It’s 6:30 a.m. and I’m sitting at the airport in Recife, waiting for my Azul 5024 to Rio de Janeiro.

Fortaleza, Natal, João Pessoa, Recife… up to now, my trip made geographical sense—I’ve been travelling along the stunning Nordeste coastline after a short stay in São Paulo, my gateway to Brazil.

And now I’m suddenly flying 2,500 kilometres south to Rio de Janeiro to meet a guy.

It’s a direct three-hour flight, I’m landing in Rio at noon. He has two connections, he should be landing at 3 p.m.

I have to pick him up at the airport, so I really have to get there first.

I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m taking a chance—we both are.

It was a far-fetched idea in the first place. Is it going to work out as planned?

Step 1 – Leaving Recife

It’s been a crazy week. On Monday, I was beach hopping and learning how to drive a quad bike in João Pessoa. On Wednesday morning, I took the bus to Recife. On Thursday, Recife turned into Venice (without the pretty gondolas). And on Friday evening, I started to get ready for Saturday’s early flight.

Things didn’t exactly go my way.

O Carnaval está chegando—the massive party that will rock Brazil for the next few weeks is about to start, and it’s the first Carnival since the pandemic, so people are really into it.

I suspect Recife went into Carnival mode this week because getting things done was unbearably frustrating.

On Friday night, my main issue was booking a taxi to the airport for 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Usually, I go to a taxi stand or wherever taxi drivers gather, and I ask around to find my ride to the airport or the bus terminal the next day. Brazilians are super reliable, and booking a taxi this way is much easier than hailing one in the street at the last minute or trying to get a 99 (the local Uber).

But no Recife taxi driver felt like taking me to the airport at 6:30 a.m. “Plenty of taxis in the street, don’t worry!” Well, I did worry. I contacted a taxi company through WhatsApp, and it took them two hours to text me “estou sem disponibilidade.” Really? Absolutely no taxi available to the airport? Come on!

The most frustrating part was that my Airbnb was very close to the airport, which is literally right in the middle of Boa Viagem. According to Google Maps, it’s only a thirty-minute walk…

Yeah, no. I’m not walking to the airport at 6:00 a.m. and shit, it’s 11 p.m. and I still have to cook dinner, do the laundry and pack.

I texted my Brazilian friend and begged for help since he had offered “gringa assistance” if needed. Let’s just say that even for a true Paulista, the process wasn’t that smooth, but he managed to book me a taxi. YES!

I set up three alarms and I left the curtains open since sunrise is very early, then I managed to sleep for two or three hours.

The taxi did show up, but 20 minutes early. I rushed out of the Airbnb. It took about ten minutes to get to the airport. I checked in and sat around for a while, trying to stay awake.

Past security, the fact Carnival bands started drumming in the departure hall did help keep me awake. Too bad I wasn’t in party mode at 8 a.m.

I took a series of pictures above Boa Viagem and I only woke up three hours later as we were landing in Santos Dumont.

Step 2 – Landing in Rio de Janeiro

So far, so good.

I took a taxi to the Airbnb. My expectations were pretty low since housing is quite an issue in Rio de Janeiro—I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a nice Airbnb, and I can’t even complain considering many residents can’t even find proper housing. “Look, there’s even a window!” my Airbnb host boasted. I blinked twice and readjusted expectations. This one was a typical Copacabana place—terrible layout, stuffy, old and… weird. But hey, finding an affordable Airbnb in Rio during Carnival isn’t easy.

Two hours to go.

I grabbed a coffee, bought some groceries, and took my third taxi of the day back to Santos Dumont airport.

Step 3 – Picking up the loves of your life

I paced the airport—too cold inside with the airport, too hot outside.

The flight I was waiting for was landing.

Oh yeah, I wasn’t meeting a guy, but two.

All the way from Canada, Ottawa-Toronto, Toronto-São Paulo, and São Paulo-Rio de Janeiro, Feng and Mark are joining me in Brazil for two weeks!