A Home Away From Home

Feeling the incredibly soft sand between my toes, the hot sun browning my skin, I feel a sense of peace washing over me. The shouts of laughter seem distant; they come from someone else’s world, separate to mine. Sitting here, it is as though I could lie back and relax in this spot for eternity…

Until I am forced to wedge my feet onto a board and I’m pushed down the sand dune. The wind throws my hair behind me as I rush down, half ecstatic, half petrified for my life, until I land head first into the incredibly soft sand. (It suddenly doesn't seem so soft).

I have ended up in Florianopolis, Brazil. A city that encompasses a whole island, and with a total of forty two beaches, it is a beautiful place to visit. After spending the morning trekking up a hill, finding a secret beach, and climbing rocks to meet a couple of curious goats: I am introduced to the common sport on the sand dunes that are not far from the city centre. Whilst in Britain, if we’re extremely lucky we may have the chance to freeze our hands off in winter by sledging down a snow covered hill, or driving to an artificial snow slope to try snowboarding, here on this scenic island you can rent a sledge or board for an hour and find true joy in big piles of sand.

I arrived at Florianopolis with the man who forced me onto the board: my other half, who is the reason I came to Brazil to visit. Our relationship has taken us on some memorable adventures, but travelling around 6000 miles to stay in a country I do not speak the language of, is possibly one of the most challenging ones. The entwining of two cultures: one who grew up in the ocean waves, one who feels at home in the grassy English countryside, to find happiness together is similar to experiencing another country. There are misunderstandings, miscommunications, and a whole world undiscovered and waiting for you to dive headfirst into. The times you feel everything happened so fast, and you find yourself lying on the ground, blinking the sand out of your eyes. Or the times you sit, looking all around you, wanting this small moment in time to last an eternity.

The memory of the wind in my face, the biting sensation as it blew sand onto my skin; the feeling of being infinite as a tiny speck in the world- all striven towards, all fought for, all achieved, to be able to hold the hand of someone from the other side of the world.