Río - My First City Tour 📸
I’m finally getting out of the hotel! 🙌🏾 I booked my very first Airbnb Experiences tour and am ready to explore. I took an Uber to the meetup spot and was a little nervous walking around by myself but then I saw my host, Rafael. 😍 After laying eyes on him and hearing his cute accent, I was even more excited to start the tour.
My photo tour was at 9AM and thankfully it lasted only a couple of hours. Who knew getting my picture taken for hours would be so exhausting! 😅
We walked around downtown and near the pier making stops along the way when the lighting was good or the backdrop was perfect. While he was practicing his photography skills, I practiced being the center of attention for my shiny new blog. It was a change of pace being in front of the camera and actually liking the pictures - well sort of…
I wasn’t a fan of his editing skills but he was so genuine and the cost was ridiculously cheap that I didn’t mind the overly dark photos. I was thrilled when he reluctantly agreed to snap a few photos with my phone. Those ended up being perfect for my IG feed! 🤩
After the tour, I was starving and ate at a restaurant across the street from the hotel - nothing worth writing on the blog about but I will say that I had a delicious cappuccino (pictured below). A hot beverage that I desperately needed since I was still suffering from jet lag.
After lunch, I worked on my blog and SEO for my YouTube channel. Afterwards, I had a good sweat in the gym finishing in time to enjoy the evening reception.
The day felt perfect until I realized that my accounts were hacked! 🤯 Gmail, YouTube and Airbnb - all not working! I got so frustrated that I just gave up and cleaned my room. Then, I ended up talking to a Dallas friend for 2.5 hours!
Amongst the many topics we discussed, I told my friend about how different the beauty standards in Brazil were in comparison to the U.S. which ended up inspiring one of my most popular blog posts.
I ended the night by preparing for my first working day in Brazil. I had so much catching up to do. Being a solopreneur meant the work never ended.
Rafael, my Airbnb host and photographer for the day, and I taking a break during our shoot.
Where we our photo tour ended. Many of the attractions were still closed due to covid.
A much needed cappuccino to help cure some jetlag!
I remember looking at this shot thinking I hated the angle only now to look at it and see myself embarking on a new life journey.
I loved all the artwork of Rio. It’s such a colorful city.
Where’s Mel-do? lol See what I mean about the darkness of the shots? But I could have totally edited it. A lesson for myself to release a little bit more of control especially when it comes to creative expression.