You know it’s early when the sun hasn’t even risen yet—around 5 a.m. in the Nordeste.

And for once, I wasn’t watching it wrap up the day with madrugada assignments for my European client, but instead getting ready for my 8:20 a.m. flight to Salvador.

At least, I wasn’t far from the airport. Recife is this weird city where the bus terminal is far away in the jungle, but the international airport is right in the middle of Boa Viagem, a ten-minute drive from most residential buildings.

It’s all Bahia from now on.

And from now on, it’s two of us.

“Text me when you get to the airport! You’ll be flying to Lisboa while I’ll be flying to Salvador. Then after that… text me when you get to the boarding gate.”

My mum is joining me—her first time in Brazil, her first time backpacking with me, her first time out of the country since her 2011 trip to Canada with my brother. We had been talking about it since 2019, but she was working, then she had to take care of my grandfather, then my grandmother, and then it was mostly just the cat to rehome for a little while.

It’s 2026. It’s about damn time she got to discover one of my favourite countries.

Recife’s airport was pretty quiet this early in the morning, although my flight to Salvador was full. I tried to get a bit more sleep, but the short (and cheap) 90-minute flight wasn’t long enough.

“I’m in Lisboa!”

“Good job! Go grab a coffee before your flight to Salvador. I’m here already! I’ll pick you up tonight. Just find your gate and don’t worry about a thing.”

I was here for real now, but stuck at the airport, trying to find an affordable Uber.

Ah, fuck it. Time to try Salvador’s subway system.

I took the metro all the way to Campo da Pólvora, then an Uber to my Airbnb, about ten minutes away. It was only 11 a.m.—a long way to go before check-in time.

“Do you mind if I just store my bags for a few hours?”

“No need! The apartment is ready!”

Brazil is a country of pleasant surprises. I wasn’t expecting to be able to get in this early, especially considering I’d only booked it the night before.

It was an amazing place, sparkling clean, with a fully stocked coffee machine.

I closed my eyes and sighed. A perfect place, a great neighbourhood, a sunny day, and plenty of time in Salvador, one of my favourite cities in Bahia, one of my favourite states.

I just had to get everything ready for my mum and pick her up at 10:55 p.m., which basically meant staying awake.

More coffee.

I filled up the fridge, ran errands, cooked, and just like that it was already time to go back to the airport.

No metro—way too late. I took an Uber this time.

“You know you’re in Salvador when there’s a truck full of drums waiting outside the airport,” I texted Feng. “And Bahianas with their balloon-like hoop skirts. And people carrying fans as luggage because it’s so damn hot.”

I waited some more, chatting in Mandarin with a group of Chinese workers waiting for the rest of their crew arriving straight from China.

And then there she was.

I’m so excited.

And just like that, after years of talking about it, Brazil finally started for both of us.