I Never Left My Country Until I Was 30
And how grateful am I for being able to overcome it.
South America.
That’s where I grew up. More than that, I grew up in “south” South America. If you can remember the continent’s map, there is a small tip at the southernmost portion of Brazil. I’m from that tip.
There’s something people usually don’t get about South America: It is pretty far away from everything! People who grow up there and we tend to think the rest of the world is more or less the same, but have no idea how remote the region is.
Just for some perspective, traveling from my hometown to Europe would take 5 hours by bus to my state capital, from there a 90-minute flight to Sao Paulo, and finally an 8-hour flight to a European destination.
Add to that parents who didn’t enjoy long (and expensive!!) trips and until my late teens, I only related traveling to visiting my grandparent in the countryside. My first air trip was in my early 20s, going to Rio, during college.
But I need to say I lied in the title. I did visit Uruguay a couple of times, but only because it was a 2-hour drive. Despite I loved being there, I barely considered it a real international trip. That summarizes my international experience in my early life.
I was stuck in my geographical prison. And I resented that. Deeply.
As a kid I dreamed about knowing the world, I wanted to see all of it. My mind was constantly wandering around the globe, craving an opportunity for going out there.
I was particularly fascinated by the United States. Probably because of the movies and TV (like Top Gun, for instance. 😁). When I was 7 I asked my parents to enroll me in English classes. Very few of my friends did the same, and even fewer kept the classes in the long run. But I knew I needed to learn at least English if I would conquer the world.
Things started to change when I joined the airline business, Suddenly I was free to move!
Spoil: I have been to 51 countries so far.
I celebrated my 31 birthday with my wife on our first international trip: Buenos Aires! Pretty close to home, I know, but it was a proper trip. I can not explain how those 5 days in the Argentinian capital made me happy. I was finally out there.
A year later I went to the US for the first time. A quick trip to Miami. It was a fulfillment of a dream. I was finally out in the world!
But the big change came when I got myself a job in a major international airline. Suddenly the world became my backyard.
From Singapore to San Francisco, from Johannesburg to Copenhagen, I have seen it all. Being abroad is really commonplace in my life right now. A huge leap from my early days back home.
From Singapore to San Francisco, from Johannesburg to Copenhagen, I have seen it all.
And that’s what I’m grateful about! Grateful that my kids already know 9 different countries, at the same age that I barely knew anything outside my state. I always try to make them understand how lucky they are.
Grateful that I was able to visit good friends in Orlando, London, Milano, Brisbane, and Dubai.
Grateful that I was able to get lost in New York City, and found a perfect spot for a picnic at a lake by the foothills of the Bavarian alps.
Grateful that I rented a tandem bike in Amsterdam, took an Uber in Bangalore, a cable car in Barcelona, and a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok.
Grateful to have been able to live far away from the limitations of the great distances of my beloved southern tip in South America.
