ExPatNoBrasil · S1 Ep. 01
Mercadão
The big municipal market: the famous counters, unfamiliar fruit, and what a first visit costs.
The professional expat
Cleared customs. Stayed.
Thirty-six years of consulting and living abroad. Seventy-seven countries. Now I live in them.
Watch the trailer · 1:53
An American in São Paulo. No postcards.
Sound is off — tap the speaker to unmute. · Watch on YouTube
Chapters
The chapters
Chapter 1 · Now showing
Brasil
ExPatNoBrasil · Seasons 1–10
2
Chapter 2
The next chapter
To be announced.
ExPatNoBrasil · Season 1
Episodes
ExPatNoBrasil · S1 Ep. 02
A Supermarket in Bela Vista
Aisle by aisle: what is cheap, what is imported, and what I gave up looking for.
ExPatNoBrasil · S1 Ep. 03
Lunch on Faria Lima
The business-district lunch. Plates, prices, and the office crowd at noon.
ExPatNoBrasil · S1 Ep. 04
Padaria Italianinha
An old-school bakery in Bixiga. Coffee at the counter, bread, and regulars.
The Past Customs Podcast
Conversations, coming
Conversation 01 · Kitchens
A chef
On markets, staff meals, and feeding people far from home.
Conversation 02 · Business
A founder
Building something across borders, and what nobody tells you.
Conversation 03 · Public life
A diplomat
A career spent arriving, and the art of fitting in quickly.
Conversation 04 · The neighborhood
A local legend
The person everyone knows, on how a place really works.
These are the kinds of people we want to talk to. No guests have been announced.
Guides
Latest from the road
Eat · 4 min readBrasil only
Lunch on Faria Lima: How a Rodízio Business Lunch Works
The companion to Lunch on Faria Lima. São Paulo’s Wall Street eats at a steakhouse, and the steak comes to you until you surrender. Here is how the table works.
Eat · 3 min readBrasil only
Churrascaria Etiquette: How Rodízio Works
How the all-you-can-eat grill restaurant works, from the salad bar to the green and red card, and what to say to the passadores.
Work and business · 3 min read
Remote Work Practicalities and Coworking
Time zones, reliable internet with a backup, a place to work outside home, and the habits that keep a remote job running smoothly abroad.
Works in any country
Road Rules
Rule 01
The First 72 Hours
Data, cash, transit, a bed, and one good meal. In that order.
Rule 02
Rent Short First
Pick the neighborhood after you have walked it, not before.
Rule 03
Eat Where They Eat
Find the counter the neighborhood actually uses.
Rule 04
Keep Every Receipt
It is the only honest budget.
Where I've worked
77 and
counting
Thirty-six years of consulting across five continents: client sites, long days, and a lot of lunches. The work came first. Now the living does.
77
Countries
822
Destinations
36
Years
1
Chapter
Newsletter
Letters From the Road.
One episode, one guide, and one thing I got wrong. No spam, and an unsubscribe link in every issue.