After my first visit, I can confidently say that Trancoso is a must-see destination. It’s already popular among Brazilian travelers, yet it still feels like a secret. People clearly know about Trancoso, but when you’re there, it’s as if no one else does. The town has somehow managed to avoid the over-commercialized vibe that plagues many popular beach destinations. Thankfully, many of my favorite destinations within South America continue to fly under the radar by avoiding hype and attention. Fortunately, it’s a good thing that my mother doesn’t read this blog, so don’t worry, I won’t be the one changing that. The beach here is lovely, but the real magic lies in the historic town square, which dates back a few centuries. Around its edges, restaurants and boutiques sit beneath enormous trees hung with lanterns that glow at night, casting a warm light over open-air tables and cobblestone paths. It creates a magical environment and ambiance that I haven’t experienced elsewhere. If I return to Trancoso, I’ll put more effort into capturing that in my photos. Another key ingredient to what makes Trancoso a great place to visit is the food. Trancoso has great food. Trancoso is part of the […]
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Belo Horizonte has been on my radar for a while. It’s the capital of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil’s biggest states, often described to me as the Midwest of Brazil. The people, mineiros, are known for their warmth, and the food has a reputation to match. Minas is comfort food heaven: think pão de queijo, that chewy, gluten-free cheese bread made with cassava, which is probably the most famous Brazilian food. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to explore Belo Horizonte during my 13-day stay, but I did enjoy maintaining a balanced routine, which included work. I found a great gym across the street from my Airbnb, along with a branch of my favorite Japanese coffee brand, which I imagine will inevitably make it to the USA (the best iced coffees I know). I’d be up for staying in Belo Horizonte again. My time there was comfortable, and I found it easy to navigate. I’m sure there will be more things to explore and discover the next time around. This time, my pursuits were elsewhere. Marce was the highlight of Belo Horizonte and made the routine an adventure. I celebrated my 45th birthday at an Airbnb with her, and she […]
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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. […]
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This was just a short 24-hour stopover in Lima between Colombia and Brazil to satiate my need for Peruvian ceviche and leche de tigre. I’m annotating it here to remind myself to do it more often.
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It always feels like I am home when I return to the cool, rainy weather of Bogotá for a couple months each year. For years, this has been part of my yearly cadence that offsets the manic periods when I search, discover and travel to new places. Here in Bogotá though, the obligations of adventure are discarded, and I’d rather read a book and nap while I listen to the rain on the rooftop, warm under a blanket. This year, weeks sped past while I focused on work, naps and exercise. I had plans to climb the last remaining volcano on my bucket list in Colombia, but there was friction with the scheduling that I took as portent to delay it to another time. Maybe next year. I ran laps in the park after going to the gym each day, running hard to nowhere. My daily routines here feel like I am masquerading as a real person, living a conventional life in Bogotá. The locals know I am not, but it’s a fun game to play. I am reminded of the other conventional lives I have mimicked in cities around the world, in each one an experiment in a different […]
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I spent Easter in Orlando as a guest of Marce and her family, who were generous enough to host me and show me around. I also made a return trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, my first visit since 1993, when I came here with my dad. Some things hadn’t changed at all — Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Muppets 3D, even parts of the Star Wars area, though it’s obviously been updated. It was cool seeing the same attractions three decades later, and the only regret I have is that Disney does not sell those giant turkey drumsticks at Hollywood Studios. So, instead, I compensated by eating three ice cream sandwiches. I’ll have to right that wrong on my next pass through Orlando.
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Renting a car and driving through Chile’s Lagos region (Los Lagos) from Temuco to Pucon and then on to Valdivia, Puerto Varas, and Puerto Montt was the ideal way to get a sense of just how big the country is. I was surprised at the number of volcanoes that walled the western horizon and how vacant the landscape appeared alongside them. Stretches of road feel like you are in an untouched, virgin frontier that has yet to succumb to people. Marce navigated through the geography as a copilot, flavoring my understanding of the Lagos region with anecdotes about the local cuisine, personal stories about eating it, and also helped translate Chilean when needed. For example, as good as I think my Spanish is (“meh”), it’s not good enough to understand turbo Chilean from the huevón facilitating my rental car at the Temuco airport. You’ll want to have a Marce for that. In case you are unaware, Spanish speakers often cite Chilean Spanish as the most difficult dialect to understand owing to the many idiomatic expressions and slang terms in use. Chileans have their own separate vocabulary, cachai? It’s a good thing I was with a woman who listens to Chilean […]
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It’s hard to stay away from Floripa, so I found a way to return for a week on my way out of Brazil. This time I stayed in the south of the island in a small town called Armação, which I hadn’t visited before. My Brazilian friend Laura had recommended it to me as a good place to stay, close to the beach, and chill. I had a lot of work, so I didn’t do much else except go to the gym, eat poke, take photos, and go to the beach. She and her mom made me a really great grilled fish dinner (see photo below). While visiting the beach at Pâtano do Sul (a place I stayed last time I was in Floripa). I stumbled upon the yearly celebration of the African sea goddess, Yemanjá. Yemanjá is a deity from the Yoruba religion that was brought to Brazil by African immigrants and is still practiced today (alongside others). The locals were dancing, singing, and doing capoeira all afternoon and into the night when they lit boats with candles and flowers and sent them out to sea. You can see the statue at the top of this page of Yemanjá. […]
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