Riowakening

Brazil through an Australian's eyes

Ipanema Beach acai woman Vanessa Esplendorosa can teach us all about happiness

There's a great woman who works on Ipanema Beach that is impossible to forget. Vanessa Cabral dos Santos, or Vanessa Esplendorosa as...

The C word: Changing Company, Career, City, Country, Culture

Company, Career, City, Country, Culture. Changing just one of these C words in your life can lead to untold discovery. Them all? Well...

Brazilian visas and the difficulties for tourists to stay

Coming all the way to South America and not visiting Brazil is like having sex without achieving orgasm - it’s great but you missed the...

Are Brazilians and Australians similar and what do we have in common?

You'll see Aussie surf brands worn all over Brazil, from the beaches to the gangsters in the favelas just like Quiksilver above. In...

Is Brazil safe to travel? Why tourists shouldn't worry

A newspaper front page with a little girl covered in her dead mother’s blood declared “Terrorism in Rio is everyday”. In the grisly...

Brazilian crime is prime time television

Brazil has turned its big time crime problem into prime time television. Taking the lead expertly from the USA, cameras chase Brazil’s...

Social media was made for Brazilians

Social media was certainly made for Brazilians, and by some as well. There is no shame in a selfie in this country and privacy settings...

Brazilian is the world's best accent no one knows

You can practically feel the sun and samba beats bursting out of Brazilians mouths. Yet when the coolest and sexiest accents in the...

Why I left Australia for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil

The question wasn't why would I come to Rio it was why wouldn't I? Here I was, a stereotypical monolingual English-speaking dude. I had...