Without a doubt, the oldest and most well-recognized brand in the “Expat” niche is Escape Artist (see: EscapeArtist.com). I moved to South America in 2004, prior to that I lived in South Florida and Miami for 12 years, from where my career took me all over the Bahamas, Central America and the Caribbean. Back in those days, before embarking on any new destination, I would use Escape Artist for my research, to know what to expect on the ground, where I was going.
I’m not just saying that. This is not a paid endorsement of Escape Artist because back in the 90’s there was no better resource for “boots-on-the-ground” information about the places I was planning to visit. See, I was the webmaster for the Bahamas Out Islands and founded a company called OffshoreNet, we helped people invest offshore. I was interested to learn about all the offshore tax havens and back then, as it remains to this day, there’s no place where as much practical, useful information, can be found about the overseas world around us.
So it came as great (and pleasant) surprise today, when I read the following message from Escape Artist:
[box]Escape Artist is a premiere online destination for information on living, working, playing, investing and retiring internationally. Readers enjoy the breadth and depth of country and lifestyle specific content Escape Artist is known for publishing. Our readers also appreciate personal stories and unique perspectives on living, working, playing, investing and retiring in foreign nations.
If you have experience with living, working, playing, investing and / or retiring internationally, and would like to share your knowledge with others, becoming a Contributing Writer for Escape Artist could be an excellent opportunity for you. It will give you a chance to share your wisdom and personal experiences with a diverse community of people. It will give you exposure in the publication field. It will give you the satisfaction of knowing that your published works are helping someone who is making an important life decision in the area of international life.
If you would like to become a Contributing Writer, please contact adam@escapeartist.com. Send any writings you have, and we will read it and get back to you quickly. We look forward to hearing all of your unique and valuable knowledge and experiences.[/box]
The above message was posted today, to which I immediately responded, and to which they immediately replied: please submit a story for review.
This is my first story for Escape Artist, hopefully I’ll pass the audition.
Escape Artist in the Big Pineapple ~ Sao Paulo, Brasil
If New York City is “The Big Apple”, then it justs stands to reason that Sao Paulo is “The Big Pineapple!” With a grid twice the size of the LA basin and a population nearly triple that of Manhattan, this fabulous megalopolis, which is ugly beyond description on the surface and sweet beyond your wildest dreams inside, truly deserves this distinction of “The Big Pineapple”. The extremely hard-to-peel outer layers of this place, will finally yield the reader into the sweet and sticky heart, of a fabulous city of incredible juice.
This is the story of an Expat Canuck, an escape artist extraordinaire, living in the greatest city (in his opinion) on earth; Sao Paulo, Brasil.
It’s not just the electricity, or juice of the Big Pineapple, it’s what you gain access to within a 200 mile radius, not to mention two excellent airports and one major, super-efficient bus depot, which is connected to the subway system and all forms of surface transportation, in other words; easy to get started traveling, to all or any part of Brasil. It’s like all roads lead to Rome, or in this case “Sampa”, the most common nick-name for the Cidade da Garoa (the city of drizzle) as it’s commonly known.
Sampa is in the middle of a rainforest, not just any rainforest but the Floresta Atlantica (Atlantic Rainforest). The world’s most biologically diverse forest, not to be confused with the Amazon which is loaded with dangerous creatures, Floresta Atlantica has nothing that can hurt you, aside from the mud and water. Rain is a constant, except in the short dry season, or quasi-winter. Modern man in nature, describes Sao Paulo. This city exemplifies how 21 million people can live in a rainforest. Every street shows signs of the forest reclaiming what is her’s, everywhere you look you’re reminded that there’s something more powerful underneath you and every day you can feel, and often even smell, the juice from the power of nature.
On the civilized side of the coin, you have a 60×60 km grid of human habitation, stretching towards the sky and spreading in every direction, like a plant of the rainforest. On this grid you can find every type of luxury, every creature comfort, every cuisine, ethnicity, religion, sport (except winter sports), style and fashion.
Yes it’s sad to say, razor wire is a common sight in Sao Paulo and just like a pineapple, you’d have no idea how nice it was on the other side of that skin, unless you’d tasted it before, or someone told you how sweet it is. The surface seems to be designed to detract the would-be taster, from even getting started. It just looks too damn nasty from the outside.
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