rio de janeiro

After going to the wrong airport (GRU instead of CGH) to catch my flight to Rio and an hour distance between the two, I made it to my terminal. Huge props to my Uber driver, especially with the language barrier and hectic traffic.

It was storming and the flight kept getting delayed, which luckily bought me more time. I had a bit of anxiety, but it was soon relieved as we were ready to board and I sat next to a friendly stranger who greeted me with a warm grin. I returned the gesture, which I hoped didn’t come off awkwardly. Because I don’t like the sound of planes, especially during take-off, I scurried for my noise-cancelling earphones, but to my dismay realized that they were stored in my carry-on that I couldn’t reach. Not wanting to disrupt passengers boarding, I decided to focus on the screen in front of me and find ways to distract myself. After all, it was just an hour flight. I could weather it. No pun intended. 

Suddenly, the friendly stranger turned to speak to me and I apologized, replying that I couldn’t understand him.

“Ah, you’re American!”

I confirmed shyly as I’m not the one to boast my nationality, especially when traveling as I feel it is unnecessary. During this, I recalled the fellow American talking loudly on the phone in the airport just minutes ago. There was just something about Americans that commanded a space. Something that makes us stand out in the crowd, especially when we speak. 

I preferred to remain unnoticeable, but that was hard considering the majority of the people in Brazil speak Portuguese, a language I hadn’t familiarized myself with and candidly, had to resort to Google Translate for assistance during my trip. 

Friendly stranger and I conversed during the entire plane ride, which actually lasted 45 minutes and wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be considering the weather. We spoke about America and Brazil, things we sought as similarities and differences based on our experiences. He shared tips for me as a solo traveler, places to go, and things to see while in Rio. 

On his screen, CNN was airing something about the government and favelas, where I went on to ask why people were interested in visiting favelas when they came to Rio. That discussion went deep and before we knew it, we landed at GIG. 

I was here. I was actually in Rio de Janeiro. Literally a year ago I was only dreaming of this place, reposting people visiting it on TikTok and here I was actually experiencing it for myself. 

It rained my entire trip, but that didn’t stop me from taking a tour of Christ the Redeemer (one of the seven wonders of the world!!!), Sugarloaf Mountain, Selarón Steps and other places in the city. On top of that, I walked along Copacabana all the way to Ipanema Beach, which I absolutely enjoyed because it allowed me to see more of the less touristy spots. I also walked downtown to visit Confeitaria Colombo, which had multiple spots that I found myself running around downtown to make sure I visited the real cafe. After waiting in line for about an hour, I finally was seated and it was so worth it. I indulged in a hot chocolate, chocolate eclair and a brigadeiro, a Brazilian dessert. 

Even with the rain, the city was absolutely stunning. And traveling solo just made the entire trip so easy, because I made my way through things with no fuss in the span of just three days.

I consider this a level up from my past solo traveling experiences given terrain, language barrier and distance from home.