For many years I backpacked on a very tight budget, sleeping in the cheapest Hotels, using public transport, mainly bus and train, sometimes boat, ferry, the occasional hitchhike, and occasionally fly in small planes. Traveling like this can get quite intense sometimes, but it is definitely the best way to get in touch with the locals, experience mentalities and culture of a country, and naturally, it’s the easiest way to meet people, be it travelers or locals.
On my first trip through Brazil, I traveled by bus from south to north. A fantastic trip, what a great country and wonderful people.
On my second trip to Brazil, I met a woman from Belo Horizonte. She was middle class, had a chic apartment, a car and worked independently as a psychologist, having her own practice.
Through her lifestyle I obtained a completely different perspective on the country and its society.
From now on I saw the Brazil I knew from my previous trip only through the car window.
“My real” Brazil is moving into other spheres. They are different worlds, we have almost no contact, no relation to the majority of the population, see everything as if through a different pair of glasses, I am feeling alien.