I was such a drama queen… Turns out that coming back to Maceió after last year’s experience doesn’t feel that weird. Once again, personal reminder that I spend way too much time worrying about things that could happen—and plot twist, I’m still taken by surprise when the unexpected happens, so I’m basically wasting time worrying for absolutely no reason, trying to control what I can’t control. Human beings are weird—or maybe it’s just me, who knows.

I’m rediscovering Maceió and this time, it’s fun. The Airbnb is great, I like my new neighbourhood and the atmosphere is completely different compared to last year—the perfect example would be the “vaccine truck” parked at the beach where you can get your booster shot or your first two doses if you’ve missed the memo.

There are new shops, new attractions, the city is lively and beaches are packed.

I like this version of Maceió.

And since I know the city really well now, I’m more efficient. For instance, I did remember to withdraw cash in Recife because ATMs in Maceió can be… ahem, fairly unreliable. I avoid shopping at the big GBarbosa supermarket because every time you step in, you lose ten years of your life—long lineups for absolutely no reason. I know where to find the best tarteletes de maracujá (Palato supermarket), where to get a great cup of coffee (Dona Massa or the TruckZone food park), which beaches I can reach at low tide and where I can find cheap and tasty fish at the comida por kilo buffet (try Bendita Padaria!).

Okay, I don’t master everything. For instance, I don’t know shit about plumbing and water systems, and I wish I did because I had some water issues with my Airbnb.

It’s okay, every single Airbnb has a few downsides. For instance, in Natal, I didn’t have a top bedsheet, I used my beach sarong. João Pessoa’s Airbnb was a ground-floor apartment and it could get pretty noisy since it was close to the main door. The bed in Recife was awful and there were no blackout curtains (again, sunrise is really early in the Nordeste), plus the kitchen was tiny with just a couple of pots. Well, my Airbnb in Maceió is perfect… except for water outages. Every single night. A different time every time. The first night I was just stepping out of the shower. The second night it was before my shower and I had planned to sleep early because I had a 6 a.m. start the following day—ah, ah, no such luck, I had to wait for an hour before the water started running again. And yesterday the water outage was while I was showering—luckily, I was able to rinse off using the drip from the suicide shower.

Now, travelling teaching you to be self-sufficient to a certain extent—I carry a roll of toilet paper, cleaning gloves, laundry rope and detergent, emergency powder soup and chocolate (what? Chocolate is an emergency!), condiments, an ice pack (thank you, Feng!), Post-it notes, towels, a flashlight and more… but no giant jug of water, sorry. This is kind of a “must be provided.”

Except for that, Maceió was pretty relaxing. I took a couple of day trips to Praia do Gunga and to São Miguel dos Milagres, and the rest of the time I enjoyed the many beaches during the day, then the long, long beach walk at night—it’s packed and lively with people eating, jogging, playing and more. I worked, read books, took pictures and spent a lot of time trying to plan the rest of the trip.

“Are you sad to leave Maceió?” Feng asked me last night.

Meh. Yes and no. It’s a lovely city and it’s a perfect stop but I just can’t picture myself living in Maceió, so probably not.

I’m not really sad to leave places as long as I keep on travelling.

And I am for now.