Blog

Being a responsible tourist – in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere

18.01.2021

Traveling has always been my greatest passion. I took my first trip when I was just 1 year old, to a place more than 3000 kilometers from home. Since then, over the years, traveling became as important to me as the air I breathe. However, I experienced my first doubts about the greatness of traveling when I was a teenager. I had always dreamt of visiting the tower of Pisa in Italy, but when I f...

Positivity in the time of corona

18.03.2020

We have travelled to over 55 countries and counting. It´s sad to see that today the corona virus has severely restricted travel options. Nevertheless, in our travels we have also seen the need for change in how people connect with and care for nature and environment. Change in our ill habits towards the environment is long overdue. Today we see what the nature can do if we are not careful an...

4 places to visit in Peru

03.01.2020

For most tourists, Peru refers to just two words - Macchu Pichu. I used to be one of them, thinking this was the only place worth visiting in the whole country. Now I know that Peru is much more than that, and its treasures are innumerable. Even within one short week, you would have enough time to both experience the vibrant energy of a big city and get lost in the desert or in the wilderness with...

How to save on bank transfer to India

20.12.2019

International bank transfer fees can be outrageous and the money can take days, in some cases even weeks to arrive. We recently traveled to Goa, India and had to make a bank transfer to book a 7-day retreat in a yoga ashram. To reserve our spots, a money transfer to their Indian local bank account was needed - but we were in Europe and to make money transfer from any bank takes days for the money ...

Extinction - be kind to the environment while traveling

06.05.2019

According to scientists three bird species went extinct in 2018. While 2018 didn't see vast amounts of wildlife extinction, the Earth is losing animal species well over the natural rate. Animal and other wildlife extinction is raising growing concern around the globe, as industry driven habitat loss (deforestation, mining, and carbon dioxide-emissions), introduction of exotic sp...

Lost and found: TripAdvisor Cities I´ve visited travel map

17.12.2018

Many of us have used the TripAdvisor travel map "Cities I´ve visited" to keep track of our travels. What a great tool to help our memory. Probably many of you, like myself, are having trouble finding the app and your existing travel map. Has Cities I´ve Visited travel map been closed down? Is TripAdvisor travel map not working anymore? It is still working, although it can ...

Getting money out of Brazil

01.06.2018

Why is it so hard and expensive to bring or transfer money out of Brazil? Brazil as a country has a strict control over movement of money out of the country. Brazilian Real is fluxuating quite a lot, hence the spread between buy and sell prices is big in Currency Exchange Offices. Brazilian banks are cumbersome, slow and expensive. All this makes you loose a lot of money on currency transacti...

Private islands for sale in Brazil

22.05.2018

If you are considering a bigger investment in Brazilian real estate sector, then we suggest taking a look at this cool opportunity! Most islands in Brazil are state owned, only a few are available for private ownership by law. Even less have development rights granted, since a lot of the islands consist of agriculture land or are under protection by nature reserves. Howeverm, there are two islands...

Salsa parties in Rio de Janeiro

06.05.2017

You would think that South America's tropical paradise and birth place of samba, Rio De Janeiro, has its fair share of salsa. Unfortunately, it is not the case. It took us a while to understand that there is really only one weekly salsa party in this music and dance-driven city. All the other occasional parties have to be researched on a weekly basis. And it is not easy to find info about them...

Best website to buy experiences in Rio and Sao Paulo

07.04.2017

Often it is very hard to find and buy quality experiences and activities in Brazil. Firstly, it can be hard to find the websites of good service providers. If you do manage to find their website, then in many cases the websites are of poor quality. All this makes buying daytrips, balloon flights, skydiving, surf lessons, diving and other cool activites quite a hassle. Not to worry, there is a g...

A different idea for your next holiday - creative tourism in Rio de Janeiro

01.02.2017

What is creative tourism? Creative tourism is becoming increasingly popular, benefiting both travelers and their travel destinations. The official definition of creative tourism was formulated in 2000 by professors Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards: ‘‘Tourism which offers visitors the opportunity to develop their creative potential through active participation in courses and learnin...

How to catch a bus from Ipanema to Barra

28.01.2017

I love the beaches of Barra da Tijuca, Recreio, Prainha and Grumari! We go there often on weekends by bus from Ipanema. The metro line 4 only takes you to the beginning of Barra, so the bus is still the best option if you want to explore more distant beaches. But I´m constantly having a hard time catching a bus, as I don´t know where they stop. Sounds weird? Maybe I am just a dumb grin...

Yoga in Rio de Janeiro

23.01.2017

Rio and its surrounding offer uncountable opportunities to practice yoga, meditate, be one with nature, recharge your batteries and discover your true self. Options are endless: relaxing morning yoga on Ipanema beach, hike and yoga practice at the top of Pedra Bonita Hill, evening yoga on Leblon beach featuring gorgeous ocean view, yoga and meditation practice in one of Rio’s picturesque ...

Vegan-friendly restaurants in Rio

16.01.2017

Recreio dos Bandeirantes Caminho do Mar Vegan Restaurant Estr. do Pontal 3091 - Recreio dos Bandeirantes Second best vegan place in the city after Teva. Cozy atmosphere. Really tasty and natural food. Very friendly staff and owners. Located far away in Recreio and is hard to reach without a car, but once you are there, you won’t regret it. Some weekends there is a special vegan pizza n...

Brazilian special characters

18.10.2016

Brazilian alphabet has their own set of special characters/letters which you can´t easily type on a US/EU keyboard. I always loose a lot of time searching them on Google and copy-pasting into my portuguese texts. So this post is for all of you who share my pain. Here it goes, all the special characters of Brazilian language, which you have to use on a daily basis: á é &ia...