Finding yourself traveling

We grow up in our beautiful homes, and believe it or not, we became similar to the ones that live around us. We start copying our mothers or brothers from a very young age, and without even noticing, we become alike.

That's all normal, but there will be a time when you start thinking for yourself and start gaining your own freedom.

The journey starts as soon as we leave our parents' home. College can be a very good reason for people to become independent and find their true self.

Everything that we were taught will become just a memory, and everything seems new to you-- just like a baby understanding colors at first sight.

The world becomes amusing, and even a single leaf that falls can bring you an expectation. You will meet people from different backgrounds, religions, points of view, likes or dislikes and so on.

Hold on, in your discovery you won't lose yourself, rather simplify who you really are.

I still remember when my Saudi friend grabbed a piece of chicken from my place with his little fingers. I don't like sharing food or people eating my food without my permission, but touching my food with your own hand? Come on, it's terrifying.

It's easy to think that our manners and beliefs are normal or common, because we all lived in a neighborhood that encounters the same lifestyle, but really, who is normal after all? Is it normal to eat from someone else's plate?

Is there a right and wrong?

After meeting people from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Africa, China, Japan, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela and more, I understood that our perceptions change when we try to see ourselves as small beings living in a huge world.

Why are we the ones that live in a normal lifestyle, if there are billions of people living a completely different life?

I believe traveling can be the best remedy for the soul because It opens your mind, and gives you wings to places you never thought you could go.

You won't need a lot of money for it, like most people would assume. A few dollars will get you far, believe me or not.

I've met many happy people living off a couple of dollars per day. In America that might not sound realistic, but trust me, we do not need money to be happy.

The rich are not the ones that have more money, but rather the ones that need it less. Fill your mind, not your pocket.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Disney World, Florida.

 

Catalina Island, CA. 

Carpinteria, CA.

Santa Barbara, CA.

Chicago, Illinois. 

New York, NY.

Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

Believe it or not, most Brazilians are white!

It always intrigued me that in America if you have a darker pigment in your skin, people already assume you are "African American," or "Black" when you are just tan, light brown or even dark brown. Some of them are mixed, having a white mother and a black father, but people already assumed they are 100% "Black."

In Brazil when we talk about people's ethnicity we make sure we use it correctly. If somebody is light brown, they are probably mixed. They don't fall in the category "Black" so to speak.

For the people that think Brazilians are all dark, I have some news for you: only 8% of the country is constituted by Blacks. The rest of the population is distributed among whites and different shades of brown.

Whites in Brazil take place for 47,51 % of the population, and Multiracial (browns, mixed, etc) take up to 43, 42%. Leaving Blacks with less than 10%! So if you meet a Brazilian, don't assume they live on the jangle, they are all black, and they have no food to eat. That's not exactly how it works.

We have different people from different places, with different religious background. But, more importantly, we get along with everyone. We are a very mixed country and we don't want to put people in categories they don't belong.

We also have a mix between Italians, Spanish, Germans, Indians, Africans and Arabs.  We are very proud to have a country where everybody is welcomed, no matter what race, ethnicity, or religion they belong to.

It's Brazil after all! The country with the most friendly people I ever met! (I'm a Brazilian so it is hard for you to believe me, but I've met people from over 20 different countries, and I can say Brazilians were always the most friendly!)