To try to put into words what it feels like to be welcomed into a whole other family, as part of it, as if I was never not, is impossible.
My brother, his fiancee, and I are a bit of a family unit already, and going to Rio and being welcomed into her family as such was incredible.
Too, the simple joy of being wrapped in a hammock on a breezy patio, reading a book, sipping coffee.
The odd soreness in my shins and achilles, after days of adventuring and walking and wandering and seeing sights similar to but so different from other beaches, other forests, other hikes, other cities.
“This is like Mexico City”
“This reminds me of Big Sur”
“It feels like San Francisco”
The food, the caipis, the family dinners.
I couldn’t be more grateful for the past week in Brazil. It was incredible, and impossible to put into words how deeply the week moved me. A slow, seamless transition from a place of loneliness and sadness to a place of belonging and peace.
Traveling always unlocks your soul.