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Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,550,878 times
Reputation: 6685
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Greetings:
Just renewed my lease for another year in Miami but giving serious thought to moving to and living in either Rio or São Paulo by this time next year. No set duration.
First off, while I have been to Brazil several times the duration of my vacations have not exceeded 2 weeks. My goal is to take at least 1 or 2 more trips this year, with one of those visits being at least 4-6 weeks to make a better determination as to whether this is a realistic objective.
I speak minimal Portuguese but would have time over the next year to learn the language at a school or from a local tutor.
I am retired so do not need to work—just looking to enjoy a great lifestyle. Biggest decision might be which city to choose. I have not spent that much time researching but would assume there would be some other American expats and/or communities in those 2 cities.
A former friend of mine who played for the Rams and is now an attorney in SoCal spent most of his football offseasons in Rio and loved it.
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,244,038 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by elchevere
Greetings:
Just renewed my lease for another year in Miami but giving serious thought to moving to and living in either Rio or São Paulo by this time next year. No set duration.
First off, while I have been to Brazil several times the duration of my vacations have not exceeded 2 weeks. My goal is to take at least 1 or 2 more trips this year, with one of those visits being at least 4-6 weeks to make a better determination as to whether this is a realistic objective.
I speak minimal Portuguese but would have time over the next year to learn the language at a school or from a local tutor.
I am retired so do not need to work—just looking to enjoy a great lifestyle. Biggest decision might be which city to choose. I have not spent that much time researching but would assume there would be some other American expats and/or communities in those 2 cities.
A former friend of mine who played for the Rams and is now an attorney in SoCal spent most of his football offseasons in Rio and loved it.
Any suggestions or caveats?
Im an expat in Rio....my advice is visit often before choosing a city in Brazil to reside. Rio and SP are like NYC and L.A.........they have some differences. And thats from a macro level...micro level, depending on the city you decide to target you also need to figure out the neighborhoods that suit your lifestyle. Cariocas here treat me as a carioca...but Im pretrty fluent in Portuguese, been coming to Rio for almost 20 years and have many friends here.
You cannot substitute RESEARCH....its free and very useful. Aand please, please practice Portuguese. The number of English speakers here is not volumnous....and its pretty low outside of areas that are touristy.
A good expat is an educated expat...research the city, the culture, and learn as best you can the language. Its all about cultural humility amigo. Good luck. Aany questions I can answer about Rio please ask
Must be many Brazilians in Miami...I used Bangkok Bank NY for a lot of important stuff when living in Thailand..you might be able to do something similar in Miami with a Brazilian bank...tourist often get slaughtered on banking..expats will have figured out how to get more and keep more of their transfers and withdrawals. I'm looking at Colombia for the winter.
Must be many Brazilians in Miami...I used Bangkok Bank NY for a lot of important stuff when living in Thailand..you might be able to do something similar in Miami with a Brazilian bank...tourist often get slaughtered on banking..expats will have figured out how to get more and keep more of their transfers and withdrawals. I'm looking at Colombia for the winter.
Charles Schwab Bank is a good US bank account to have for an expat from the US who has US income sources (like me currently). No foreign transaction fees on ATM cash withdrawals using Schwab ATM debit card in another country. If you go to an ATM outside the US that has a good currency exchange rate (close to the official rate), you will not lose anything on getting access to your money from the US in another country.
Just renewed my lease for another year in Miami but giving serious thought to moving to and living in either Rio or São Paulo by this time next year. No set duration.
First off, while I have been to Brazil several times the duration of my vacations have not exceeded 2 weeks. My goal is to take at least 1 or 2 more trips this year, with one of those visits being at least 4-6 weeks to make a better determination as to whether this is a realistic objective.
I speak minimal Portuguese but would have time over the next year to learn the language at a school or from a local tutor.
I am retired so do not need to work—just looking to enjoy a great lifestyle. Biggest decision might be which city to choose. I have not spent that much time researching but would assume there would be some other American expats and/or communities in those 2 cities.
A former friend of mine who played for the Rams and is now an attorney in SoCal spent most of his football offseasons in Rio and loved it.
Any suggestions or caveats?
There is a lot to do in Sao Paulo but it is a business oriented city. It is also frequently difficult to get between parts of town. Also much of the city is quiet on the weekends as many residents leave. Rio has a completely different feel. it has very defined neighborhoods with completely different vibes. You can usually travel between the two airports and your destination quite easily. To me Rio wins hands down on being a good place to just hang out and spend time. Expats can fit in quite easily and won't stand out. It has it's share of crime but you just need to follow certain precautions and can usually avoid trouble.
Go there for a few weeks and see how you like it. Try different neighborhoods to see if one suits you better than the others. Take taxis and avoid public transport.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,550,878 times
Reputation: 6685
Good answers so far….I equate Rio (though a much larger city) to San Diego and São Paulo to NYC. In Rio I would likely look to stay in Leblon or Ipanema (including Lagoa area)….Seems like it would be the easier of the 2 cities to adjust to though I will spend some more time in SP this spring and/or summer.
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,244,038 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by elchevere
Good answers so far….I equate Rio (though a much larger city) to San Diego and São Paulo to NYC. In Rio I would likely look to stay in Leblon or Ipanema (including Lagoa area)….Seems like it would be the easier of the 2 cities to adjust to though I will spend some more time in SP this spring and/or summer.
Leblon/Ipanema for a non Portuguse speaker or non fluent spaker would be a wise choice. The chance of running across Cariocas that speak English is higher there and you wqill run across more tourists/expats that speak English.
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