Dave Ford Does Earth

Posted by Dave Ford

At this point in time, I am as relaxed as I have ever been. Without a doubt, this is the first post I have ever written while laying in a hammock.

You know things are going well in life when you find you need a “vacation from a vacation”. Thats pretty much what I am doing here in Floripa (slang for Florianapolis) with Regis and Carol–my Brazilian friends that I met in Antarctica. For the first time in two months I have been able to slow down, relax,  and not worry about whether my stuff is locked up. I do not have to worry about when the next bus is heading out of town. Before I got here, I did not know it but I needed some time to just relax and chill in a really bad way.

Florianapolis is a beautiful island off of the coast of southern Brazil. This place is crawling with surfers and beautiful women. It feels a lot like Hawaii to me. Its almost as if we are stuck inside a never ending Jack Johnson song.

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Regis and Carol are living a life that I have never come close to witnessing or experiencing first hand. It is a remarkable, very relaxed existence. I am going to try and keep track of the number of times I say relaxed in this post.

Here is a list of ingredients that make up “The Life”:

- 2 Hammocks
- 1 Pool
- 1 Parrot
- 3 Coconut trees
- 1 Passion fruit Plant
- A knack and love of cooking
- Lots and lots and lots of steak on the BBQ
- Isolation from the world
- Zero traffic (they bought a place away from the crowds)
- One huge, well trained Rottweiler named Kreuger
- 2 jobs that allow them to work out of the house
- Amazing, Breathtaking weather

Profiles
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Regis and Carol

Regis(35) is a French Citizen born in Brazil. He speaks fluent French, Portuguese, English, Spanish, German, and a little Swahili. When he was 28, he was in a similar spot as I found myself. He was working for a big company and decided it was time for a change. Instead of traveling the world, he took off for Eastern Africa. Not long after arriving, Regis landed a job as freelance humanitarian for the United Nations as a war zone-refugee camp inspector. Yes, you read that correctly. He spent time in the Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and the Congo. He also spent a great deal of time touring Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. Currently, he works for a French company that exports Brazilian beef–Brazil is the world´s number 1 exporter of beef and poultry–all over the world. He works using Skype and the Internet and does not have to leave his house in Floripa except for a few times a year to make a few face to face sales calls.

Carol (30) is a green (environmental) architect and also works out of the house. Currently, she is freelancing. Carol designed their house in Floripa from top to bottom. I am blown away! Pictures do not do this place justice. Currently, she is working to design a country cottage for some property that they bought in the far south of Brazil. Carol speaks Portuguese, English, and a little French.

Carol and Regis are from Sao Paolo. After some time there together, they decided they did not want to live in a city with 19 million people and vanished to beach paradise. These two are madly in love with each other. They read each others minds and support each other weaknesses.

Shortly after taking this picture the four of us demolished this delicious 40 pound rib

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For the last 5 days we have been living inside the world of Regis and Carol. John and I (pictured above) are really enjoying it. Together they have been such gracious hosts. They love to cook. Every lunch and dinner is prepared with such zest and passion. John and I are eating like kings. One day Regis cooked up a set of ribs that had to be 40 pounds. Last night it was grilled fish. Today it is a roasted leg of lamb.

The rhythm of our days together are based around the meals. We get up, have breakfast, maybe go to the beach for a few hours, come back, have a big lunch, then maybe we will go to the beach again. We have been relaxing and listening to a lot really good music. John and I have introduced Regis to Phish, Widespread Panic, and Citizen Cope. In return, Regis has increased and expanded our interest in Bob Marley, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane (I have not listened to much Bob since college, but I am back on it). The other night John and I stretched out in the hammocks (not together, different hammocks…not that I would be uncomfortable laying in the same hammock with John….OK, maybe it would be a gross to lay in the same hammock with John, I am sure he feels the same way…or maybe he does not, which in turn would be really weird) and listened to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Wish You Were Here” back to back.

Note to self: I ruined the point of how cool it was to chill in hammocks, in a Brazilian paradise, listening to Pink Floyd, under a starry sky with all the John in a hammock talk.

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Regis and Carol have a very, very, very large security system. He goes by the name of Kreuger (like Freddy Kreuger). Hes 1.5 years old, and about 100 pounds of pure muscle. I think he has taken a liking to both John and I. Yet, I think he likes John more. Actually, I think Krueger thinks he owns John. He has been dominating him ever since we got here.

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A look inside my Head:

When I worked in radio, I would get up every morning at 6:30, put on my suit and tie, drive my one hour commute, work all day, and drive my one hour home. It would be 6:30 at the earliest before I hit the door. In the U.S., I believe we call this the American way, the rat race, the daily grind, and many other more explicit expressions. In contrast, Regis and Carol both work over the Internet inside their house. They spend everyday together. At around 2 o clock they both begin to prepare dinner together while they are working. The music never stops playing. If they need a break, Carol might ride to the market and pick up a fresh fish or Regis might go and sit in the cage with his parrot and have a conversation. If they want to jump in the pool, then they jump in the pool. If they want to walk down the street to the beach, then they do it. In closing, its a completely different way to live. I like it!!!

Some Notes:

> After spending time on the beaches of Brazil, I would highly recommend buying some stock in any and all Brazilian thong companies.

> I felt like I was sort of, kind of, maybe getting Spanish. This is all for nil as I currently know and understand a total of 5 words of Portuguese. I do not have a clue as to a single thing that anyone is trying to say to me. I first say ¨Habla Ingles¨, followed by ¨Habla Espanol¨, followed by bizzare charades, frustration, and John laughing at me.

> I ran into Benny “BV Show” Vears (the Aussie I traveled with for my first month) again in Floripa. We only got to grab dinner and a few drinks before he headed off for a 6 day tour up the Amazon with the boys.

> A great big thanks to Regis and Carol for a first rate, excellent, magnificent, praise worthy, unforgettable experience in Florianapolis. I am sure John feels the same way. Regis and Carol have been the most gracious hosts I have ever had the pleasure of staying with. If all goes as plan, John and I will be introducing them to Jazzfest in New Orleans in the not too distant future.

> After my experience in Floripa, I have had one prevailing thought. If you own a hammock you should set it up right now and lay in it. If you do not own a hammock, immediately proceed to the store and buy a hammock. If you cannot afford to buy a hammock, then go to a store where they sell hammocks and pretend like you are going to buy one and lay in the display hammock for a few minutes. Your quality of life will improve, I guarantee it!

> This last picture is what it looks like when a 6 foot 4 inch white guy is forced to travel by bus in far away lands.

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