffee coming back, and settle in to work from my apartment.
By the end of the first week, the walk had become a ritual, meditative, even. Music, thoughts, or just quiet autopilot. I’ve said it before: being able to walk places is one of my favorite things about living outside the U.S.
I visited in June, at the start of the Brazilian winter, with crisp air and mild sun, making it perfect walking weather. Funny thing is, after a week on foot, I realized I’d been wrong about Brasília. It’s not a bad city for walking. It’s just that no one else was walking. This was one of the few times it felt like I could teach locals something great about their city.
While hanging out in one of Brasília’s big city parks, I got approached by two friendly locals, Bárbara and Priscilla. After a few awkward attempts to introduce ourselves without sharing a common language, they invited me for coffee. One coffee turned into lunch, and before we said goodbye, we’d already made loose plans to visit Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (“Chapada”) that weekend.
Went ended up following through, and I had some great opportunities to practice portrait photography with the two of them in different spots around Chapada.
