Calling an official meeting for Brazil preparations

Soooo... we are now 24 days away from GOING TO BRAAAZZIIIILLLL! That's right, 7 friends and I are trekking down to Rio and surrounding area from Feb 4-15 to not only submerge in the wonderful Brazilian culture none of us have experienced yet, but to be part of the biggest party in the world -- Carnaval!

The 7 wonderful people joining me on this adventure are: Kyle, Gill, Emily, Sally, Mariam, Lakendra, and Matt. A nice mix of best buds from college, a significant other, and some of my besties from work :) And today 6 of us had an official meeting to discuss the remaining details and wrap-ups. Our itinerary is as follows:

Feb 4 - fly out of Cincy
Feb 5-8 - Rio, part 1
Feb 8-10 - Angra dos Reis - a beach town
Feb 10-12 - Paraty - another beach town!
Feb 12-15 - Rio, part 2

The Rio part 1 portion will be dedicated to doing all of the touristy stuff since it's pre-Carnaval, so hopefully pre-massiveamountsoftourists. We will be couchsurfing* during Rio part 1&2 and in Angra. Angra and Paraty will be devoted to quality beach and relax time, with perhaps a boat trip out to Ilha Grande. We are hostel-ing it in Paraty in what looks like an awesome place: http://www.bluejunglehostel.com/ What I'm excited about? A FREE WELCOME DRINK AND FREE BREAKFAST! YEAH!! Rio part 2 will be Carnaval time -- ahhhhhh :)
(*will explain the awesomeness of couchsurfing another time)

So meeting today? Lodging - check. Visas - mostly check (except I don't need one b/c I'm a communist.... or well, European). Possible day activities - check. Figuring out how we're going to keep in touch while we're there - check.

More than 3 weeks away and I'm already super antsy. Scratch. I've been antsy since I brought up the idea to my friends back in October. BRAZIL! The land of... well, hotness and partying. I sound like a cliche tourist? What? Well, of course there's the great cultural aspect and history to the country, but let's be honest...

In preparation to joining the millions of pretty bodies, Sally, Mariam, and I have taken on the arduous task of getting our bodies in tip top shape. Hopefully. This involves 3 dance classes a week for me. Let's see how long I last.

Brazil. Bring. It. On.

A wee little intro

Hrmm this is a first for me. I cannot say I'm a great writer or what exactly my intentions are (or how to keep anyone interested in reading this blog), but for the rest of my life I fully intend to travel as much as I can and since my memory is absolutely terrible, documenting my trips might be a good idea...

I feel the pressure to be creative, even starting with the blog name... Nadia's Nomad Travels? Seriously? That's the best I could do? I kinda feel like a fake... I'm not REALLY a nomad... I own an apartment in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, and I have a full time job that will keep me here (for now). Fake fake fake. BUT! I love the idea of being a nomad and although I do have this "permanent" residence, I don't (and probably never will) feel like "home" means where I'll be the rest of my life. In the past 23 years, I've had multiple "homes" in 11 countries and each time I'm comfortable with the change. I've loved each place I've called home and likewise, I love Cincinnati, but have no intention of staying here forever -- "no permanent abode" is in the definition for nomad on dictionary.com... guess it fits after all.

So we'll see how this goes. Hopefully, after time, I won't feel this pressure to be creative and it'll just come naturally (ehhh?). I know there's a bajillion blogs out there of people documenting their love to travel, so I can't promise this will have anything to make it stick out and be special, but maybe along the way I'll find a purpose :)

Guess not so "wee" after all. Anywho. So the documentation of my travel addiction starts!