2013 | Live Inbrazil Live in Brazil

LIB 012: An Interview with Mark Hillary of Reality Check

Nov 05 2013

No matter what it is in life, there will always be nay-sayers looking to bring their situation and those around them down.

This is even more amplified when you make the leap to live in Brazil, there are some people who just are not willing to make things work…

…it usually manifests itself in the form of comparing things back home to those in Brazil and develops from there.

While many of us clearly understand that this is an apples to oranges comparison, this doesn’t come without someone setting things in our community straight from time to time.

And today we have the enforcer himself in our midst: Mark Hillary. Read More

3 Steps Making Your Plan to Move to Brazil a Reality

Oct 16 2013

Here sitting at my desk on a grey and foggy Danish morning while taking one for the team as my wife finishes her thesis, I’m purchasing flight tickets to Brazil.

As I look through the jungle of fare prices and restrictions, the same feelings and thoughts that once raced through my mind and body during the original days of planning our move to Brazil, have come again.

Though, for us this isn’t something new, we are used to almost robotically going through the steps required to prepare for a big move and it’s as if everything falls into place on it’s own.

Your Top Questions about Brazil Answered!

Oct 09 2013

My e-mail inbox gets pleasantly flooded daily with curious members of our community interested in finding out how they can best tackle moving to Brazil.

So I figure that it’s about time to put some more detailed answers to these questions than is possible over a quick e-mail.

Without further ado, here are the top questions asked about moving to and living in Brazil with my best answers for the community.

1. Finding a Job (and the Visa)

Here’s a popular question: “Kevin, can I come on a tourist visa, find a job and then get a work visa?”

How I Accidentally Married My Brazilian Car

Oct 02 2013

If you’ve ever rented a car long term or looked at buying on in Brazil, then this story will appeal to you… And teach you effectively what not to do !

To make things a bit clearer about this story turned life lesson, let’s rewind to 2010. After loads of planning and saving, my wife and I had finally found our shortcut to get back into Brazil and live happily ever after…

The plan was the following: we would land in São Paulo, stay with some friends and purchase a relatively good priced car to drive us around. We would then drive down to Florianópolis (the land of milk and honey) to give birth to our sweet Brazilian girl – aka: anchor baby.

Everything went pretty much according to plan and we purchased a spacious Ford Mondeo – a car that would later prove to stick with me through thick and thin.

Everything went well and when selling it, something unexpected happened…

How to be a Local Celebrity in Brazil

Sep 25 2013

Looking for a way out of the mundane and into something extraordinary?

Today, I’m going to tell you a story of how an average Joe took his boring life and transformed it into something amazing.

It all started years ago back in a mundane 9–8 job in the USA, where our man “Jeff” was working 60 hours a week serving the lifestyle he had learned was “the right way to live”.

The truth is that it wasn’t Jeff’s cup of tea and he was ready to move from an ordinary, stress-full lifestyle into a life full of love and acceptance.

You see, Jeff valued personal relationships over tasks and pure routine – what would await him in the little city of Maringá, Paraná would shock and surprise him forever…

3 Ways to Networking Success in Brazil

Sep 18 2013

Success in Brazil is all about who you know.

I’ve never been a great natural networker, maybe it was due to me being a bit of a homeschooled goober growing up or possibly due to the fact that I didn’t see the importance of it…

Whatever the reason, I did the ol’ proverbial face-plant after arriving in Brazil!

Why?

Because being self-reliant is something that only functions in “cold” countries, whereas being inter-reliant is vital to success in Brazil. You see, at the core of the Brazilian society lays a strong social inter-dependance that makes relying on each other necessary. Some say that this inter-dependance has come about due to unreliable social services and governmental bureaucracy, others say that it is just the way Brazilian people are.

Either way, this is something that hit me like a ton of bricks about it’s importance lickity-split after arriving in Brazil. It’s the catalyst to your job opportunities, getting things done and having a happy, fulfilled life in Brazil.

So without further ado, here’s 3 tips to get you up and building a successful network – or as Brazilians refer to it “amizades” (friendships).

Must Have Tools to Learn Portuguese

Sep 11 2013

We all know that a successful lifestyle connected to, or living in Brazil requires that you , though with a jungle of resources out there, it’s hard to know where to start and which dots to connect.

Personally, I’ve been through many different experiences, programs and courses in my quest to learn Portuguese and it was quite a challenge to figure out the best path to fluency.

I tried courses like Rosetta Stone, Pimsluer, a Portuguese language academy, grammar books, memory games – all without success. Although my breakthrough came in an unexpected form.

It was through a series of techniques that I’m going to share with you today.

3 Barriers to Annihilate When Moving to Brazil

Sep 06 2013

The idea of living in eternal summer surrounded by caring people who want to live life to its fullest sounds nice right?

Though we all know that dropping everything we know and making the switch to living in Brazil required more then just “wanting to do so”. Arriving in Brazil without a place to stay, source of income, solid visa or could be the proverbial “stick in our spokes” that sends us flying.

What if you could keep that stick from entering your spokes and be able to cruise in peace and happiness, would you take those actions?

Based on the 1000’s of e-mails I’ve received since starting this site, I’m going to answer the top 3 problems that we face in this community and give you solutions so that you can sleep soundly at night 🙂

A Tour of Cities and Housing in Florianópolis, Brazil

Aug 30 2013

This is a continuation of 3 Reasons to Live in Florianópolis, Brazil from Monday.

Anyone who knows me understands that I love living on the “Ilha da Mágia” (The Magical Island). So much in fact that my daughter is able to call herself a native “Manézinha da Ilha” – a title reserved for people born on the island paradise.

When looking at Florianopolis, the first thing we notice is that it’s big, about 45km from north to south (roughly 30 miles) and has a lot of diversity!

You have the über rich city called “Jurerê Internacional” to the vibrant “Lagoa da Conceição” and everything between.

So what are the different areas of the island like and what would you find infrastructure and housing wise?

This is exactly what you will be getting today – but first an overview of the island:

3 Reasons to Live in Florianópolis, Brazil

Aug 26 2013

Florianopolis beach

The first places we generally consider when moving to Brazil are usually São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Sure, they are cities with a lot to offer and well known, though how would you like some insider info today about somewhere way better (in my opinion).

Enter : a city unlike any in this world, rated as the friendliest place to live, voted as having some of the world’s best beaches, full of unparalleled beauty, some of Brazil’s best infrastructure, amazing foods and restaurants, wonderful schools and overall just a great island to live on!

Today, I will give you the 3 main reasons that fueled my decision to live in Florianópolis over Brazil’s numerous other cities. Then on Friday, you’ll get a breakdown of the different areas of the island and what the different areas are like to live in.

Archive - 2013

1. Finding a Job (and the Visa)