this video was filmed in 2024.

i was living in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

small beach town. quiet. beautiful in a way that sneaks up on you.

and i had no idea that less than a year later i would be on the other side of the Atlantic.

at the time i filmed this, i thought i was leaving to go back to New York.

Brooklyn specifically. where i had lived before. where the plan made sense on paper.

but when i got there i already knew. you can't move from a small beach town back to a city that smells and crowds and moves like that. not when your body has already adjusted to something slower and cleaner. Brooklyn said no before i even finished unpacking. ----

NOTE: do you need a break? find me at https://respite.faafo.app/

--- so i went back to rural America for a little while. regrouped. got quiet.

and a few weeks later i made a decision i had never made before.

i was going to try moving abroad. for the first time in my life.

first passport. no international experience. no blueprint. just a direction.

what you're watching right now is just a bike ride.

my neighborhood in New Smyrna. the road. the ordinary everyday of a life i was about to leave behind without fully knowing it yet.

i want you to watch it and understand what this channel actually is.

move to brazil with sisi is not an invitation to move with me.

i'm not here to convince you of anything.

what this is --- is all of it. every part of the journey. including the parts that don't look like brazil at all.

because here's what i keep watching people miss:

if your heart is set on something, God --- the ancestors --- the universe --- whatever name you give that force --- will give you what you want.

but it will prepare you first.

and that preparation doesn't always look like progress.

sometimes it looks like a beach town in Florida you didn't plan to love. sometimes it looks like a Brooklyn trip that lasts three weeks because your whole body rejects the idea. sometimes it looks like rural America in between, sitting still long enough to hear what comes next.

people see where i am now and they want to skip to this part.

i understand that.

but i need to be clear: i am not telling you to struggle. i am not romanticizing the hard parts. that is not what this is.

what i am saying is that the steps you want to skip are often building the capacity for the life you're asking for.

and when you quit because the preparation doesn't look like the destination --- you don't get the destination.

so yes. there will be videos on this channel about Florida. about Brooklyn. about the in-between. about ordinary bike rides in places that don't look like bahia at all.

they are all part of it.

because the life i'm living right now was assembled from every single one of those pieces.

in order. nothing wasted. nothing accidental.

https://faafo.app/

This one is for the people romanticizing Brazil a little too hard and for the people quietly wondering, “Wait... who actually helped you get settled?”

Because that part matters.

I talk about why Brazil is not for beginners, why some relocation advice is missing key details, and why your personality type matters more than people want to admit. Some people can land, pivot, and figure it out. Some people need support. Neither is wrong. But pretending those are the same experience? That is where the nonsense starts.

A little reality check, a little buyer beware, and a little “please stop lying by omission.”

Find me (Courtney -- Sisi in Brazil) at all the things faafo.app

In this episode, I get into something that does not get talked about enough: who is actually telling the truth about moving to Brazil.

A lot of people make this place sound smoother, simpler, and more beginner-friendly than it really is. Some of that is optimism. Some of it is ego. Some of it is because they had a whole support system behind the scenes and forgot to mention that part. I did not come to Brazil with a built-in team, a relocation package, or a “call me if you panic” contact list. I got dropped at my Airbnb and figured it out from there.

So this episode is a little buyer beware, a little reality check, and a little personality test. Are you the kind of person who can pivot when plans go sideways? Do you need support? Can you tell the difference between someone who learned the hard way and someone who is selling you a polished version of the story?

Because Brazil may still be worth it. But you need the truth, not just the pretty parts.

Find me (Courtney -- Sisi in Brazil) at all the things faafo.app

Talking Points --

• - Why Brazil is often described as “not for beginners”
• - The difference between visiting Brazil and actually building a life there
• - Why surface-level relocation content can be misleading
• - The importance of asking who helped someone and how much
• - Hand-holding versus figuring it out independently
• - Why personality type matters in international moves
• - Anxiety, uncertainty, and living without a built-in support system
• - Why glossy stories leave out the hardest parts
• - Why Brazil can still be worth it, especially for Black Americans
• - How to think more clearly before choosing whose advice to trust