I don’t know what your husband did for you lately, but mine sent me to Natal.

I was working—or possibly assembling food picked up at the comida a kilo—Feng was on the computer and Mark with playing on his tablet. It was one of these late nights in Florianópolis.

“Okay, found a flight to Natal… I’ll buy it for you.”

And he did. Apparently, I was going to Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 2,935 kilometres north of São Paulo.

Okay, we did discuss it before. It’s not like he picked a random Brazilian city. I didn’t want to stay in São Paulo or southern Brazil and I was looking for a city far, far away to start my solo trip. We had talked about Fortaleza, but it’s a ten-hour bus trip to the next city south. So Natal, then. We went once with baby Mark but I barely remembered it because the logistics of traveling with a toddler were complicated.

Why not? I like northeast Brazil. It’s an exotic part of the country for Brazilians, so it’s über-exotic for me. There are plenty of beaches across nine states, fewer COVID cases and many opportunities to spend time outdoors.

Yeah, northeast Brazil sounded fun.

And as a “thank you” for agreeing to stay an extra day in São Paulo “just in case” going back to Canada would be harder than expected for Feng and Mark—we usually part ways the same day, it’s emotionally easier—Feng paid for the flight. Just a joke between the two of us.

Of course, plot twist—Feng and Mark were denied boarding and I ended up leaving first. Still, good thing I stayed in São Pauloto to keep the hotel room and help him through the mess.

I was still half-asleep when I arrived at Congonhas but somehow, I managed to be hyper focused. The transition from travelling as a team to travelling solo is brutal. We help each other, even Mark has a role to play and get responsibilities. Alone, you have to… well, do everything alone.

The process was smooth, though, and the flight was on time.

I was happy because I had the aisle row and the middle seat was empty, but a few minutes after takeoff a woman changed seat (why, why??) and picked “my” empty seat. Oh well.

I fell asleep and woke up three and a half hour later just before landing—don’t count on me for lovely descriptions of bus trips and flights, I invariably catch up on sleep.

Natal’s new airport is far from the city and I was expecting the taxi ride to take over an hour, but it turns out that when the driver maintains an average speed of 130 km/h, you get there in only half an hour. Crazy, I know.

I discovered my Airbnb—lovely, with a washing machine!—in one of the condos a few blocks from the beach and I took a deep breath.

Made it. Okay, I didn’t drive the taxis or fly the plane but still.

It’s a first step. Not sure where I’m going but… I’m going.