Arrived with low expectations, left completely converted

Brazil wasn't high on my travel list. A friend pushed me to go and I'm genuinely grateful. The first full day in São Paulo reset everything — the scale of Copacabana Beach and the quality of the coxinha were immediate signals that I'd misjudged the place completely.

extraordinary natural diversity became my personal highlight of the whole trip. Spent 19 days and could easily have stayed twice as long. Now I tell everyone who'll listen that Brazil is underrated — add it to your list.