Getting a Visa for Brazil while in Peru

Many people from the U.S. travel to Peru to visit Machu Picchu each year.  It is a beautiful place worth seeing and is one ofor the 7 wondersof the world.  While in Peru you may decide you want to jump over to Brazil like I did.  Here are the things you need to know:

Making sure you have what you need to get started:

• It takes about 5 business days to get your Visa back from the Brazilian Embassy so you want to make sure you apply on time.
• You will need to have your itinerary done before you go to the Embassy so if you aren't sure you will be approved be sure to buy refundable plane tickets. You may need to also show where you will be staying but since I booked Airbnb I simply listed private residence and I was not asked for any further details.
• You will need to prove you have enough money in your bank account for your trip.  They want to see about $200 U.S. dollars per each day stay available in your account.
• You also have to make sure your passport is good for at least 6 months after your application with at least 2 pages available.

The steps you will need to take before going to the Embassy

• Complete your Visa application online at https://scedv.serpro.gov.br/frscedv/index.jsp.  If you are only getting the option to read the steps in Portugese or Spanish click on the British flag to have the page translated to English.
• Make sure to write down your application number so you can check your status later.
• You will need to also print your Visa Application form to take with you to the Embassy.
• You need a Visa photo.  You can get this taken at Kodak across from Kennedy Park near the big McDonalds in Miraflores.  You cant miss it.  Just go upstairs and get your Visa.  It was about 14 soles and they give you 6 photos.
• You will need to print out 3 months of bank statements.  There is an internet, copy, print building near the Flying Dog Hostel in Miraflores.  You will see it.  Calle Mártir José Olaya Miraflores, Peru
• You will also need to make a copy of your credit card.  If you are using two separate accounts to show proof of the amount of money in your account you will want to copy both cards.  I copied front and back to be safe. 

What you need to know about finalizing your Visa

• Make sure to get to the Embassy between 8:15 a.m. and 12 noon.  I would suggest the earlier the better in case you have to leave to get more information and go back.
• The embassy is located at Av. Jose Pardo 850, Miraflores 15074 Peru.  So if you are at the McDonald's on the corner near Kennedy Park you will want to walk west towards the beach.
• Once at the Embassy show them your passport and Visa Application at the door.  

~Keep in mind the people working at the Embassy do not speak English~

• Once you get your ticket you will wait for your number to be called and then hand the worker all your documentation.  If all looks good you will be told you need to pay the fee of $160.  You will need to make this payment at the Bank down the street.  More walking!  The BBVA Banco Continental is across the street and only about 1 block up in the direction in which you came.  
• You can hand the bank clerk the $160 dollars and tell them you need Brazilian Visa.  They see these enough to know what to do.  You will be given a payment slip to take back to the Embassy.
• The Embassy will give you a receipt and information on when to come back for your Visa.  It's best to check the website to confirm your application is complete before going back to the Embassy.  Pick up times are between 3 pm and 6 on most days.  Check the paperwork they provide to confirm the best times for pickup.

Make sure to take some type of ID when you go back to pick up your Visa (Drivers License or equivalent)

Once you have your Visa you will be off to enjoy Brazil like I was.  It is a very beautiful place and once you have the chance to see one of the seven wonders of the world it will all be worth it!

I am so glad I took the time to get my Visa!

Make sure to subscribe to my blog to check out the other adventures I will be going on!!

New Year: New You

If you think you can't travel the world during the holidays and have a great time with great people you would be wrong!

Coming to Peru alone was a big step for me and I really didn't know what to expect.  I didn't think I would meet any friends and certainly never thought I would have this much fun.  For me, New Years is really important as its a time to celebrate an amazing year and to embrace a new year to come.  It allows me an opportunity to reflect on my goals and my life and determine what changes I would like to make in the new year.  It's also important for me to be dancing, enjoying some cocktails and spending time with friends.  I was able to do all these things right here in Lima, Peru.  It gave me a new outlook on who I am as a person and who I can become but more importantly what I am capable of. 

I found the thing I said I was looking for despite not knowing what it was

I had not quite figured out why I was on this trip when I first booked it or even after being here for several weeks but now I get it.  I mean maybe I knew it all along but I still wanted my aha moment.  

My entire life I have always pushed myself to do more and be more because I am always in competition with myself.  I don't expect that to ever change and for now, at least, its a benefit to my life.  I know there are deep rooted reasons why I do it but what is important is that it continues to enhance my life and make me step further and further outside my comfort zone to become the woman I want to be.  I am not her yet but I know I am on my way.  In the meantime, I needed to know I could come to a foreign country, not know anyone and not only survive (surviving is a major plus!) but meet friends and become part of the community and not just a tourist.  I didn't just want to see Peru, I wanted to become part of Peru.  

I have started to learn my way around and how to get to places I want to go.  I have new friends that I can call and go out with, have lunch with and talk to. I also feel comfortable in my surroundings as if I belong despite the occasional stares from passerby's and the clear language barrier.  I am starting to really love living here.

New Years was the icing on the cake.  I confirmed that I can live anywhere and not just be content or okay but be happy.  You don't need people around you to be happy but when people want to be around you it's a good feeling.  We danced and drank and danced some more.  I spoke to new friends who don't speak English and they taught me how to dance to songs I have never heard of.  It was a truly great night.

If I can do it, you can too.  New Year: New You.  We are all one on this Earth to love and connect and share with one another.  We do not have to look the same or have the same religion or even speak the same language to learn to love each other.  When you realize that you become one with something so much bigger than yourself.  Check out my New Years photos below.  I hope your New Year was full of family, friends and lots of love, like mine was.

         

As you can see from my photos from New Years, I meet some amazing people and had an amazing time.  I have talked to many people who say I am crazy for traveling the world alone but with over 7 billion people in this world I am never alone!  Happy New Year!!!

                                                 

                                                                                                                 

  

Reasons to go to Peru: Huacachina!

So I never in a million years would have known that Peru had such an amazing landscape until I came here.  Now that I am here I am learning about some pretty cool areas.  To know me is to know I love to venture out and that is exactly what I did.  Normally I travel solo but my sister flew in for the week to head to Huacachina with me.  I think the pictures speak for themselves on how awesome this place is:

Where the fun began

If you love adventure you will love Huacachina.  It has a beautiful Oasis in the middle of what I describe as amazing sand mountains.  The dune buggy rides are crazy awesome as they zoom down sand mountains as if on a roller coaster.  Sandboarding was like enjoying snowboarding in the winter in the states but without the cold weather.  It doesn't get better than that!  Peru should definitely be added to your bucket list and you cant come to Peru without going to Huacafuckingchina!!!

                                    

The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Peru

Waking up the first morning in Peru after a long flight felt so good.  I finally made it.  The hustle and bustle of the city all around me gave me a new sense of accomplishment.  I have never jumped on a plane with a one way ticket to another country to live for a few months before.  I mean, who does that?  But I feel like there is this one life we get (I'm pretty sure of it) and we have to live our dreams and have the life we always wanted because one day it will be gone.  And so I live like there is no tomorrow but am still responsible like I will live forever (and need to keep paying these bills).  There must always be a balance.

So, the first morning was great and all was well in my cute little city apartment but stepping outside those doors was not as easy.  Coming to a country that speaks Spanish when you can barely count to 10 in Espanol may have been poor planning on my part but certainly adds to the adventure.  The first day walking around and getting to learn my surroundings was both awe inspiring and scary.  Simple things like buying bottled water proved challenging because not only did I not know how to say bottled, I didn't know how to say what size bottled water I wanted and once we did figure all that out I didn't know how to pay the correct amount of money for the item.  It proved very frustrating for me but I got through it.  Then there was the taxi ride to the bank and the grocery store. Talk about serious stress.  Trying to explain where you need to go to someone who doesn't understand you at all is a major challenge.  That first day out was so draining both emotionally and mentally that I spent the rest of the evening in the apartment once I finally found my way back.

Once I realized that 99% of the people I would encounter on a regular basis spoke no English it was time for me to take action.  A friend gave me a great link to a free online site to learn Spanish and I enrolled in private lessons that begin on Monday. I never thought I would learn a language since I have the worst memory ever but its vital for my success here and so I push myself beyond my comfort zone knowing that anything for me is possible.

Traveling alone is not for the faint of heart but definitely worth it for anyone who wants to step outside their box (for some literally their cubicle box) and lead a different life.  I will say the people here are very friendly and everyone is patient with me and willing to help me along the way however they can.  Many people here own their own bodega's or shops and support each other's businesses by buying the things they need from each other.  Its a community of oneness here that is refreshing from what I have noticed in the States.


There are a few things I learned that you may want to know when coming to Lima, Peru:

• You may be the only person from your Country when you come here

• Its more complicated to find someone to speak English than you think

• They will run you over so don't take your sweet ole time crossing the street

• Every time you get into a cab you will think that you may just die

• Lima is a big city with lots of people so expect it to be constantly busy

Ultimately have fun, take it one day at a time and slowly but surely you will make your way in Lima, Peru!  I know I will!!

                                                                                                 







                                                                                                                                                   

     

Bittersweet

While I was planning this trip I imagined so many amazing adventures I would take and the new experiences I would have.  I also imagined the new friends I would make and the new me I would become.  I never thought about the current friends I would be leaving behind, the family I would miss and the love that I cherish daily that I would be walking away from.

It seems contradictory to be so excited about leaving and miss the people you love tremendously in the process.  I see my life changing drastically and I know I will never be the same and neither will my relationships.  When we travel we make a sacrifice to some of the relationships we once had in order to grow.  I want to grow but change can be hard. I love my current life, my friends, the long relationship I have had with love but its time for a new me.  Maybe a better me.  Maybe just a different me.  I  know for sure I wont be the same.  I guess that's the point.

For anyone who ever saw the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love" I can say I feel as though I will have a similar experience.  I am not gone quite as long as in the movie (although I did only buy a one way ticket) but I think the impact will be just as intense.  This is my eat, pray, love experience.  I am becoming one with myself and the new world around me.

Many people have a journey like mine so I am not alone, but yet I am...alone.  Alone to make my own decisions.  Alone to live my own dreams.  Alone to enjoy my own passions.  Alone can be so freeing when you have nothing standing in the way of a Life Best Lived.  I plan on living it to the fullest every single day.  I intend on eating the foods I want, drinking the best wines I can find and tasting the happiness that comes from being free.  Oh so sweet.

However, although I have yet to land in Peru I already taste a bitterness on my tongue from the loved ones I miss.  I sit here writing this in the airport with a heavy heart trying to avoid any songs that will make me tear up.  I wont cry though.  At least not today.

This, for me, is the adventure of a lifetime.  I hope if you are reading this you realize how possible this is for you too.  Traveling the world is not for just the privileged or the wealthy or the special.  We all have the ability to live whatever life we want.  We just have to believe in ourselves to make all our dreams come true.  Every day I am one step closer to having the life I only imagined just a short few years ago.  I just tell myself I can and somehow I do.

So before all the cool pictures of mountains and shops and nightlife and people, from a place many will never see, I just open myself up to tell you that for today the journey to somewhere is bittersweet.

On a Journey to somewhere

My Journey will be starting soon and I would be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat afraid.  Not afraid of traveling alone or afraid something bad will happen to me but afraid that the thing I don't know I am looking for won't find me.

In a few short weeks I will be heading over to Lima, Peru to spend about 2 months and then hitting up Rio, Brazil for a few weeks before finding my way back home only to jump on a cruise ship to Mexico for a few days.  This will be the longest I have been away from home and will be the first time I am spending this much time alone.  I will be surrounded by people who speak a language unfamiliar to me as the most Spanish I retained was how to count to 10.  Of course I know even less Portuguese so the language barrier may be a challenge.  I love to talk so it will be frustrating to learn a new way to communicate.

People that know I am leaving for a few months always ask me why.  I seem to be surprised each time and have yet to come up with an answer.  I have always wanted to travel the world and although I have been to a great many tropical places in my day I have never stayed somewhere long enough to start to feel like its home.  Being an entrepreneur for Degrees of Success I can work from anywhere in the world.  I guess part of me is leaving so I can tell myself I can.  Somewhere inside me I am also hoping to find something.  I cant put  my finger on what that something is or if it will benefit my life in some way but deep down I think it will.  Clarity maybe or a oneness with myself or some type of closure to the old chapters in my life.  I don't really know.

I think some people think I am going through a midlife crisis but I don't think that's it.  I may not have everything I ever dreamed of but I am getting closer to it every day.  I am still single which I guess at the young age of 38 would seem too old to still be going it alone but most days it doesn't bother me.  I say most because some days it does.  It's not easy to do everything alone and sometimes I wish I had a travel buddy but this journey of mine only requires a Ticket for Just One.

Sometimes I think we have to step outside our comfort zones to become the people we are destined to be.  I guess ultimately I am hoping I will become her somewhere in between Lima and Rio.  I will update you with pictures and videos and stories of my travels.  This is the beginning of my journey to somewhere.