The Road to Brazil

Planning a Trip to Brazil for the World Cup
Planning a Trip to Brazil for the World Cup 2014 (Rio de Janairo Panarama photo via rioholidays.com)

State your goals and you will be held accountable for them. Work hard enough and the universe will help you accomplish them. 

I write this post with a sense of nervousness and excitement. The next chapter for T2T is on the horizon, yet the path is still unknown.

I will move to Brazil, learn the language and culture, attend the FIFA World Cup and travel the country in 2014.

This is my next big dream plan.

As for the HOW portion of all this… that planning starts now! I currently have zero contacts in Brazil and very little knowledge of the language or country.

Just the way I like it!

I’ve decided to open up about the process of moving abroad in hopes of educating and inspiring others who are looking to make a similar leap within their own lives.

The procedure can be very intimidating and overwhelming, and the fear of uncertainty appears in the form of excuses and doubts.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” – Ambrose Redmoon

I wrote a great deal about moving to Argentina when I first started this blog, but I haven’t talked much about travel planning since that maiden voyage.

Thankfully, there are a lot more eyeballs following along on my current adventures than there were four years ago, so I decided it was time to revisit the process.

I don’t want everything planned out because that just wouldn’t be my style, but there are some necessary arrangements I need to setup before arriving. In Brazil.

1. Dates/Logistics – A U.S. citizen tourist visa to Brazil is good for 90-days with the opportunity for an extension of a maximum of 190 days over a 12-month period. My initial thought is to go down in January and stay until August (8 months), so I would need to look into obtaining a temporary residence visa or work visa to make this happen. Also, is Living in Rio de Janeiro the best place in Brazil?

2. Money – This is the most important aspect of the planning process. In order to obtain the extended visa I believe will need to align myself with a particular organization to help me through the paperwork. Also, Brazil is getting very expensive and I want to make sure I am profiting (not just breaking even) while in the country.

3. Partnerships – Hopefully, this will go hand-in-hand with income. My goal is to develop partnerships with international travel and tourism organizations that want to align their brands with T2T, Brazil Tourism and the World Cup. There are a few organizations that I believe will be a great fit for this adventure and I will be pitching them in the coming weeks.

4. Housing – Although I usually wait until I arrive in a country before I setup an apartment, living in Brazil is more expensive than Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Guatemala, so I might need to plan ahead on this.

5. Vaccinations – Make sure I have all recommended vaccinations as outlined here.

Everything else will figure itself out, right?

Over the next two and a half months, I will write about the process of moving to Brazil and will be taking a few of short trips in the meantime to keep the travel videos, photos and stories coming your way.

If anyway has good leads on possible partnerships, housing or good contacts in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro in particular), PLEASE CONTACT ME.

Otherwise, Let’s see what happens…

Planning a Trip to Brazil for the World Cup

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

36 Comments

    1. I know Andrea it can be pretty expensive. That’s why I got here early to see what I could work out… we’ll see what happens I guess!

  1. Wow, this is very inspiring. I’m interested in your plan for learning Portuguese. Knowing how to communicate can have an immense impact on your stay! It’s all about finding what method works best for you.

    1. Absolutely Tyler, I will definitely be posting all my accomplishments (and failures) with the learning Portuguese here.

  2. Wow!! Amazing image its seems like a heaven. Such natural delights. I will surely plan my upcoming vacation to this place.

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  4. It´s a Pitty that i am discovering your site just today: 26 July 2015!
    I am from Rio and a Local Friend in part time…
    I was a Professional Local Friend during the whole month of World Cup , working for a Indonesian TV…we had such a great time!!! City was another City!!! Argentinians and brazilians cheering up by Copacabana Beach…all nations have a “Chopp” (Cold Beer) at night in our beach restaurants…Wow, it seemed an Energetic Portal that opened and closes after the Mondial. My fatjer lives in Leme, Copacabana and i could never ever walk by Copacabana streets by night without fear of street kids rubbers…also get a bus…and i did it all the time, the city was so secure!!! I HOPE you had a great time too during World Cup, but all this time in Brazil ! It is a very , VERY expensive city…also dangerous to explore by yourself…need to know where to go and be aware all the time…Maybe just GAZA is more dangerous than Rio…Its really true…violence is everywhere in town, BUT i hope you had a great time !!!! WELL, now, if you need anything, i can be your local friend here ok!!!

  5. Hello Gareth, #2 is really important and definitely we need money. It is fundamental to all of us of course especially in terms of traveling. We really need it badly and as you say, Brazil would be expensive in some ways. Looking forward with your future travel adventures.

  6. It is just so beautiful whenever i plan a trip the first place that comes in my mind is Dubai because i found it very interesting that is why i tend to travel there but now i feel that i should even try the other places as well. I really liked it. I am planning a trip in 15 to 20 days and not anything specific in mind so i would love to travel this time to the place that you suggested. Let’s see how the experience would be. Thanks mate 🙂

  7. Hello Gareth, #2 is really important and definitely we need money. It is fundamental to all of us of course especially in terms of traveling. We really need it badly and as you say, Brazil would be expensive in some ways. Looking forward with your future travel adventures.

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