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day before the event would occur. I was able to
score tickets to a few USA Basketball games and
witness the historic Simone Manuel swim match.
Each event I attended restored a little tiny bit
a faith in human kind for me, because while
competition was fierce, fans were completely
respectful while the national anthem of whoever
won was played. A careful consideration to
planning your Olympic trip is to spend time
preparing for the host country. Brazil got a
bad beat from the media leading up to the
opening between the Zika scare and doubts
that they could meet infrastructural deadlines.
The reports weren’t completely false but they
were certainly over exaggerated. Brazil, like any
other emerging country grapples with crime,
inefficiencies, and challenging development.
Nevertheless, I ventured out carefully planned
with a dedicated driver to see some of the sights
of Brazil. Check out the Cristo Rendentor and
concentrated in one area known as “the Strip.” I
planned my nights out in sync with the calendar
of a promotor group who throw parties every
year (do a few Instagram searches to figure out
the moves). If you choose to class it up, there
are many options to do that on a budget as
well. My girlfriends and I opted to charter our
own yacht for a few hours at only a mere $200
a piece with 5 people total on the boat. Decent
beaches, good food, great service, and some
crazy memories I probably wont share with my
kids, will keep me coming back Cancun time
and time again.
THAT MOMENT WHEN: You make it back to
your hotel at the same time the sun is coming
up, you change your clothes, hit the beach and
wake up with terrible sunburn because you slept
for hours
colorful Escalaron steps to say you did it – but
go early in the day so that you can capture
Instagram worthy pictures without a whole
bunch of other people in the background. Once
I had my typical tourist to-dos out of the way,
I particularly enjoyed eating and hanging out
in the less touristy upscale neighborhoods of
Ipanema and Leblon.
THAT MOMENT WHEN: You witness
2016 OLYMPICS IN BRAZIL As one of the
most fascinating travel experiences I’ve ever
had, attending a set of Olympic games is
bucket list worthy. It was like being at a UN
convention… a UN sports convention to be
exact. People come from far and wide, decked
out in their country flag colors to support the
athletes representing their countries in some of
#melaninmagic over and over again, as you
the most obscure sporting events ever. *When
realize most the the athletes representing
the time comes along, remind me to sign my
your country and bringing home gold medals
kids up for synchronized diving* The Olympics
are people of color
are incredibly accessible with tickets available to
most events on the official website up until the
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