Natal, João Pessoa, Recife… the next logical step further south along the Nordeste coast of Brazil is Maceió, a four-hour bus ride from Recife.

I discovered Maceió two years ago and I loved it so much I came back last year.

And I accidentally spent a lot of time in Maceió in 2021 when I was stuck in Brazil because Air Canada had cancelled my plane ticket back home and pretty much all flights.

I ended up in Maceió late February because it was a safe, comfortable city where I was hoping to figure things out. Brazil was implementing restrictions again and rules were changing daily—curfews, closed beaches, shorter business hours, etc. Meanwhile, I had to extend my 90-day stay in Brazil because apparently, I didn’t have a way to go home.

It all worked out eventually—my visa was extended and I flew to France a few weeks later, my Plan B.

Still, I remember wandering aimlessly around the city, trying to enjoy the beach and sunshine but mostly feeling anxious and scared. It’s really, really weird to be literally stuck abroad. In the grand scheme of things, I was okay, Brazil treated me well—but like a friend of mine put it, it was a very fucked up situation.

Things are much better this year. I’m vaccinated, Brazilians are vaccinated, and yes, Omicron, but we’ve all learned a thing or two about COVID. So I was considering going to Maceió but I was also wondering how weird it would be.

“Grow up, Juliette, get over it…”

I booked an Airbnb in a completely different neighbourhood. I didn’t feel like staying in the same area, much less in the same building. Maybe this would be a good experience, actually—sometimes, you just have to embrace good and bad experiences and move on.

But wait, where should I go after Maceió?

Again, the “easy” and logical route is Aracaju, then Salvador. This is what I did last year before backtracking to Maceió.

Except this year I don’t feel like taking the same route and going to Salvador. The Carnival is cancelled, anyway, and Salvador can be a tough city.

“You could always backtrack and enjoy Natal again,” Feng suggested. “You have nothing to prove. No shame in backtracking and staying in cities you like.”

He’s right. Still, one night in Recife, I was hanging out at the shopping mall—mostly for the air con…—and I chatted with a travel agent from GOL, one of Brazil’s low-cost airlines.

He found a very, very cheap ticket for a place I’ve never been to.

I bought it on the spot, cash. It was that cheap.

I bused from Recife to Maceió, I’ll be there for a week.

Then… I’m jumping into the unknown.