One of the things I love about travelling is that I finally have the time to think.
And I have time to think because I’m literally disconnecting from social media and the Internet unless I’m working or writing for the blog. I check the news once a day, the rest of the time, I’m just focusing on what’s happening right now, in front of me. Life is much better without the twenty-four-hour news cycle of bad news and without partisan media.
And it’s not like I’m disconnected from the world, I know what’s going on, but I mostly read long-form articles from newspapers around the world. It’s also easier to get things into perspective when I’m outside of North America, for some reason. I don’t understand Canada anymore. I don’t understand where the country is going. I feel we’re creating problems and not solving actual issues. Everything is politicized, everybody is too loud, and we lost common sense.
And meanwhile, I find Brazilians suspiciously happy.
Everywhere I go, people are chatting, smiling, occasionally singing to themselves, greeting friends, and putting their heart into what they are doing. People go out and walk around just for the sake of it. People socialize. They are pretty nice to each other too.
Most Brazilians don’t have an easy life, and it’s a complicated country with issues you’ve probably heard about—a country divided politically, favelas, poverty, not sure about the state of the Amazonas rainforest because I have yet to check it out. It had the pandemic from hell too.
I know I’m only seeing a tiny part of Brazil. I know it’s summer, whatever it means down there. I know that I mostly hang out in places where it’s safe to hang out.
Still. I spent about ten hours a day outside bumping into tons of people—Airbnb hosts, beach bums, store employees, bus drivers and more.
And yeah, they look happy enough. Kids too, by the way.
I can’t help thinking this is because they didn’t lose touch with reality, as so many of us did in North America, hiding at home behind a screen.
This is not a rant against the work-from-home option, but against the somewhat new trend to claim that people suck. Avoid people! Get food delivered, set up your own home gym, subscribe to Netflix and order online because, I repeat, OTHER PEOPLE SUCK!
It did make sense to avoid fellow germ carriers for a while but it wasn’t written you were supposed to turn into a recluse for the rest of your life. And I’m saying that as someone who isn’t particularly sociable—I love being around strangers and being part of a crowd, but I’m not into being part of a community, hosting friends, going to parties, etc.
Or maybe Brazilians are happy because they follow the advice I see on cute signs on pretty much every beach—”É preciso salgar os pés para adoçar a alma”, “soak your feet in salt water to sweeten your soul”.
Works for me. I’m happier when I spend a lot of time outside, when the weather is hot, when there’s water around.
I’ll tell you more about João Pessoa this week. For now, here is the coast of João Pessoa, with the very famous Praia Coqueirinho.
Nice photos. I meant to ask, how are you getting your selfies with your camera or phone? If a phone, I imagine it’s on self timer. Or do you ask strangers or maybe in these cases the people you maybe have met on the bus trip? I would always worry someone would offer to take a photo and run off . That being said I need to soak my feet in salt water also.
I never actually use the timer, it’s rare that I have a safe place to put the camera down. I just ask strangers to take pictures.
It helps that Brazilians are also into pictures, Instagram, etc. However, few people are comfortable with a dslr, that’s probably my biggest issue. Other than that, I’m not paranoid about people running away with it. Phones are probably more expensive and useful to thieves, plus I usually take the camera out where people take their cellphones out.
Aaaah, I feel you regret to not have been in Ottawa for the -33° record.
I was devastated. But I think I’ve seen colder in Ottawa.
Ah, exactly, i’m surprised -33° is a 50 years record low. The first winter I was here was pretty cold, I remember -35°/-36°, but out of towns in the Lac St-Jean area.
I remember this one: https://correresmidestino.com/ottawa-was-colder-than-mars/
Est ce que tu passes bcp de temps sur ton téléphone quand tu es au Canada? Je me demande combien de temps ça me prendrait pour ne plus me sentir perdue sans être connectée tt le temps. C’est fou comme idée 🙂
I spent very little time in my phone in Canada, other than using it to listen to podcast when I walk. I showed Mark my stats, less than an hour a day… but I spend time on my laptop, mostly for work, blogs and several forums I read without commenting.
I’m not on Facebook and I tend to use WhatsApp like I use emails, ie full sentences and messages instead of a lengthy back and forth.
I use my phone more in Brazil, they are addicted to WhatsApp for everything, from scheduling tours to confirming Airbnb…