7 Steps to An Inspiring First Day in Brazil

〈 Have a look at About the Trip for context 〉

1. TAKE A COLD SHOWER

Always take cold showers.

It’s empowering when you are able to overcome your body telling you to do anything but step into freezing water. I first tried it a couple of years ago after I read a Medium article (similar to this one). I’ve been doing it for a while now, and it honestly never gets easier. There are a lot of times when I take comfy steamy hot showers because I convince myself that I may be getting sick or that it’s too cold outside, and sometimes I’m just too weak to follow through with it. Every time I do, though, I step out glad that I did. It’s helped me be comfortable with being uncomfortable, understand that I decide my mental state, and develop a “just do it” attitude. Apart from the mental exercise, it’s better for your hair and skin and is a plus when traveling and hot water is not available. Nathalie, Allie, and I were discussing cold showers, and I was trying to convince them to at least try it out. It’s one of those things that sounds terrible until you try it. And then it sounds a little less terrible. I teased that it was my goal to get them to willingly take a cold shower before the end of the summer: “I hope you are used to failure,” Nathalie answered. Welp.

2. EAT A DELICIOUS BRAZILIAN BREAKFAST 

Complete with 12,532 different types of bread, dulce de leche muffins, cinnamon bananas, seeds of all types, fresh orange juice, 4,786 different cheeses, thin-sliced ham, and strong coffee.

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