As an expat be prepared to hear “this is normal in Georgia” every time something goes wrong. No one is in a hurry to fix anything - from broken lift in the building (I even got stuck once on a Sunday night and was told “maybe someone will come tomorrow to free you”! - had to break out myself) to your wifi (stopped working for almost 2 weeks, not until we threatened to change companies that they decided to send a technician). We didn’t find it very friendly. People don’t smile, staff in stores are surly and unhelpful. The taxi drivers are the worst in the world (including Uber). Utter maniacs. The cost of living has risen steeply because of inflation. People also constantly thought we were Russian and we got yelled at several times by locals who don’t want Russians around (for obvious reasons). Overall, it’s not the most pleasant place to be an expat. However, the food is delicious (if heavy), the scenery is gorgeous. The mobile data is cheap, but groceries ans eating out is more expensive than we expected. I’d recommend it for a month or two, but no more.
Pros and Cons of Living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Pros of Living in Rio de Janeiro
Lots of fun stuff to do
Warm now
Warm all year round
Good air quality on average
Nomad List members liked going here a lot
Many Nomad List members here all year round
Easy to make friends
High quality of education
Great hospitals
Democratic
Safe for women
Family friendly
Very friendly to LGBTQ+
Not many people smoke tobacco
Cons of Living in Rio de Janeiro
Freedom of speech is weak
Not safe at all
Very slow internet
Feels crowded
Difficult to do business
Roads can be dangerous
People don't speak English well
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I was here for a month. Rio is a beautiful and vibrant city. There's a lot of icons to see. There's great food and the beach is right there. In my experience the pandemic hasn't impacted the city much. Bars and clubs are still open. I usually go out to Leblon, Ipanema, Lapa, and Barra da Tijuca. However, it can definitely be a dangerous city if you're being careless. About 10% of the people I've met had an incident there. I was mugged once walking home one night after the clubs in Ipanema, an affluent area. During the daytime, it's fine, but it's not a city where you can walk alone at night even in the affluent areas or at the beach for 5 - 10 minutes. It's one of the most fun places in the world with the warmest people, but just be careful. As far as coworking, I just used Regus's lounge membership. It's not social, but it was quiet with fast enough for leading meetings. If I had to do it again, I would stay in Rio for a couple of weeks to see everything and move to Barra da Tijuca for a long-term stay.
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Rio is a fantastic city if u love the outdoors. it is great to be a nomad but u need to be streetsmart and learn the language basics at least to enrich ur ex.
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Stunning city! The beach + mountains + buildings combination is extremely unique. The most beautiful big city I have ever visited! Brazilians are also very friendly and Brazil's culture is one of a kind. I loved everything about the trip and even learned some potuguese, which is a beautiful language
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