Before...
Our plan to travel the world by car was getting closer. With the car tested and approved during the “Tierra del Fuego Expedition”, organized by friends from Rio Grande do Sul at the turn of the millennium, we set about making the adjustments we thought were necessary.
We redid the entire interior of the car and gave it a thorough mechanical overhaul by our friend Domenico. We sorted out some of the equipment and documentation. After all, the car would be our home for a long time.
But the fear still existed. We would have to leave our jobs and end our lives in Brazil, even if temporarily. It was a time for professional advancement, but we thought: “if we don’t do it now, we’ll never have the courage again”. And we, who didn’t want to be a couple with regrets in the future, went ahead with the plan.
It was very difficult to leave everything behind. We thought about returning to Brazil and not being able to find a job. But at the same time, we thought that if that happened, we would have other skills after our experience abroad.
It was necessary to set a time limit. I still had a Master's degree defense to defend and the resignations. On a set date, we both resigned. You know that saying: "go with fear, but go anyway". Well, that's what we did.
From that point on, we would no longer have any financial income, except for the rent from our apartment. We tried to get some sponsorship, but were unsuccessful. On the other hand, we managed to maintain an excellent international medical plan for a year, kindly paid for by the company that Helinho worked for. In addition, we made an agreement with a radio station in São Paulo to send weekly travel bulletins. We did not receive any financial help, but it was a way of sending news about our whereabouts. At the time, social networks did not exist, nor was it easy to access a cell phone.
The day came to pack the car. We chose what we needed for the trip and put everything else in a storage unit. We decided to sleep another night in the empty apartment. It was an empty feeling, literally and metaphorically speaking. We woke up and left to return one day, we didn't know when. We saw the building and the apartment balcony from afar. We cried! And we kept going.
We left São Paulo heading to Belo Horizonte. However, given the state we were in, we thought it best to stop and regroup in the city of Campanha (MG), where a friend, Khadija, and her son Yunus ( in memoriam ), welcomed us with great affection. We spent a pleasant afternoon and evening there. The next day we said goodbye early and headed to Belo Horizonte, via São Tomé das Letras. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant inside a farm that housed a rehabilitation unit for drug addicts. It was a delicious and comforting lunch.
Finally, we arrived in Belo Horizonte. It was a week of goodbyes. Talking about the trip. And of course, we were still afraid of what was to come, but we wanted to face that challenge together. From that moment on, we started to become famous. We gave an interview on a local TV station and left, once again, for São Paulo.
Our apartment was already occupied by our tenants, the Cuban Consul and his family. We stayed in a hotel. We had to resolve issues regarding car insurance, where the rules changed at the last minute. Once the problem was resolved, after much discussion, we had lunch at a shopping mall and met our friend Teresa. We said “see you soon”, knowing that this “soon” could be a short time, a long time or an infinite time. And we left...