People here acting like you tripping but I see what you mean. 2024 we had around 6.65M foreigners come to Brazil versus, let's say, France's 100M. I'm from Salvador and I feel like Bahia in particular has been getting more popular (not that it is a "secret" or anything). There's already a lot of gringos here, though. Rio is PACKED with them. Speaking about Bahia though, I like how Chapada Diamantina is not packed with nomads or tourists. Morro de São Paulo and Itacaré? Crazy, tho. Salvador is a popular destination esp for blk ppl.
Also, I noticed Brazil and being Brazilian is like social currency abroad, lol. People think we're cool and our stereotypes are mostly positive. Yeah, we should have more people. I think we're a niche destination still.
Also from Salvador. It is cool noticing more foreigners there, specially African and American. I would only see French and Argentinian when I was younger.
Salvador is the blackest city outside of Africa, with strong influence of Yorubá culture, so it is really cool noticing Nigerian influencers discovering the city.
Compared to cities like NY, Paris, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Tokyo, Rome, Singapore, Istanbul, Buenos Aires etc....Rio is not PACKED with foreign tourists. In most public places except for Cristo Redentor or Pão de Açúcar the dominant language you hear on the street is still Brazilian Portuguese....in a lot of these other cities there are whole neighborhoods where you will hear English and assorted other foreign languages more than than the local language. Brazil really does not attract as much international tourism as many Brazilians think it does.
Brazilians already visit Brazil a lot though, we are one of the countries with the highest representation of their own citizens in its tourism industry
Lol you saying it like brazilians don't travel inside brazil because thay don't have interest in. To travel inside brazil can be as expensive as travelling to other countries. What do you think people are gonna choose? Many brazilians have never seen a foreigner in their life (brazil is not são paulo and Rio) and going to another country is manys dream. The thing is that for most they could only afford to go abroad to move. They save a lot of money here and sell everything they have and go. Sometimes even illegally. I'm almost 30 years old and not from a poor family but only recently i discovered here on reddit how cheap it is for people outside of brazil and specially from developed countries to go abroad. I saw some post of people saying that they went to another country just to meet an Internet friend and weren't well received and just went back. I was thinking "haha is this Elon Musk? Lol" Only then after thinking about some and doing some research i discovered how f cheap it can be to travel in other places. Also Europe is super tiny. The problem to this people is usually the time on the f plane lol same way they travel the world we travel to other states in here (even same time of travel because of bus)
I... know. I KNOW. I'm Brazilian. Born and raised. I experience it daily. I earn in reais. I don't live under a fucking rock. I see the bad salaries, the job market, I'm well aware that we're poor. Let me put it with ALL the words for you since on the Internet y'all need everything spelled out.
For Brazilians that have money and time and can have the privilege of traveling, they should visit Brazil more.
Jesus. Yeah, of course my comment only apply to those that can actually do it.
Went in 2022 and Rio is one of, if not, my favorite city in the world. Salvador, Bahia is interesting and Sao Paolo is decent (but ugly) I didn't go as a DN so I can't speak on the DN experience.
English is not widely spoken in Brasil, not even in the hospitality scene at least in Rio and Salvador. I practiced Portuguese for a few months before I went and could do basic greetings and it helped navigate around and order stuff at a restaurant, but even basic. Spanish ain't going to help you. My partner is fluent in Spanish and had no idea what people were saying lmao. We took a tour and the tour guide only spoke Portuguese and some mid level Spanish so parts on the tour I could not understand, my partner had to explain to me parts of the tour.
At least from the West Coast of the US, Brasil is not the easiest place to get to, especially Rio since it's pretty far. Plane tickets there and back aren't cheap. Long flights. Things are obviously cheaper than the US/Canada, but not as cheap as you think.
Is Rio and Salvador dangerous? I don't know, people kept warning us, to not have our phone or camera out, even random locals walking by, but I guess it depends on where you grew up. I didn't not feel in danger, even on a tour in a favela.
5-6 hour flight from anywhere on the west coast to Miami, layover, then another 8+ hour flight to São Paulo or Rio.
Also, there is an e-visa required, and you are only allowed to stay for 90 days per year. Not sure how easy it is to extend, if you want. Source: https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/information
Visa is more difficult than most anywhere in Asia other than China for US passport. Flights not so bad as long as you do a few other nearby (Peru / Colombia / Panama etc)
Mostly yes, but it depends on the country. For example, there are direct flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to Tokyo. You can get a 6 month DN Visa there.
That’s about an 12 hour flight from Los Angeles, which is less flying time than Los Angeles-Miami-Brazil, not even accounting for the layover.
After staying there for a while, you could move on to Thailand, which offers DN visas also. There are direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka to Bangkok.
It's certainly dangerous (just look at what happened in Rio a couple weeks back - the drug raid where >100 people were killed) but it isn't the constant war zone that I had imagined IFFFFFF you stay in safe and wealthy areas and don't (for the love of goodness) go wandering off.
I don’t know about your partner
But im quite fluent in spanish and talked many times with some brazilians and could understand almost everything or at least the context and it was the same for them when I was speaking (especially if they don’t speak very fast)
I stayed in a few airbnbs in favelas in both rio and salvador. I have friends (tourists) who spent months living and volunteering in favelas, as well as local friends from favelas. It helps to know which ones are the most dangerous, and which ones are acceptable to go to as a tourist.
Helps, but we thought my partner was going to be able to get by using Spanish but NOPE. She could not understand what locals were saying LOL. But it does help you figure out signs etc and figure out some basic phrases and sentences
Yeah, those arguments fall apart when you point out that plenty of locals also fall victim to various types of crime despite obviously being a lot more switched on than any outsider.
One memory that sticks out for me was meeting a Brazilian dude in Russia who advised me against visiting his country due to the crime...
Speaking from experience it's because once you speak the language the experience doesn't really compare, and I guess I find that trade-off worth the extra risk.
I love SEA, don't get me wrong, but I feel like an alien when I'm there. In the Spanish speaking world I feel so comfortable because I can actually talk to people.
Learning Thai is taking the already extremely difficult task of learning a language and multiplying it by 10X. And I don't know a single nomad who even has a passable level of it.
As a Brazilian, can confirm. At least it's much more dangerous and expensive than SEA, so I see why DNs would prefer it. Our time zone is better for North Americans, though.
Is it really that expensive though? I buy meals for less than 5 USD, drinks for less than 5, Ubers for a few bucks. This in in a capital at that. It may not be the absolute cheapest destination possible, but it's far from being expensive.
Brazil is a middle class country and the prices reflect that. When compared to SEA and south America, everything in Brazil is more expensive.
I'm a nomad living in Brazil. You need to like Brazil in particular for some reason to stay pay the premium to live here. For me, it's the culture, that's why I deal with the higher prices and frustration of living here as a foreigner.
I love Brazil and there are HELLA expats and nomads there, I spent the first few months of 2025 in SP and will spend the first half of 2026 there as well.
It is a little more dangerous than SE Asia. But it’s fun, relatively affordable and I love Brazilian people. Bonus points because it’s one of few places I can “blend in” (I’m black with big curly hair) and that makes my experience so much better, IMHO.
ETA: I genuinely don’t care how you guys feel about my comment on safety in Brazil. You’ll be fine without whining to a total stranger about their inherent risk tolerance, I promise you.
Someone made a tiktok of random Brazilian men just kissing you in public during Carnival (obviously it's an exaggeration)... but Brazilians in the comments were confirming how true it is lmao
Women too lol. That's the carnival vibe. But I must say it's never harassment. You lock eyes with someone and go for it. Nobody is forcing themselves upon you.
I understand what you mean. I have the same with México, but I'm not going to say it's a little bit more dangerous or just as affordable as SEA.
I have a couple of houses in Indo, but my heart lays in México, where I feel most alive. When I get old(er), I'll probably go to Thailand or Indo tho. The healthcare, safety, food, value for money, is just so much better
Might be understatement of a lifetime. LoL it would set someone feoming from SEA for absolute failure.
Just the other day in Bangkok I seen two girls go into a photo booth at an outside cafe. They left their purses outside on the table as they took photos. SEA is Disneyland in comparison to Brazil.
SE Asia isn’t dangerous unless you are going to specific places like Mindanao in the Philippines or some places in Myanmar. I have been to seven countries in SE Asia without anything bad happening. I know tons of people who were robbed in Brazil after only a couple days.
I know people (women and femmes) who have robbed, taken advantage ofc and raped in multiple East and SE Asian countries. But unlike you, I’ve been to both, so I’ll trust my judgment over yours, every single time.
I've been there 2,5 months this year, and honestly it's a hassle. Without a CPF you basically can't even order from Amazon, and no one speaks English or Spanish. So you need to learn Portugese to connect with people.
The food also isn't great. Value for money-wise you can get better too. Domestic flights are kinda expensive, and the poverty is pretty brutal. Crime also isn't fun.
The culture is amazing tho and people are pretty nice!
People keep saying you can get one online but at least when I did it you needed to go somewhere in person to confirm your ID, which, is another level of bureaucracy that makes it more difficult.
This is a perfect summary coming from someone who spent around the same amount of time there. I speak Portuguese but the downsides are still too prevalent.
Like if we’re talking about that side of the world, I don’t see why I would go to Brazil when I can go to Buenos Aires for example which is safer, more organized, better weather and used to be a lot cheaper (pre milei) but I guess now it’s like Brazil.
I am currently in Buenos Aires right now and is boring as fuck compared to any brazilian city, with the exception being Sao Paulo. And yes, way more expensive today, but also a lot safer
I am with 3 friends rn in Buenos Aires and for us is very underwhelming. 2 of my friends are spanish and they felt like this is just a Madrid-wannabe city, and I definitely agree with that. Everything you find here you could find in a lot of other cities, and way better cities. I found medium size cities in Brazil, like Goiania, Vitoria and even Niteroi (I am not a fan of Rio tho lmao) much more interesting. And you have a ton of cultural stuff to do that are really original and that you could never find in anywhere else. But I can see why Bs As could be more appealing for non european tourists for example. I would say that Mexico is by far the best country for digital nomads tho
It is popular, just not with the noisy DN Clique. You need to put in some effort and learn to Brazil to really enjoy the place. It’s culturally self-sufficient in a way few countries are in 2025. For people who haven’t read a book this year, that’s a tall order when there’s more vapid travel available.
They are way less exposed to foreign music compared to Colombia even. I think the language is a huge factor.
As a Colombian you can listen to music and watch movies from Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Argentina etc.
As a Brazilian... you just watch and listen to Brazilian content. The population is large enough to satisfy the demand. Think of it like USA. Americans are not exposed to the rest of the world because there is no need for them.
yeah i was in Brazil for four months back in 2015 and i got the sense that i was just in a totally Brazilian world. The only other places I've experienced that are the US and China - I think it's big country syndrome.
Exactly. They incorporate some music from Lusophone Africa, like Angola and Mozambique, of course from Portugal too. Brazil is the overwhelming cultural force in the Portuguese-speaking bloc though.
I learned Portuguese in Rio, later moving to Portugal. I never stopped palatalizing Ds and Ts, in contrast to Iberian Portuguese, or gave up Brazilian vocabulary. No one in Portugal had trouble understanding me, since they consume so much Brazilian culture.
Brazil is much more inward looking than most other countries. Years ago I read something interesting, that Brazil’s domestic music industry crushed imports in sales within Brazil. It’s similar with other media. English penetration is lower in Brazil than other neighboring countries. Brazilians don’t even tend to know Spanish, and Portuguese and Spanish are about as close as two languages can be without being dialects.
Well, this actually is not something good, rather, it's one of the things that sets us as an underdeveloped country. It's not being self sufficient, it's being closed. From Google results to news and everything else, we don't have much contact or know much about the outside world. If someone says anything about another country on some youtube short or something like that, we just believe it, even with the growing number of brazilians abroad. This also make, for example, that we level everything as good or bad based on what we have inside the country. So, if a state has the best education of brazil, it is considered good, even if it's the worst in the world. It's also one of the reasons or consequences of being so monoglote together with not travelling due poverty.
Many things in here we would do different or not accept from our government if the people knew how things are in other countries.
This is one of the first reasonable comments I’ve seen on this thread. I don’t think it’s as accessible or accommodating for DNs as many other countries, and forget about it if you don’t want to put in the effort to at least learn a bit of Portuguese. But I think there’s a lot to offer for DNs as well. Just gotta put in a bit of work.
They didn't call other countries vapid destinations. They called them vapid travel, which is true when one needs to put in much less work. It doesn't mean that the other places have less possible depth or complexity, just that they can be approached with less thought.
Cops won't short you because they are pointing a gun to you. Brazil is not US and the norm is that the cop approach you pointing the gun to you or at least holding it in ready position. If cops did that like in the US with their pistol on their holster there wouldn't be any cops anymore in Brazil. It doesn't mean that he really suspects of you or that he is gonna shoot you if you do sudden moves. It's just a routine thing.
I'm currently living in Ubatuba (beach city, on state of São Paulo). It's important to note the huge size of Brazil, so it's hard to generalize as some states are bigger than entire European countries.
I've been here for the past three years and have known some states: Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Bahia, Minas Gerais, all very safe and cheap (except capitals, where rent is more expensive).
Avoid the states of Bahia, Ceara and Rio de Janeiro unless you have a guide or a local with you, They are unfortunately very unsafe and live under a huge gang war (part of the government trying to pass a law to consider them as terrorists).
As for language, most people don't speak English or Spanish, so it's a good idea to have a translator app ready or know a bit of the language. most people will make an effort to understand you.
Rent in capitols usually range from R$2000 to R$4000 for an small apartment (50sqm), rent in smaller cities are cheaper, I'm currently paying R$1600 for a large (250sqm) 3 bedroom house. Hotels I've stayed have ranged from R$200-300 per night.
Rent at those prices is generally for not very modern/comfortable places though.
The thing about Brazil is the range in terms of what you can find for rent is extremely wide, even for R$400 (~$80) you can find something to rent, but it’s likely a sketchy house of unpainted bricks.
I feel rent in Brasil for instance in São Paulo is generally the same or more of what you’d pay on any other Latin American city when you compare same quality.
Brazil attracts nomads/expats with more 🌶️
You can find many from Italy, Latam, France..
It's not the place for a typical "alpha male" tech-bro / wanna-be influencer; better for them and their safety to stay CDMX/Costa Rica
The fuck does this even mean dude 😭 Bunch of weirdos in these comments ngl lmao u cant just praise Brazil without stereotyping the type of people that DN in CDMX/Costa Rica?
It's not so much the knowing how to be safe, but the having to keep safe at all times. You can't relax and enjoy yourself.
Thats not really true. Brazil has pockets of intense crime in some cities and is generally just chill anywhere else.
By far the most violent aspect of Brazil is gang-on-gang/cop-on-gang violence in slums and nearby regions. Over 90% of homicides in Brazil happen in those places. And around 8% of the brazilian population lives in slums.
The main concern for the majority of brazilians nowadays when it comes to safety is having their cellphone pickpocketed or walking alone at night in a shady neighborhood and getting mugged by some random hobo.
I thoroughly enjoy my nights out on fridays/saturdays, going to clubs and pubs to play live music and my bike rides around the city on sundays. Going to the beach and eating açaí with friends during cycling is life.
It does seem a bit slept on. Safety concerns are valid, but the southern cities (Curitiba, Florianopolis) are relatively safe, and it doesn't seem to stop people going to Colombia. It was expensive relative to neighbours, but the real fell a lot at the end of last year, so that was no longer true. You had people going to Argentina following outdated info on how cheap it was while Brazil was much cheaper at the time.
I had a great time there in 2016, but I speak Portuguese and that would probably be key. It's an incredibly easy place to meet people... if you speak the language.
Well, you guessed the two main reasons - it is dangerous and expensive. Especially compared to where most DN's may go - thinking SE Asia. It's also a lot more isolated than the typical DN destinations. Another thing, for some nationalities - thinking US citizens - it's more difficult visa wise which keeps a lot of them from visiting.
Brazil has insane import taxes/duties. If you want laptop/phone - things like that are double the price here vs US/Europe/Asia. And if you're talking long term, if you want to rent a place in Rio in a neighborhood like Leblon or Ipanema it's not going to be much cheaper than renting a place in Barcelona, for instance.
In saying all that, Brazil is amazing. I think the main reason the people who do stay here longer term is just because you love the vibes, people, and culture - not because it's the easiest, cheapest, or safest place to be.
Been in Brazil long enough, heard all kinds of stories of violence/robbery/assaults.
Twice I was in a hostel where a thief pretended to be a traveler to steal laptops while everyone was out during the day (even forcing padlocks once).
However:
I love the country, it is my favorite country in the world, but it has a difficult dark side. For me it's great but I can understand why so many people don't want to come
is it dangerous? people say “oh nothing happened to me while I was there” doesn’t make it safe! violence/safety is the type of thing that is great until it isn’t. When a gang member decides to shoot you in the face because you didn’t unlock the phone quickly enough for them, it’s no fun.
I had a blast working in Brazil for a year. I was down south near Porto Alegre. But gotta say, english is not widely spoken haha so it forced me to learn Portuguese very quickly, it may have been easier for me because my mother tongue is spanish.
Brazilian here that have lived a big chunk of life outside of the country..
Brazil is also overlooked by their own people. They really don't know HOW good they have until they leave the country. They don't know that Europe is getting dangerous and pickpocketing is on the rise, that in the US gun violence is WAY worse, you can get shot by a maniac easily. Taking the metro in Toronto, New York is dangerous, you can get stabbed and killed, like that Ukranian girl recently (and that is uncommon in Rio or São Paulo metro). The amount of homeless people too is way worse in Amerca.
Prior leaving the country, I also believed that Brazil was the most dangerous and I was very pessimistic about everything when I left the country. However, living abroad made me see it differently. Brazilians TAKE FOR GRANTED the sunshine, the food, the joy of life that you don't have in many places, the culture in Brazil is great for friendship and enjoying life. Brazilians tend to bad mouth the country to foreigners. Brazilians make movies about violence all the time, City of God is an example of that, so many people think that the whole country is like that.
So yo have a place that is not well located in the globe, with its own people complaining and warning others about it, not many people speaking English then you can't complain about being overlooked by tourists...
Dangerous, yes, but you can stay in bubbles to mostly avoid it. But every single Brazilian, no matter their social class, has a story of getting robbed or some friend/family member being shot so there is definitly a safety issue to be aware of.
It is kind of expensive, I was pretty shocked at the price of the first meal I had there with a group of locals. I just split the bill with them for like 2 shrimp salads. Bill was $70 USD in a shit restaurant. So watch out for restaurant food prices. Supermarket prices are mostly fine but meat has wild upward swings.
Electronics, jfc. Don't break/lose your electronics there. Too expensive to replace. Or go visit Paraguay to replace those.
Getting a SIM card when I first went was a royal pain in the ass. E sim apps alleviate that issue now. Having the infamous CPF is key though for a good SIM card price (and a ton of other things). I hope things have changed but I remember one local company offered E-Sims but you literally had to go to the closest office to activate it in person with the company's approval.
Airbnbs can be wildly overpriced for what they offer but usually you can find something decent. If you earn decently in Euros/USD then you probably won't blink about it. But for anyone used to 2 floor penthouse modern lofts for $20 a night in Asia are in for a rude awakening.
Ubers / 99 (local version) - Good price if you earn in USD/Euro
Clubs / Parties - can be very overpriced.
Beer - Bad
Local Cocktails - Excellent
It's a weird economy to say the least.
Car rental - can find some dirt cheap deals from good companies (for USD/EU earners) but driving isn't fun there lol
The country and the people are amazing though. That's what kept me extending my stay and going back.
Brazil is a somewhat overrated country. Outside of the Amazon, it's 90% flat and treeless, lacking biome, climatic, and geographic diversity for a continental nation. Even Ecuador, 30 times smaller in area, surpasses Brazil in geographic, biome, and climatic diversity. Its mountains are quite small compared to others around the world, and its mountain ranges are nothing spectacular. Its cities, outside of Rio and Salvador, and some smaller towns, are rather unattractive, with buildings that look like something out of the 1980s communist era and are monotonous. For example, São Paulo must be the most overlooked megacity in the world. Many say Brazil has spectacular beaches, but there isn't a single beach in Brazil that can compare to a Caribbean beach with white sand and dazzling crystal-clear water (I've heard this from Brazilians). The cuisine is nothing special, and although it's subjective, it never makes the top 10-20 lists of the world's best cuisines.
You are clearly unaware from several things in your post. The most ridiculous thing is the Carribean beach part. Ever heard of Jericoacoara? Maragogi? Fernando de Noronha?
You need to learn the language more than in other popular countries for DNs
It is very expensive relative to the standard of living, especially when compared to SE Asia or some other parts of latin america.
Poor public transportation, you will live in the backseat of crappy old Uber cars going to many/most places.
Poor walking and biking infrastructure and city planning... I never felt more like I would be killed by a car running me over than in Brazil.
Extremely high crime, it is not safe, anyone who says otherwise is delusional or talking about a few specific small(ish) cities and towns in the south of Brazil (all of which are still more dangerous than SE Asia and much of Europe)
The language is also minimally useful outside of Brazil, unlike Spanish which is probably the most useful language to learn in the world besides English, so you can go get latin American vibes and not invest hundreds of hours into studying Portuguese (which is also a bit harder and has fewer good learning resources)
Food is not as good as in SE Asia and international food options are lacking
I do like a lot about Brazil, especially the friendly culture. You might too, but for myself and many of the other nomads I met there, we were ready to leave once the time came. It is an exhausting place in a variety of ways, but to be fair some of those ways are definitely not only in Brazil, but latam as a whole
I haven't been there mainly because it's a very long and expensive flight from most other places I like to be and I tend to move around more than most so things like that matter.
I haven't done much research into the safety, I only know what I've heard through rumor which hasn't been great. Places like that tend to be a little bit more difficult for me just because I don't really know what I'm getting into, it requires a lot of research and comes with a lot of uncertainty. My time in South America was just generally more draininf because I had to have my guard up much more than I'm used to.
That being said, even in a famous/touristed city like Rio, you do need some Portuguese to get around comfortably. I imagine many if not most nomads don't want to bother learning enough of the language to have a good time there.
As a Brazilian living abroad, I had around 2 years as a nomad in Brazil. The country is MASSIVE HUGE. I've been to 17 states, and I am not even close to seeing half of the country.
As a local, it is easier because I speak the language but I understand if you speak zero Portuguese, it's trick but depends, if you are in capitals (Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador) you can find some people speaking basic English but not always willing to stop and help but in smaller cities, someone will help you.
I love travelling in Brazil, the beach culture, but I do agree that you need to pay more attention in terms of criminality. I never had any problems myself, and my foreign partner (even alone) but yeah you need to watch out for your things, like in Rome, Paris.
I always tell people not to believe much in what they see on the news (even more news abroad). It is a massive country, and if you have the chance to visit, do it.
If you haven't noticed, popular DN countries are typically popular because they're cheap enough that a bunch of people who don't earn terribly great wages in their home countries can still go to enjoy a high QOL in said DN area. It's also why there's a huge mismatch between places that are popular for DN vs. places that are popular for travelling. There are DNs in places like Paris, Madrid, Rio, etc. but you'll find that the DNs there are typically working a boring job just remote (e.g. being a SWE or working in tech being a very common one). Those also typically necessitate a fairly consistent lifestyle and create timezone limitations (e.g. if you're American, you don't really ever DN out of East or SEA.) You can't get by by earning $1-2k USD a month trying to live in Leblon or Jardins. (Same reason why you rarely see Japan feature as a common DN destination). The whole personal trainer "coach lifestyle" thing that Bali has going on, or the freelance SEA thing, doesn't really work well when the salary required is higher than above. And even if you could get by on $2k a month in a super nice area in Rio or SP, your overall QOL is going to go down since you don't have quite the same FU money and ability to do whatever you want there.
So right out of the gate, that severely limits the pool of potential candidates. Europeans are largely out, since it would largely require them to work midnight-8 AM which is awful long term. Much of East and Southeast Asia is out, since the places that would be popular in Brazil are not cheap by those standards. Which for the DN side of the community, means many if not most are going to come from places like the US and from neighbouring countries where wages might be high enough (e.g. Chile). Hence, not many DNs. That being said, there are plenty of immigrants who are from various cultures.
That is outside of all the things you mentioned which create further limitations. Another thing is also limitations of the network. South America is huge and not as well integrated (in terms of flights, easy vacays, etc.) like SEA is. Basing yourself out of a place Like Indonesia gives you fairly cheap flights to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines for other adventures. Brazil is Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Paraguay is boring as hell and not cheap to get to (I mean Asuncion, technically ciudad del este is easy to get to but you don't do tourism there really) and anything outside of that is going to be expensive coming out of Brazil.
Haven't been but based on what I have read Brazil just seems a bit too sketchy for me. I don't like there being a reasonably high likelihood of getting mugged.
Brazil is amazing, we’ve been there twice and stayed south part of it. Last year we went to Rio de Janiero and spent our Christmas and new year. I love this country and it’s one of my favorite here in South America
I've been in Brazil for three years now. Started out in São Paulo for a couple months, but eventually I decided to move further out into the interior. Budget dropped like a stone since I wasn't paying São Paulo prices for things anymore. Safety isn't really a concern where I live, since murders don't get out of the single digits each year. Climate is agreeable, though you'll want an A/C in summer. Food scene where I live is decent, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Argentine, French, Italian and chain restaurants. Great options if you like hiking or cycling. Two gigabit fiber connections to always have access. You definitely have to learn Portuguese, or you'll have a very hard time. I think that's one of the biggest factors keeping folks away. As for the unsafe places, I just don't go there. Went to Rio once and didn't get the hype. When I feel like taking a break, I head down South. Curitiba, Florianópolis, the Santa Catarina coas and the Serra Gaúcha. Always had great experiences in those places. There's definitely potential in Brazil, if you're willing to break out of the Rio/São Paulo sphere.
All these comments talking about lots of expats - I have no idea what they are on about. I've lived in Brazil for like 18 months total across several trips to several regions. I almost never see gringos here except in the mirror.
With that said, I stay away from Rio and SP except to catch overseas flights. Maybe that's where these alleged expats are hanging?
I've been to most regions of Brazil and traveled extensively here. The only place outside of the two big cities I have seen any foreigners at all in in Jericoacoara.
That's just my experience. I feel like the only gringo in this country.
Brazilian here. Most people dont speak english. We have relatively poor infrastructure in some types of logistics like going from one place to another (except in good areas in Rio and Sao Paulo, that have wonderful subways). This can be annoying for foreigners, because when you travel or live a digital nomad life you expect the least friction possible. The government in general dont care about logistics for tourism, i dont know why. These things are really not difficult to resolve but the energy required to it keep brazil far away from the “viral trends”, in my opinion.
If you speak portuguese, you should be ok, because people are very kind and like to help. But if you qant to spend some time there its important to do some research on logistics like - look for a walkable area, good neighbourhood. If you want to explore inner country or nature, rent a car. Uber works really well, there is the buses, you can rent cars, but the logistics is not as easy like in germany, thailand, italy, that everything is intuitive when you go from one place to another. Unfortunately, we dont have trains outside the big cities. I think its a very nice and beautiful country, really love it💚
Brazil is popular. There are tons of cities worth visiting all with different culture and history. I've spent a good amount of time in Rio - there are tons of foreigners there.
With that said, my explanation is that Brazil is simply a more advanced and late-stage traveler destination. Europe is the easiest and you see plenty of teenagers and gap year backpackers there beginning their traveler journey. SE asia is next in line - especially since it's considered safe and cheap with great culture and food. After that you have Latin America - many of the Spanish speaking countries are safe and easy to access. Brazil often comes pretty far down the list because it's not as safe or accessible. Many travelers speak casual Spanish but few speak Portuguese. I often feel this means the expat/traveler community in Brazil is noticeably older but much more well traveled than the communities in other popular spots.
100% worth visiting though - especially if you speak some portugese. I would consider living there if I wasn't so content living in Medellin.
Even us as brazilians sometimes travel to other latin american countries or even oversees because vacations there are usually cheaper than domesticaly.
In short, people are initially very concerned about the safety and potential of getting robbed or assaulted.
Next, barely anyone speaks English in Brazil so it’s not as accommodating.
I’d say after these two, people tend to give up and look for other alternatives. But if you can make it past that, it’s a great country with so much to offer.
I used to live there and my daughters are half Brazilian. I think that the Mercosur countries and cultures are distinct from Andean countries. I little more insular due history and location. No Simon Bolivar
Spent a couple months in Sao Paulo as a bartender, had one of the best times of my life. The atmosphere is great with a lot of music & dancing in the streets. The city is clean & metro works well. The best part are the people, with their joyful approach to life. Really recommend spending time in Brazil & especially Sao Paulo. I’m from Northern Europe, felt safe
Very little English outside of a couple major cities, difficult to do anything without a CPF (Brazilian version of your social security number), crime is not great in the areas people want to go (way, way less crime in the non-touristy areas), take one step outside city limits and you have zero cell service, etc. Add on top that it’s a long flight away from other major destinations and.. yeah. I’ve been here for seven years now. Ended up getting married and having kids. It’s been a fun experience.
I was mugged around gunpoint there, in broad daylight in a "safe" neighborhood where everybody watched so there's that. Looks are deceiving. It can fool you into feeling like it's Europe but spend a lot of time talking to locals and you get the real story.
I spent 6 months in Rio in 2023, and I love many things about it, but one of my favorites was how FEW tourists and digital nomads there were. If the price we pay to get away from all those gringos is:
- spending a bit more on rent
- watching out for our belongings and personal safety a bit more
- learning Portuguese
I'd say it's TOTALLY worth it, especially when you consider the beaches, the music, the culture, the women!
To address the points above in a bit more detail:
Rent – Rio and Sao Paulo are huge world-class cities that are suffering from the same real-estate crises as everywhere else. Having said that, aside from the high cost of rent, everything else felt quite affordable. I imagine rent is cheaper outside of the large cities, but I haven't spent time there so I can't speak from personal experience.
Safety – I watched my back and didn't go wandering around on foot late at night, and I didn't get mugged the entire time I was there (nor during the month I spent in Rio and SP in 2021), despite being a tall white guy who stands out. If you are a more fearful person, then you should probably stay away. Everyone has a different level of risk-tolerance, and that's okay.
Learning Portuguese – setting aside for the moment the ethics/optics of going (or considering going) to a foreign country and complaining that the local people don't speak YOUR language, I see Brazilians' lack of English as a huge plus, because I WANT to learn Portuguese. I've heard people say they can never practice their French or German or whatever because people in those countries just switch to English as soon as they hear your accent. That's almost never a problem in Brazil. There were a couple coffee shops and other businesses I avoided because they tried to practice their bad English on me, and I had to unmatch a couple Bumbelinas who wanted to use me for English practice, but I basically spent an entire six months without speaking English at all, and became extremely fluent in Portuguese as a result.
In summary: No, Brazil is not for everyone. And I like it that way.
Stayed in Brazil 4 years as a digital nomad. I wanted a country where english wouldn’t be spoken. I stayed in Recife.
Indeed, English was non-existent. Which was great for me but it seems to scare away a lot of people; this helped immersion a lot. I wanted to immerse myself in a culture and forcing myself to learn the language, which worked as I am fluent in portuguese now and have gotten to learn the culture much more than if I went in expat heavy areas.
To live somewhere where people don’t meet many tourists/expats is refreshing for sure and allow for much more fun social interactions.
A lot of people also see Spanish as more useful or more top of mind for traveling.
The visa situation is a bit annoying compared to others however or was for a while. I often had after the first 6 months to find ways to stay which I always easily found. Another thing that turn off people. You do have a decent learning curve compared to other countries; it is a very hermetic country in many ways. Hell to import, need a CPF, different procedures for things for foreigners that are often not known by people processing things.
Wasn’t expensive but I wasn’t in Rio or Sao Paulo.
I’m happy with it being a hidden gem in plain sight quite frankly. I am back in Québec/Canada with a Brazilian SO but love going back :) I am going back in February in fact for a few weeks.
Brazil is a lovely place but it’s not particularly cheap and security is definitely an issue. Bureaucracy can be excruciating, too, and I’m not sure they’re too receptive to digital nomads.
Been in Florianopolis the last couple months. The weather is erratic but the beaches are world class. The food is average and you end up paying for higher quality stuff which costs more than SEA. I’ve found the language difficult but childcare is very affordable. Beautiful nature.
Não compensa e depende de onde você vai ter risco de vida. A Situação está complicada no Brasil Acho que viajar a Ucrânia é mais seguro.
Além!!!! Está caro demais. Vai gastar igual o mais que na Europa.
Eu sou italiano, moro há 10 anos e já estou pensando em sair de Brasil por conta do custo de vida e a insegurança.
Brazilian here that have lived a big chunk of life outside of the country..
Brazil is also overlooked by their own people. They really don't know HOW good they have until they leave the country. They don't know that Europe is getting dangerous and pickpocketing is on the rise, that in the US gun violence is WAY worse, you can get shot by a maniac easily. Taking the metro in Toronto, New York is dangerous, you can get stabbed and killed, like that Ukranian girl recently (and that is uncommon in Rio or São Paulo metro). The amount of homeless people too is way worse in Amerca.
Prior leaving the country, I also believed that Brazil was the most dangerous and I was very pessimistic about everything when I left the country. However, living abroad made me see it differently. Brazilians TAKE FOR GRANTED the sunshine, the food, the joy of life that you don't have in many places, the culture in Brazil is great for friendship and enjoying life. Brazilians tend to bad mouth the country to foreigners. Brazilians make movies about violence all the time, City of God is an example of that, so many people think that the whole country is like that.
So yo have a place that is not well located in the globe, with its own people complaining and warning others about it, not many people speaking English then you can't complain about being overlooked by tourists...
People here acting like you tripping but I see what you mean. 2024 we had around 6.65M foreigners come to Brazil versus, let's say, France's 100M. I'm from Salvador and I feel like Bahia in particular has been getting more popular (not that it is a "secret" or anything). There's already a lot of gringos here, though. Rio is PACKED with them. Speaking about Bahia though, I like how Chapada Diamantina is not packed with nomads or tourists. Morro de São Paulo and Itacaré? Crazy, tho. Salvador is a popular destination esp for blk ppl.
Also, I noticed Brazil and being Brazilian is like social currency abroad, lol. People think we're cool and our stereotypes are mostly positive. Yeah, we should have more people. I think we're a niche destination still.
Tbh, Brazilians should visit Brazil more.
Also from Salvador. It is cool noticing more foreigners there, specially African and American. I would only see French and Argentinian when I was younger.
Salvador is the blackest city outside of Africa, with strong influence of Yorubá culture, so it is really cool noticing Nigerian influencers discovering the city.
100%. Ashé.
How about Aussies? Ive always wanted to visit but don't speak a lick of Portuguese.
I’ve met a fair number of Australian surfers in Brazil, some who’d even learned Portuguese.
Compared to cities like NY, Paris, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Tokyo, Rome, Singapore, Istanbul, Buenos Aires etc....Rio is not PACKED with foreign tourists. In most public places except for Cristo Redentor or Pão de Açúcar the dominant language you hear on the street is still Brazilian Portuguese....in a lot of these other cities there are whole neighborhoods where you will hear English and assorted other foreign languages more than than the local language. Brazil really does not attract as much international tourism as many Brazilians think it does.
I'm aware, but what I meant by "packed" is that Rio has more tourists than anywhere else in Brazil, since I was making a comparison to Bahia.
All true, but even the most touristy places in Brazil have way less tourists than the popular places in SEA or Europe.
Yeah.
I went to Salvador this year for carnival and I absolutely loved it, I would love to go to Bahia again
Rio is absolutely not packed with foreigners.. Maybe in comparison with the rest of Brazil, but not compared to most touristy places.
I was making a comparison to Bahia so yes, in comparison it is packed. But yeah, I'm speaking as a resident of Salvador and what I see anecdotally.
Chapada Diamantina is such a hidden gem !
Brazilians already visit Brazil a lot though, we are one of the countries with the highest representation of their own citizens in its tourism industry
Lol you saying it like brazilians don't travel inside brazil because thay don't have interest in. To travel inside brazil can be as expensive as travelling to other countries. What do you think people are gonna choose? Many brazilians have never seen a foreigner in their life (brazil is not são paulo and Rio) and going to another country is manys dream. The thing is that for most they could only afford to go abroad to move. They save a lot of money here and sell everything they have and go. Sometimes even illegally. I'm almost 30 years old and not from a poor family but only recently i discovered here on reddit how cheap it is for people outside of brazil and specially from developed countries to go abroad. I saw some post of people saying that they went to another country just to meet an Internet friend and weren't well received and just went back. I was thinking "haha is this Elon Musk? Lol" Only then after thinking about some and doing some research i discovered how f cheap it can be to travel in other places. Also Europe is super tiny. The problem to this people is usually the time on the f plane lol same way they travel the world we travel to other states in here (even same time of travel because of bus)
I... know. I KNOW. I'm Brazilian. Born and raised. I experience it daily. I earn in reais. I don't live under a fucking rock. I see the bad salaries, the job market, I'm well aware that we're poor. Let me put it with ALL the words for you since on the Internet y'all need everything spelled out.
For Brazilians that have money and time and can have the privilege of traveling, they should visit Brazil more.
Jesus. Yeah, of course my comment only apply to those that can actually do it.
Saudades do acaraje de Dinha...
Went in 2022 and Rio is one of, if not, my favorite city in the world. Salvador, Bahia is interesting and Sao Paolo is decent (but ugly) I didn't go as a DN so I can't speak on the DN experience.
English is not widely spoken in Brasil, not even in the hospitality scene at least in Rio and Salvador. I practiced Portuguese for a few months before I went and could do basic greetings and it helped navigate around and order stuff at a restaurant, but even basic. Spanish ain't going to help you. My partner is fluent in Spanish and had no idea what people were saying lmao. We took a tour and the tour guide only spoke Portuguese and some mid level Spanish so parts on the tour I could not understand, my partner had to explain to me parts of the tour.
At least from the West Coast of the US, Brasil is not the easiest place to get to, especially Rio since it's pretty far. Plane tickets there and back aren't cheap. Long flights. Things are obviously cheaper than the US/Canada, but not as cheap as you think.
Is Rio and Salvador dangerous? I don't know, people kept warning us, to not have our phone or camera out, even random locals walking by, but I guess it depends on where you grew up. I didn't not feel in danger, even on a tour in a favela.
Flight, anywhere in the USA to Miami, Miami - Brazil
5-6 hour flight from anywhere on the west coast to Miami, layover, then another 8+ hour flight to São Paulo or Rio.
Also, there is an e-visa required, and you are only allowed to stay for 90 days per year. Not sure how easy it is to extend, if you want. Source: https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/information
Is it easier for Asia?
Visa is more difficult than most anywhere in Asia other than China for US passport. Flights not so bad as long as you do a few other nearby (Peru / Colombia / Panama etc)
Mostly yes, but it depends on the country. For example, there are direct flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to Tokyo. You can get a 6 month DN Visa there.
That’s about an 12 hour flight from Los Angeles, which is less flying time than Los Angeles-Miami-Brazil, not even accounting for the layover.
After staying there for a while, you could move on to Thailand, which offers DN visas also. There are direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka to Bangkok.
I figured. A lot more direct flights to South America from Miami.
It's certainly dangerous (just look at what happened in Rio a couple weeks back - the drug raid where >100 people were killed) but it isn't the constant war zone that I had imagined IFFFFFF you stay in safe and wealthy areas and don't (for the love of goodness) go wandering off.
The conflict was within the favela, not throughout the entire city. Rio de Janeiro is not the best city to live in.
Well, it was in the area surrounding two favelas, not confined to within them.
Yeah, I'm sure it's dangerous but in the tourist areas, at least where we were staying and hanging out, it felt safe.
I disagree about the spanish/portuguese thing.
I don’t know about your partner But im quite fluent in spanish and talked many times with some brazilians and could understand almost everything or at least the context and it was the same for them when I was speaking (especially if they don’t speak very fast)
Both languages are so similar quite fascinating
I stayed in a few airbnbs in favelas in both rio and salvador. I have friends (tourists) who spent months living and volunteering in favelas, as well as local friends from favelas. It helps to know which ones are the most dangerous, and which ones are acceptable to go to as a tourist.
True, granted I was with two tour guides who are locals who grew up in the neighborhood so they know the spots to visit.
I was politely warned by locals in favelas to put away my camera in some areas.
Spanish definitely helps
Helps, but we thought my partner was going to be able to get by using Spanish but NOPE. She could not understand what locals were saying LOL. But it does help you figure out signs etc and figure out some basic phrases and sentences
Spanish speakers can read Portuguese pretty easily. The spoken language is very different 😂
So does French or Italian but that doesn't automatically translate into conversational (Brasilian) Portuguese.
With Brazil ….
Maybe with some gauchos in the far south. The rest is solidly on Portuguese.
you did not feel you were in danger because you were naive. you did a "favela tour" lol
Is it dangerous or expensive?
Yes
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Yeah, those arguments fall apart when you point out that plenty of locals also fall victim to various types of crime despite obviously being a lot more switched on than any outsider.
One memory that sticks out for me was meeting a Brazilian dude in Russia who advised me against visiting his country due to the crime...
Also often robberies turn into stabbings for no good reason.
Speaking from experience it's because once you speak the language the experience doesn't really compare, and I guess I find that trade-off worth the extra risk.
I love SEA, don't get me wrong, but I feel like an alien when I'm there. In the Spanish speaking world I feel so comfortable because I can actually talk to people.
Learning Thai is taking the already extremely difficult task of learning a language and multiplying it by 10X. And I don't know a single nomad who even has a passable level of it.
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I'm replying to a post that says South America. Don't be pedantic.
The real reason they go....big booty latinas
As a Brazilian, can confirm. At least it's much more dangerous and expensive than SEA, so I see why DNs would prefer it. Our time zone is better for North Americans, though.
yes, it is just bad deal. especially for people from eastern hemisphere where on average everything is 2x cheaper and 5x safer.
Is it really that expensive though? I buy meals for less than 5 USD, drinks for less than 5, Ubers for a few bucks. This in in a capital at that. It may not be the absolute cheapest destination possible, but it's far from being expensive.
Brazil is a middle class country and the prices reflect that. When compared to SEA and south America, everything in Brazil is more expensive.
I'm a nomad living in Brazil. You need to like Brazil in particular for some reason to stay pay the premium to live here. For me, it's the culture, that's why I deal with the higher prices and frustration of living here as a foreigner.
Brazil is way cheaper than Uruguay, Argentina and Chile
It’s really not. Brazil is relatively affordable.
I love Brazil and there are HELLA expats and nomads there, I spent the first few months of 2025 in SP and will spend the first half of 2026 there as well.
It is a little more dangerous than SE Asia. But it’s fun, relatively affordable and I love Brazilian people. Bonus points because it’s one of few places I can “blend in” (I’m black with big curly hair) and that makes my experience so much better, IMHO.
ETA: I genuinely don’t care how you guys feel about my comment on safety in Brazil. You’ll be fine without whining to a total stranger about their inherent risk tolerance, I promise you.
Little bit more dangerous?😂😂
Yeah they were being VERY generous lol. SE Asia is extremely safe with a MUCH better food.
But my heart is definitely in Brasil. It's an amazing place, but you have to really be into music forward/extroverted touchy cultures.
Someone made a tiktok of random Brazilian men just kissing you in public during Carnival (obviously it's an exaggeration)... but Brazilians in the comments were confirming how true it is lmao
Women too lol. That's the carnival vibe. But I must say it's never harassment. You lock eyes with someone and go for it. Nobody is forcing themselves upon you.
That's exactly what they said! If you lock eyes then you better be ready lol but in all seriousness it sounds like such a fun time with good vibes
I understand what you mean. I have the same with México, but I'm not going to say it's a little bit more dangerous or just as affordable as SEA.
I have a couple of houses in Indo, but my heart lays in México, where I feel most alive. When I get old(er), I'll probably go to Thailand or Indo tho. The healthcare, safety, food, value for money, is just so much better
Might be understatement of a lifetime. LoL it would set someone feoming from SEA for absolute failure.
Just the other day in Bangkok I seen two girls go into a photo booth at an outside cafe. They left their purses outside on the table as they took photos. SEA is Disneyland in comparison to Brazil.
Brazil has pockets of safety. Places that can be almost as safe as europe. Usually rich neighborhoods and some small cities in the country side
So even the rich neighborhoods are less safe than South East Asia...
"Digital nomad" knowledge, what do you expect? lol
I love when people say a 'lttie more dangerous lol'
Well it depends in you are driving motorbike without a helmet in SEA, then it IS more dangerous
Yes I agree. I also blend in with Brazilians as a Black person haha... its a nice perk.
SE Asia isn’t dangerous unless you are going to specific places like Mindanao in the Philippines or some places in Myanmar. I have been to seven countries in SE Asia without anything bad happening. I know tons of people who were robbed in Brazil after only a couple days.
I know people (women and femmes) who have robbed, taken advantage ofc and raped in multiple East and SE Asian countries. But unlike you, I’ve been to both, so I’ll trust my judgment over yours, every single time.
« A little more dangerous »??? 😂
I've been there 2,5 months this year, and honestly it's a hassle. Without a CPF you basically can't even order from Amazon, and no one speaks English or Spanish. So you need to learn Portugese to connect with people.
The food also isn't great. Value for money-wise you can get better too. Domestic flights are kinda expensive, and the poverty is pretty brutal. Crime also isn't fun.
The culture is amazing tho and people are pretty nice!
You can get a CPF as a tourist though. Online afaik. But yes, a lot of stuff requires CPF.
People keep saying you can get one online but at least when I did it you needed to go somewhere in person to confirm your ID, which, is another level of bureaucracy that makes it more difficult.
This is a perfect summary coming from someone who spent around the same amount of time there. I speak Portuguese but the downsides are still too prevalent.
Like if we’re talking about that side of the world, I don’t see why I would go to Brazil when I can go to Buenos Aires for example which is safer, more organized, better weather and used to be a lot cheaper (pre milei) but I guess now it’s like Brazil.
I am currently in Buenos Aires right now and is boring as fuck compared to any brazilian city, with the exception being Sao Paulo. And yes, way more expensive today, but also a lot safer
Interesting you find it boring. I guess it’s a matter of personal taste but I found Brazil too heavily centered around drinking and partying
I am with 3 friends rn in Buenos Aires and for us is very underwhelming. 2 of my friends are spanish and they felt like this is just a Madrid-wannabe city, and I definitely agree with that. Everything you find here you could find in a lot of other cities, and way better cities. I found medium size cities in Brazil, like Goiania, Vitoria and even Niteroi (I am not a fan of Rio tho lmao) much more interesting. And you have a ton of cultural stuff to do that are really original and that you could never find in anywhere else. But I can see why Bs As could be more appealing for non european tourists for example. I would say that Mexico is by far the best country for digital nomads tho
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Oh no I am talking only about Latin America, SE Asia is way better than LatAm
Ahh I see. Yeah I’d agree with that assessment, and yeah, mex is the best
Our favorite is Brazil, very fun and the vibes are unmatched. But the cultural isolation and the unsafety are very overwhelming
Not sure why you got downvoted, seemed like a fair opinion based on your experiences. Upvoted you back 1.
It is popular, just not with the noisy DN Clique. You need to put in some effort and learn to Brazil to really enjoy the place. It’s culturally self-sufficient in a way few countries are in 2025. For people who haven’t read a book this year, that’s a tall order when there’s more vapid travel available.
Could you elaborate on the culturally self-sufficient? Thought it was interesting.
They are way less exposed to foreign music compared to Colombia even. I think the language is a huge factor.
As a Colombian you can listen to music and watch movies from Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Argentina etc.
As a Brazilian... you just watch and listen to Brazilian content. The population is large enough to satisfy the demand. Think of it like USA. Americans are not exposed to the rest of the world because there is no need for them.
yeah i was in Brazil for four months back in 2015 and i got the sense that i was just in a totally Brazilian world. The only other places I've experienced that are the US and China - I think it's big country syndrome.
I imagine India would be like that as well.
Funny you say that because I'm actually in India right now lol
Exactly. They incorporate some music from Lusophone Africa, like Angola and Mozambique, of course from Portugal too. Brazil is the overwhelming cultural force in the Portuguese-speaking bloc though.
I learned Portuguese in Rio, later moving to Portugal. I never stopped palatalizing Ds and Ts, in contrast to Iberian Portuguese, or gave up Brazilian vocabulary. No one in Portugal had trouble understanding me, since they consume so much Brazilian culture.
Yup. Rio Portuguese is a baby with Spanish and Polish parents. Lots of "tch" and "dzh" sounds everywhere. Even "Walmart" becomes "walmartchi".
Brazil is much more inward looking than most other countries. Years ago I read something interesting, that Brazil’s domestic music industry crushed imports in sales within Brazil. It’s similar with other media. English penetration is lower in Brazil than other neighboring countries. Brazilians don’t even tend to know Spanish, and Portuguese and Spanish are about as close as two languages can be without being dialects.
https://youtube.com/shorts/BnB17Igmu_o?si=Arlz6vK749NQmilV
Well, this actually is not something good, rather, it's one of the things that sets us as an underdeveloped country. It's not being self sufficient, it's being closed. From Google results to news and everything else, we don't have much contact or know much about the outside world. If someone says anything about another country on some youtube short or something like that, we just believe it, even with the growing number of brazilians abroad. This also make, for example, that we level everything as good or bad based on what we have inside the country. So, if a state has the best education of brazil, it is considered good, even if it's the worst in the world. It's also one of the reasons or consequences of being so monoglote together with not travelling due poverty.
Many things in here we would do different or not accept from our government if the people knew how things are in other countries.
The opposite also happens frequently. Brazilians not realizing that some things are better in Brazil than in over half the world.
This is one of the first reasonable comments I’ve seen on this thread. I don’t think it’s as accessible or accommodating for DNs as many other countries, and forget about it if you don’t want to put in the effort to at least learn a bit of Portuguese. But I think there’s a lot to offer for DNs as well. Just gotta put in a bit of work.
nice. can’t just praise Brazil without insulting people and calling other countries vapid destinations
They didn't call other countries vapid destinations. They called them vapid travel, which is true when one needs to put in much less work. It doesn't mean that the other places have less possible depth or complexity, just that they can be approached with less thought.
Only people who read go to Brazil? And people who read aren’t vapid? I think you hold book readers in far too high a regard hahahaha
Obviously you’re not a golfer.
More people go to Thailand in a year then all the South American countries combined.
First place I’ve ever hard a cop point a sub machine gun at me. Still one of my favorite counties to DN in.
Cops won't short you because they are pointing a gun to you. Brazil is not US and the norm is that the cop approach you pointing the gun to you or at least holding it in ready position. If cops did that like in the US with their pistol on their holster there wouldn't be any cops anymore in Brazil. It doesn't mean that he really suspects of you or that he is gonna shoot you if you do sudden moves. It's just a routine thing.
I didn’t say any good or bad behind it, but it’s never happened to me before anywhere else in the world.
It seems like if i was defending it. sorry. My intention was only to explain.
Ah. Np
Wow, sounds like a really safe and chill country I would want to visit often.
I'm currently living in Ubatuba (beach city, on state of São Paulo). It's important to note the huge size of Brazil, so it's hard to generalize as some states are bigger than entire European countries.
I've been here for the past three years and have known some states: Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Bahia, Minas Gerais, all very safe and cheap (except capitals, where rent is more expensive).
Avoid the states of Bahia, Ceara and Rio de Janeiro unless you have a guide or a local with you, They are unfortunately very unsafe and live under a huge gang war (part of the government trying to pass a law to consider them as terrorists).
As for language, most people don't speak English or Spanish, so it's a good idea to have a translator app ready or know a bit of the language. most people will make an effort to understand you.
Rent in capitols usually range from R$2000 to R$4000 for an small apartment (50sqm), rent in smaller cities are cheaper, I'm currently paying R$1600 for a large (250sqm) 3 bedroom house. Hotels I've stayed have ranged from R$200-300 per night.
Rent at those prices is generally for not very modern/comfortable places though.
The thing about Brazil is the range in terms of what you can find for rent is extremely wide, even for R$400 (~$80) you can find something to rent, but it’s likely a sketchy house of unpainted bricks.
I feel rent in Brasil for instance in São Paulo is generally the same or more of what you’d pay on any other Latin American city when you compare same quality.
It’s known for having very dangerous gangs and wildlife so that puts people off
Rio and SP are definitely dangerous. Rio is beautiful but keep your head on a swivel as they say.
way too dangerous, coming from a paulista.
High crime, gun crime, poverty, bad infrastructure, no one soeaks English.
Brazil attracts nomads/expats with more 🌶️
You can find many from Italy, Latam, France..
It's not the place for a typical "alpha male" tech-bro / wanna-be influencer; better for them and their safety to stay CDMX/Costa Rica
The fuck does this even mean dude 😭 Bunch of weirdos in these comments ngl lmao u cant just praise Brazil without stereotyping the type of people that DN in CDMX/Costa Rica?
Haha I love CDMX and spent there a few months. Nothing bad about these places it’s just nomading on easy mode
A HUGE Latam DN community which I love because I’m fluent in Spanish and learning Portuguese. I love the scene down there—can’t wait to head back.
É basicamente o mesmo idioma só com pronuncia estranha hehe
¡Ojalá! Mi portugués es muy malo. Voy a tomar clases el proximity año 😫
Muy bien! igual podes hablar portuñol jaja
I'd like to visit Brazil, but the personal safety aspect stops me from going. I guess it's the same for others?
It's not so much the knowing how to be safe, but the having to keep safe at all times. You can't relax and enjoy yourself.
But it's a shame, because there are lots of interesting places there, and I'm not even talking about the cities.
IMO there are plenty of safe options if you cut out Rio and SP. South of Brazil is quite safe, for example. Joao Pessoa up in the NE is also great.
Thank you for the information. What about more inland cities? Like in Minas Gerais?
Thats not really true. Brazil has pockets of intense crime in some cities and is generally just chill anywhere else.
By far the most violent aspect of Brazil is gang-on-gang/cop-on-gang violence in slums and nearby regions. Over 90% of homicides in Brazil happen in those places. And around 8% of the brazilian population lives in slums.
The main concern for the majority of brazilians nowadays when it comes to safety is having their cellphone pickpocketed or walking alone at night in a shady neighborhood and getting mugged by some random hobo.
I thoroughly enjoy my nights out on fridays/saturdays, going to clubs and pubs to play live music and my bike rides around the city on sundays. Going to the beach and eating açaí with friends during cycling is life.
dangerous AF
It is not a safe country
Safety
If it were safer it would be more popular for sure.
I'm Brazilian. I think many DNs prefer SEA since Brazil is more dangerous and more expensive. Time zone is much better for North Americans, though.
Crime and violence will turn most people away
It does seem a bit slept on. Safety concerns are valid, but the southern cities (Curitiba, Florianopolis) are relatively safe, and it doesn't seem to stop people going to Colombia. It was expensive relative to neighbours, but the real fell a lot at the end of last year, so that was no longer true. You had people going to Argentina following outdated info on how cheap it was while Brazil was much cheaper at the time.
I had a great time there in 2016, but I speak Portuguese and that would probably be key. It's an incredibly easy place to meet people... if you speak the language.
If only Recife beaches were safe to swim 🤣
Well, you guessed the two main reasons - it is dangerous and expensive. Especially compared to where most DN's may go - thinking SE Asia. It's also a lot more isolated than the typical DN destinations. Another thing, for some nationalities - thinking US citizens - it's more difficult visa wise which keeps a lot of them from visiting.
Brazil has insane import taxes/duties. If you want laptop/phone - things like that are double the price here vs US/Europe/Asia. And if you're talking long term, if you want to rent a place in Rio in a neighborhood like Leblon or Ipanema it's not going to be much cheaper than renting a place in Barcelona, for instance.
In saying all that, Brazil is amazing. I think the main reason the people who do stay here longer term is just because you love the vibes, people, and culture - not because it's the easiest, cheapest, or safest place to be.
Crime.
Been in Brazil long enough, heard all kinds of stories of violence/robbery/assaults. Twice I was in a hostel where a thief pretended to be a traveler to steal laptops while everyone was out during the day (even forcing padlocks once).
However: I love the country, it is my favorite country in the world, but it has a difficult dark side. For me it's great but I can understand why so many people don't want to come
it's because we're scared. Most media depicts Brazil as one giant favela soaked in cocaine and blood
Brazil looks stunning, and I’ve definitely been tempted. But the more I dig into people’s experiences, the more the safety concerns put me off.
Im afraid of getting robbed or scammed and lost in a strange culture that I dont understand.
is it dangerous? people say “oh nothing happened to me while I was there” doesn’t make it safe! violence/safety is the type of thing that is great until it isn’t. When a gang member decides to shoot you in the face because you didn’t unlock the phone quickly enough for them, it’s no fun.
My guess is because it's safety index is low.
I had a blast working in Brazil for a year. I was down south near Porto Alegre. But gotta say, english is not widely spoken haha so it forced me to learn Portuguese very quickly, it may have been easier for me because my mother tongue is spanish.
Brazilian here that have lived a big chunk of life outside of the country..
Brazil is also overlooked by their own people. They really don't know HOW good they have until they leave the country. They don't know that Europe is getting dangerous and pickpocketing is on the rise, that in the US gun violence is WAY worse, you can get shot by a maniac easily. Taking the metro in Toronto, New York is dangerous, you can get stabbed and killed, like that Ukranian girl recently (and that is uncommon in Rio or São Paulo metro). The amount of homeless people too is way worse in Amerca.
Prior leaving the country, I also believed that Brazil was the most dangerous and I was very pessimistic about everything when I left the country. However, living abroad made me see it differently. Brazilians TAKE FOR GRANTED the sunshine, the food, the joy of life that you don't have in many places, the culture in Brazil is great for friendship and enjoying life. Brazilians tend to bad mouth the country to foreigners. Brazilians make movies about violence all the time, City of God is an example of that, so many people think that the whole country is like that.
So yo have a place that is not well located in the globe, with its own people complaining and warning others about it, not many people speaking English then you can't complain about being overlooked by tourists...
From what I read; its the mugging, language barrier, and needing to acquire visas to visit.
Otherwise, I would recommend searching to find your answer. You can understand the sentiment by reading a few posts on this website.
It’s dangerous with high risk and expensive and far away from the rest of the world
It's not expensive
Dangerous, yes, but you can stay in bubbles to mostly avoid it. But every single Brazilian, no matter their social class, has a story of getting robbed or some friend/family member being shot so there is definitly a safety issue to be aware of.
It is kind of expensive, I was pretty shocked at the price of the first meal I had there with a group of locals. I just split the bill with them for like 2 shrimp salads. Bill was $70 USD in a shit restaurant. So watch out for restaurant food prices. Supermarket prices are mostly fine but meat has wild upward swings.
Electronics, jfc. Don't break/lose your electronics there. Too expensive to replace. Or go visit Paraguay to replace those.
Getting a SIM card when I first went was a royal pain in the ass. E sim apps alleviate that issue now. Having the infamous CPF is key though for a good SIM card price (and a ton of other things). I hope things have changed but I remember one local company offered E-Sims but you literally had to go to the closest office to activate it in person with the company's approval.
Airbnbs can be wildly overpriced for what they offer but usually you can find something decent. If you earn decently in Euros/USD then you probably won't blink about it. But for anyone used to 2 floor penthouse modern lofts for $20 a night in Asia are in for a rude awakening.
Ubers / 99 (local version) - Good price if you earn in USD/Euro
Clubs / Parties - can be very overpriced.
Beer - Bad
Local Cocktails - Excellent
It's a weird economy to say the least.
Car rental - can find some dirt cheap deals from good companies (for USD/EU earners) but driving isn't fun there lol
The country and the people are amazing though. That's what kept me extending my stay and going back.
Brazil is a somewhat overrated country. Outside of the Amazon, it's 90% flat and treeless, lacking biome, climatic, and geographic diversity for a continental nation. Even Ecuador, 30 times smaller in area, surpasses Brazil in geographic, biome, and climatic diversity. Its mountains are quite small compared to others around the world, and its mountain ranges are nothing spectacular. Its cities, outside of Rio and Salvador, and some smaller towns, are rather unattractive, with buildings that look like something out of the 1980s communist era and are monotonous. For example, São Paulo must be the most overlooked megacity in the world. Many say Brazil has spectacular beaches, but there isn't a single beach in Brazil that can compare to a Caribbean beach with white sand and dazzling crystal-clear water (I've heard this from Brazilians). The cuisine is nothing special, and although it's subjective, it never makes the top 10-20 lists of the world's best cuisines.
You are clearly unaware from several things in your post. The most ridiculous thing is the Carribean beach part. Ever heard of Jericoacoara? Maragogi? Fernando de Noronha?
OP is right + it's ocean so big not swimable waves, most beaches in Carribean or South Europe are way way more better expierience.
lmfao what
Very dangerous and quite expensive
Pretty safe down south.
You need to learn the language more than in other popular countries for DNs
It is very expensive relative to the standard of living, especially when compared to SE Asia or some other parts of latin america.
Poor public transportation, you will live in the backseat of crappy old Uber cars going to many/most places.
Poor walking and biking infrastructure and city planning... I never felt more like I would be killed by a car running me over than in Brazil.
Extremely high crime, it is not safe, anyone who says otherwise is delusional or talking about a few specific small(ish) cities and towns in the south of Brazil (all of which are still more dangerous than SE Asia and much of Europe)
The language is also minimally useful outside of Brazil, unlike Spanish which is probably the most useful language to learn in the world besides English, so you can go get latin American vibes and not invest hundreds of hours into studying Portuguese (which is also a bit harder and has fewer good learning resources)
Food is not as good as in SE Asia and international food options are lacking
I do like a lot about Brazil, especially the friendly culture. You might too, but for myself and many of the other nomads I met there, we were ready to leave once the time came. It is an exhausting place in a variety of ways, but to be fair some of those ways are definitely not only in Brazil, but latam as a whole
Where have you been in Brazil?
because the level of crime (especially muggings) is simply unacceptable to most.people.
I honestly can't name a place with more nomads than Brazil. If you're a nomad, then just go and try it out for yourself.
Even more than Bali and Thailand?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhAnpsgmFgg
A medium-sized city, considered the best city in the state of Paraná-Brazil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZt4Uq5pHJs
Maringá is nice, but Londrina is where it's at in North Paraná.
I haven't been there mainly because it's a very long and expensive flight from most other places I like to be and I tend to move around more than most so things like that matter.
I haven't done much research into the safety, I only know what I've heard through rumor which hasn't been great. Places like that tend to be a little bit more difficult for me just because I don't really know what I'm getting into, it requires a lot of research and comes with a lot of uncertainty. My time in South America was just generally more draininf because I had to have my guard up much more than I'm used to.
Rio is one of my favorite places in the world.
That being said, even in a famous/touristed city like Rio, you do need some Portuguese to get around comfortably. I imagine many if not most nomads don't want to bother learning enough of the language to have a good time there.
I would probably get robbed or killed so it's off my list. Even if I didn't I would feel like a walking target and it would ruin my trip.
Too bad because Brazil looks awesome.
As a Brazilian living abroad, I had around 2 years as a nomad in Brazil. The country is MASSIVE HUGE. I've been to 17 states, and I am not even close to seeing half of the country.
As a local, it is easier because I speak the language but I understand if you speak zero Portuguese, it's trick but depends, if you are in capitals (Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador) you can find some people speaking basic English but not always willing to stop and help but in smaller cities, someone will help you.
I love travelling in Brazil, the beach culture, but I do agree that you need to pay more attention in terms of criminality. I never had any problems myself, and my foreign partner (even alone) but yeah you need to watch out for your things, like in Rome, Paris.
I always tell people not to believe much in what they see on the news (even more news abroad). It is a massive country, and if you have the chance to visit, do it.
If you haven't noticed, popular DN countries are typically popular because they're cheap enough that a bunch of people who don't earn terribly great wages in their home countries can still go to enjoy a high QOL in said DN area. It's also why there's a huge mismatch between places that are popular for DN vs. places that are popular for travelling. There are DNs in places like Paris, Madrid, Rio, etc. but you'll find that the DNs there are typically working a boring job just remote (e.g. being a SWE or working in tech being a very common one). Those also typically necessitate a fairly consistent lifestyle and create timezone limitations (e.g. if you're American, you don't really ever DN out of East or SEA.) You can't get by by earning $1-2k USD a month trying to live in Leblon or Jardins. (Same reason why you rarely see Japan feature as a common DN destination). The whole personal trainer "coach lifestyle" thing that Bali has going on, or the freelance SEA thing, doesn't really work well when the salary required is higher than above. And even if you could get by on $2k a month in a super nice area in Rio or SP, your overall QOL is going to go down since you don't have quite the same FU money and ability to do whatever you want there.
So right out of the gate, that severely limits the pool of potential candidates. Europeans are largely out, since it would largely require them to work midnight-8 AM which is awful long term. Much of East and Southeast Asia is out, since the places that would be popular in Brazil are not cheap by those standards. Which for the DN side of the community, means many if not most are going to come from places like the US and from neighbouring countries where wages might be high enough (e.g. Chile). Hence, not many DNs. That being said, there are plenty of immigrants who are from various cultures.
That is outside of all the things you mentioned which create further limitations. Another thing is also limitations of the network. South America is huge and not as well integrated (in terms of flights, easy vacays, etc.) like SEA is. Basing yourself out of a place Like Indonesia gives you fairly cheap flights to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines for other adventures. Brazil is Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Paraguay is boring as hell and not cheap to get to (I mean Asuncion, technically ciudad del este is easy to get to but you don't do tourism there really) and anything outside of that is going to be expensive coming out of Brazil.
Haven't been but based on what I have read Brazil just seems a bit too sketchy for me. I don't like there being a reasonably high likelihood of getting mugged.
Maybe because stories you hear about kidnappings in broad daylight?
It's one thing to get scammed or pickpocketed in Paris, it's another to get kidnapped.
Brazil is amazing, we’ve been there twice and stayed south part of it. Last year we went to Rio de Janiero and spent our Christmas and new year. I love this country and it’s one of my favorite here in South America
I've been in Brazil for three years now. Started out in São Paulo for a couple months, but eventually I decided to move further out into the interior. Budget dropped like a stone since I wasn't paying São Paulo prices for things anymore. Safety isn't really a concern where I live, since murders don't get out of the single digits each year. Climate is agreeable, though you'll want an A/C in summer. Food scene where I live is decent, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Argentine, French, Italian and chain restaurants. Great options if you like hiking or cycling. Two gigabit fiber connections to always have access. You definitely have to learn Portuguese, or you'll have a very hard time. I think that's one of the biggest factors keeping folks away. As for the unsafe places, I just don't go there. Went to Rio once and didn't get the hype. When I feel like taking a break, I head down South. Curitiba, Florianópolis, the Santa Catarina coas and the Serra Gaúcha. Always had great experiences in those places. There's definitely potential in Brazil, if you're willing to break out of the Rio/São Paulo sphere.
Where do you live?
I usually split my time between the cities of Marília in São Paulo and Londrina in Paraná.
All these comments talking about lots of expats - I have no idea what they are on about. I've lived in Brazil for like 18 months total across several trips to several regions. I almost never see gringos here except in the mirror.
With that said, I stay away from Rio and SP except to catch overseas flights. Maybe that's where these alleged expats are hanging?
I've been to most regions of Brazil and traveled extensively here. The only place outside of the two big cities I have seen any foreigners at all in in Jericoacoara.
That's just my experience. I feel like the only gringo in this country.
Where would you recommend visiting? And is Rio really that bad? It seems a shame to go all the way to Brazil and not visit Rio.
Brazilian here. Most people dont speak english. We have relatively poor infrastructure in some types of logistics like going from one place to another (except in good areas in Rio and Sao Paulo, that have wonderful subways). This can be annoying for foreigners, because when you travel or live a digital nomad life you expect the least friction possible. The government in general dont care about logistics for tourism, i dont know why. These things are really not difficult to resolve but the energy required to it keep brazil far away from the “viral trends”, in my opinion.
If you speak portuguese, you should be ok, because people are very kind and like to help. But if you qant to spend some time there its important to do some research on logistics like - look for a walkable area, good neighbourhood. If you want to explore inner country or nature, rent a car. Uber works really well, there is the buses, you can rent cars, but the logistics is not as easy like in germany, thailand, italy, that everything is intuitive when you go from one place to another. Unfortunately, we dont have trains outside the big cities. I think its a very nice and beautiful country, really love it💚
The only city i would live in Brazil is Curitiba, i was there and it was very nice, clean and safe
Lenguage barrier and cultural isolation, compared to other Latin American countries
It's amazing but it's unsafe same as México and other katana countries
Crime and corruption, even though much of the country is free of that, people still feel like some danger is there.
Brazil is popular. There are tons of cities worth visiting all with different culture and history. I've spent a good amount of time in Rio - there are tons of foreigners there.
With that said, my explanation is that Brazil is simply a more advanced and late-stage traveler destination. Europe is the easiest and you see plenty of teenagers and gap year backpackers there beginning their traveler journey. SE asia is next in line - especially since it's considered safe and cheap with great culture and food. After that you have Latin America - many of the Spanish speaking countries are safe and easy to access. Brazil often comes pretty far down the list because it's not as safe or accessible. Many travelers speak casual Spanish but few speak Portuguese. I often feel this means the expat/traveler community in Brazil is noticeably older but much more well traveled than the communities in other popular spots.
100% worth visiting though - especially if you speak some portugese. I would consider living there if I wasn't so content living in Medellin.
They do...
Love girls in thong bikini and beach.
What app do Brazilians use for dating most often, if any?
Pretty expensive.
Even us as brazilians sometimes travel to other latin american countries or even oversees because vacations there are usually cheaper than domesticaly.
San Paulo is boring and rio has rampant petty crime
In short, people are initially very concerned about the safety and potential of getting robbed or assaulted.
Next, barely anyone speaks English in Brazil so it’s not as accommodating.
I’d say after these two, people tend to give up and look for other alternatives. But if you can make it past that, it’s a great country with so much to offer.
I used to live there and my daughters are half Brazilian. I think that the Mercosur countries and cultures are distinct from Andean countries. I little more insular due history and location. No Simon Bolivar
Spent a couple months in Sao Paulo as a bartender, had one of the best times of my life. The atmosphere is great with a lot of music & dancing in the streets. The city is clean & metro works well. The best part are the people, with their joyful approach to life. Really recommend spending time in Brazil & especially Sao Paulo. I’m from Northern Europe, felt safe
I found the people a bit cold and arrogant… very status driven as well. Nice mature of course.
Very little English outside of a couple major cities, difficult to do anything without a CPF (Brazilian version of your social security number), crime is not great in the areas people want to go (way, way less crime in the non-touristy areas), take one step outside city limits and you have zero cell service, etc. Add on top that it’s a long flight away from other major destinations and.. yeah. I’ve been here for seven years now. Ended up getting married and having kids. It’s been a fun experience.
I was mugged around gunpoint there, in broad daylight in a "safe" neighborhood where everybody watched so there's that. Looks are deceiving. It can fool you into feeling like it's Europe but spend a lot of time talking to locals and you get the real story.
I went (short trip) and there are plenty of nomads, they're just not as represented on this subreddit for whatever reason
I spent 6 months in Rio in 2023, and I love many things about it, but one of my favorites was how FEW tourists and digital nomads there were. If the price we pay to get away from all those gringos is:
- spending a bit more on rent
- watching out for our belongings and personal safety a bit more
- learning Portuguese
I'd say it's TOTALLY worth it, especially when you consider the beaches, the music, the culture, the women!
To address the points above in a bit more detail:
Rent – Rio and Sao Paulo are huge world-class cities that are suffering from the same real-estate crises as everywhere else. Having said that, aside from the high cost of rent, everything else felt quite affordable. I imagine rent is cheaper outside of the large cities, but I haven't spent time there so I can't speak from personal experience.
Safety – I watched my back and didn't go wandering around on foot late at night, and I didn't get mugged the entire time I was there (nor during the month I spent in Rio and SP in 2021), despite being a tall white guy who stands out. If you are a more fearful person, then you should probably stay away. Everyone has a different level of risk-tolerance, and that's okay.
Learning Portuguese – setting aside for the moment the ethics/optics of going (or considering going) to a foreign country and complaining that the local people don't speak YOUR language, I see Brazilians' lack of English as a huge plus, because I WANT to learn Portuguese. I've heard people say they can never practice their French or German or whatever because people in those countries just switch to English as soon as they hear your accent. That's almost never a problem in Brazil. There were a couple coffee shops and other businesses I avoided because they tried to practice their bad English on me, and I had to unmatch a couple Bumbelinas who wanted to use me for English practice, but I basically spent an entire six months without speaking English at all, and became extremely fluent in Portuguese as a result.
In summary: No, Brazil is not for everyone. And I like it that way.
Stayed in Brazil 4 years as a digital nomad. I wanted a country where english wouldn’t be spoken. I stayed in Recife.
Indeed, English was non-existent. Which was great for me but it seems to scare away a lot of people; this helped immersion a lot. I wanted to immerse myself in a culture and forcing myself to learn the language, which worked as I am fluent in portuguese now and have gotten to learn the culture much more than if I went in expat heavy areas.
To live somewhere where people don’t meet many tourists/expats is refreshing for sure and allow for much more fun social interactions.
A lot of people also see Spanish as more useful or more top of mind for traveling.
The visa situation is a bit annoying compared to others however or was for a while. I often had after the first 6 months to find ways to stay which I always easily found. Another thing that turn off people. You do have a decent learning curve compared to other countries; it is a very hermetic country in many ways. Hell to import, need a CPF, different procedures for things for foreigners that are often not known by people processing things.
Wasn’t expensive but I wasn’t in Rio or Sao Paulo.
I’m happy with it being a hidden gem in plain sight quite frankly. I am back in Québec/Canada with a Brazilian SO but love going back :) I am going back in February in fact for a few weeks.
Brazil is a lovely place but it’s not particularly cheap and security is definitely an issue. Bureaucracy can be excruciating, too, and I’m not sure they’re too receptive to digital nomads.
This can't be a serious question bro lmao
Been in Florianopolis the last couple months. The weather is erratic but the beaches are world class. The food is average and you end up paying for higher quality stuff which costs more than SEA. I’ve found the language difficult but childcare is very affordable. Beautiful nature.
Violence
Não compensa e depende de onde você vai ter risco de vida. A Situação está complicada no Brasil Acho que viajar a Ucrânia é mais seguro.
Além!!!! Está caro demais. Vai gastar igual o mais que na Europa.
Eu sou italiano, moro há 10 anos e já estou pensando em sair de Brasil por conta do custo de vida e a insegurança.
Brazilian here that have lived a big chunk of life outside of the country..
Brazil is also overlooked by their own people. They really don't know HOW good they have until they leave the country. They don't know that Europe is getting dangerous and pickpocketing is on the rise, that in the US gun violence is WAY worse, you can get shot by a maniac easily. Taking the metro in Toronto, New York is dangerous, you can get stabbed and killed, like that Ukranian girl recently (and that is uncommon in Rio or São Paulo metro). The amount of homeless people too is way worse in Amerca.
Prior leaving the country, I also believed that Brazil was the most dangerous and I was very pessimistic about everything when I left the country. However, living abroad made me see it differently. Brazilians TAKE FOR GRANTED the sunshine, the food, the joy of life that you don't have in many places, the culture in Brazil is great for friendship and enjoying life. Brazilians tend to bad mouth the country to foreigners. Brazilians make movies about violence all the time, City of God is an example of that, so many people think that the whole country is like that.
So yo have a place that is not well located in the globe, with its own people complaining and warning others about it, not many people speaking English then you can't complain about being overlooked by tourists...