Travel and settle - A deep connection that changed my life

by Clara Fischer (Brazil)

Making a local connection Brazil

The modern days keep pushing us through technology, connectivity, and a life that flows faster and faster. I like the contemporary days, but it feels like we are far away from our roots. Nature keeps calling. We drive our cars, eat our processed food, we use the internet for everything. We stay connected. Do we? The real connection seems to be a glimpse. I always liked to be surrounded by nature. It may seem cliché, but it’s true. I love to breathe the air in the mountains or get my skin touched by the sun and sand. I feel more significant when I can plant a tree or some herbs. And most of all, I feel rapt when I look out of my window, and all I see is green. It’s hard to have this when you live in a modern city. I was living in Rio de Janeiro, a significant capital, a lot of traffic, violence, fear in every corner. When you live in a metropolis, you have many things to do, admittedly, but the cost is very high. My home was just a house, emptiness. I had love, family, friends, but something was missing. So I keep my eyes on the horizon and the car on the road. The first travel was a mile away, and I keep pushing myself to go farther and farther until a 745 miles travel that changed my life. Traveling is what I genuinely love, besides my cats, dogs, and fiancée. Every time I can, I’m on the road. I am mostly going by car. In Brazil, I traveled more than 300 thousand miles. I know many cities in many states, but one of them called my attention as a place I could settle. A tiny town in the middle of the North Plateau in Santa Catarina. Few people, no traffic, and nature everywhere. The name of the city is Campo Alegre. It means “Happy fields”. The idea came from the first German immigrants; they looked at nature and the fantastic landscapes and views and called “Fröhliche Felder”. And on this first visit, it looks just like that, a happy and beautiful place. So a few years ago, I made a decision. Giving up everything and start over in that place where I could feel fulfilled again. This new town is picturesque. Campo Alegre has an outstanding Germanic town center that looks like a fairy tale surrounded by hillsides filled with tall araucarias trees. The streets are small, with a lot of parking spots, so it’s easy to go to the coffee shops, chocolate factory, bakery, and an organic products market. Near downtown, you can stop by a park that takes you to a vast and crystal clear waterfall. People take baths there with clothes on; it’s odd, but also entertaining. Citizens are different in this new town. They live as they were living 100 times in the past, but not in a wrong way. They trust each other, talk with neighbors, and wave for others on the streets. The clothes are simple, but the smiles are honest. And they care, almost too much. Living in Campo Alegre is like a family meets that never ends. In Campo Alegre, you can also have countryside experiences like harvesting apples in an orchard or buy fruits and vegetables from local farmers. The downtown has asphalt, but around the corner, you find a dirt ground road that leads to woods, forests, a field of hydrangeas, strawberries, and blueberries crops. Since that time, life has been a mix of discoveries and deeper connections. I found inner peace and outstanding new places every weekend that a drive on a country road. I keep traveling, of course. At least once a month, we are on the way again. The last city was a 500 years beachside town with Portuguese colonial buildings and white sand. But that is another tale.