“Can I help you find somewhere?” The voice behind us speaks in a soft Portuguese accent. We must look a little lost in this new city – this city that I’m starting to fall in love with. I turn around to see a beautiful woman with a warm smile standing there. Our guardian angel…

  Beautiful men and glamorous women drink out of champagne flutes and talk in a language that I don’t understand. I watch as words float poetically out of their perfect mouths and I’m caught up in the elegance. Someone says something…and suddenly everything stops. The room falls silent as mouths fall open. Something is seriously…

  As cool rain beats down outside my window and splashes onto the empty pavement below, I open my eyes. It is still dark. Reaching out towards the wooden bedside table, I find my phone and gently press the home button. The screen jumps to life with a brightness that stings, and I watch as time…

I’m up on the 11th floor looking down. The buzz of the city wafts up on currents of warm Brazilian air and carries with it bouncing Samba beats from musicians at a private party somewhere down below. Today I spotted my first wild Parakeet. Flapping gracefully past the lush foliage, its beautiful bright green wings…