Brasil: Behind Closed Doors with Sisi

NOTE: you can watch the video that goes with this audio on youtube at https://youtu.be/BuHa8bEzNws

• in 2009 i quit a job with no backup plan. one cold winter day in connecticut, i had one quarter and no ideas left. the call home to my mother in arizona cost 35 cents. i refused to call collect.
• in this episode i tell how that walk home started my self-employment. i cover the custody issue that took me across the country, and the radio station job i walked away from. i also talk about the first client i kept for 10 to 15 years.
• i also talk about the two best managers i ever had. both were in sales. one of them, c. eagan, subscribed to my linkedin newsletter, the art of getting free, today. i explain why i tell everyone to get basic sales training. and i explain how i work intuitively instead of on a content schedule.
• the doorway into all of it is the orelhão, brazil's "big ear" phone booth. chu ming silveira designed it in the early 1970s. i still find them in inland bahia. this morning, the wall phone in my condo rang right after i'd planned to post about them.
• music: "tira o cavalinho da chuva," my original song. the brazilian idiom means forget about it, that's not happening.

Sisi in Brasil • conhecida como Courtney C. nos EUA • faafo.app

what happens when you stop traveling like a tourist? in this episode of brasil: behind closed doors, i'm sharing part one of a day trip to a quilombo in bahia with leo. we talk about non-curated experiences, practical magic, freedom, and even retainers and self-employment. there's more to this conversation than traveling!

-- "what if some of the most memorable travel experiences are the ones you never planned?"

-- "the kind of experiences that aren't packaged, scripted, or designed around a tourist itinerary."

this is a shortened, ad-supported preview. read the full blog post for more history, personal reflections, and related resources:

https://foolaroundandfindout.com/what-happens-when-you-stop-traveling-like-a-tourist-a-quilombo-day-trip-in-bahia/

for the extended ad-free recording, visit faafo.cc.

courtney crosslin • sisi in brasil

Part Two picks up where Antoine and I left off, but the conversation moves beyond travel and into a bigger question: what is your time actually worth?

-- You can listen to Part One at https://rss.com/podcasts/brasil-behind-closed-doors/3087744 --

Antoine has built his life around a choice that runs against the usual American career script. He prefers short-term contract work, makes his money, leaves, and returns to Colombia rather than maximizing every possible working month and every possible dollar.

That opens a much larger conversation about money, freedom, aging, retirement, residency, property ownership, military benefits, skilled trades, and what younger people should be thinking about as technology changes the labor market.

Antoine is also very clear that his version of freedom requires planning. He talks about building a nest egg, creating residual income, buying property in Colombia, and eventually reaching the point where he no longer has to return to the United States to work.

His logic can be summed up pretty well by this:

“Anytime a contract ends or if I lose a contract or anything bad happens... I go on vacation.”

And after imagining being offered a mansion and a Bugatti on the condition that he stay in the United States:

“I’m like, nah, I’ll take the $50,000 and I’ll just go overseas.”

Underneath the jokes is a much more serious calculation about time:

“I look at my life in an hourglass, and that motherfucker is tilted.”

In Part Two, we talk about:

• Choosing freedom and short-term contract work instead of working year-round
• Retirement, building a nest egg, property in Colombia, and long-term residency
• Military benefits, skilled trades, and alternatives to the traditional college path
• Why Antoine thinks drones, robotics, and artificial intelligence will reshape trade careers
• The places and experiences that changed how he thinks about actually living, not simply working

And yes, the conversation eventually goes completely off the rails again. That is also part of the point.

More from me: FAAFO.app

Listen to more: radio.FAAFO.app

This conversation was not planned.

Antoine and I had known each other for about 72 hours when we sat down in my apartment in Salvador, Bahia, to record this. We met because he heard American voices while waiting for the elevator in my building and decided to knock on the door. That pretty much tells you what kind of conversation follows.

Antoine, also known as Tomahawk, is an American who has been living in Colombia and traveling internationally for years. His path into solo travel started with the military, continued with a birthday trip to the Dominican Republic, and eventually became a lifestyle built around working hard in the United States, saving aggressively, and spending extended periods abroad.

We talk about the difference between visiting another country and actually engaging with the culture, what returning to the United States feels like after living in Colombia, race versus class in Latin America, the assumptions people make about who can afford to travel, and the financial decisions behind a life that can look effortless from the outside.

And because this is Brasil: Behind Closed Doors, the conversation wanders exactly where it wants to wander.

A couple of Antoine moments:

• “I’m about to start celebrating myself. I don’t even need anybody else.”

And after I interrupted the interview to compliment him:

• “Who wants to have their best feature be their eyelashes?”

In Part One, we talk about:

• How a random knock on my door in Salvador turned into this interview
• Antoine’s first solo international trip and why he stopped waiting for other people to travel
• Living in Colombia and the emotional shock of returning to the United States
• His observations about race, class, Black identity, and traveling through Latin America
• How he works, saves, downsizes, and structures his U.S. life to make extended travel possible

This is not the polished relocation fantasy. It is a conversation about how one person actually built a life that gives him access to more of the world, including the tradeoffs, contradictions, and questionable decisions along the way.

-- Listen to Part 2 at https://rss.com/podcasts/brasil-behind-closed-doors/3087745 --

More from me: FAAFO.app

Listen to more: radio.FAAFO.app

the cities we live in were not always cities. they weren’t always this packed, this urbanized. and some of the most xenophobic, most close-minded people i’ve ever come across, anywhere, including back home and including here in bahia, have no idea that a few generations ago their own people were pushed out of somewhere. forced into dense, overpopulated places because there wasn’t another option.

this isn’t a brazil problem. it’s not a usa problem. it’s everywhere. people defend borders and identities and national stories while knowing almost nothing about the migrations and displacements that built the place they’re standing on.

and yeah, you can blame the schools for that. they leave a lot out. but at some point you gotta ask yourself, where does this worship of patriotism even come from? why do so many people defend the exact systems that historically wrecked people who looked just like them?

and who benefits from everybody staying confused about this? usually not the people doing the actual work. the ones who benefit stay clean, stay comfortable, and let someone else do the dirty work of keeping people in their place. then they look down from above like they had nothing to do with any of it.,,,

you find all you need to know about me at faafo.app and listen to this podcast and my other chats on all major podcast platforms.

this episode came from my live youtube video recorded on sunday, may 31, 2026: “real digital nomads and chameleons - https://www.youtube.com/live/9Phy4V2wGz0?si=3opFMupNDMfTEkW0.”

i’m talking about the difference between looking location-independent online and actually building the kind of work, documentation, income, and discipline that can support life abroad.

this is not a cute influencer fantasy about palm trees, views, and beach content. this is about digital nomad visas, client income, self-employment, documentation, and why follower counts do not equal freedom.

i also get into what it means to be a chameleon, a polymath, and a multi-skilled person in a world that keeps trying to flatten people into one niche. from podcasting to private communities, from the tap and the porch to respite, from spiritual work to digital strategy, this episode is part rant, part reintroduction, and part reminder: you do not have to make yourself small to make money online.

this one is for the people who are tired of being sold shortcuts by people who are not telling the whole truth. listen before you buy another masterclass, copy another influencer, or assume someone’s public numbers tell you the full story.

hear all my shows at faafo.app/radio.

topics:

• - digital nomad reality vs. influencer fantasy: i break down why being popular online is not the same thing as having the income, paperwork, client structure, or visa status to live abroad legally and sustainably.
• - visas, documentation, and income: i talk through the practical side of digital nomad life, including income proof, client letters, bank statements, notarization, apostille steps, and why people often leave countries when their visitor time runs out.
• - follower counts are not a business model: i challenge the assumption that views, subscribers, and social media visibility equal financial freedom.
• - chameleons, polymaths, and refusing the box: this episode speaks to people with multiple gifts who are tired of being told to niche down, shrink themselves, or perform one identity for the algorithm.
• - ownership over platforms: i explain why podcasting, websites, email lists, private spaces, and owned digital homes matter more than chasing approval on platforms that can censor, limit, or disappear.
• - the larger mindset shift: this is not only about moving abroad. it is about asking better questions, building real skills, understanding systems, and refusing to outsource your freedom to people selling shortcuts.

finding your people in a new country is hard enough. finding someone who can do your hair AND your nails AND figure out what you mean even when you don't have the words? that's a whole thing.

i've been going to the same salon in bahia, brazil for months. they do my hair, they do my nails, and not once have they made me feel like the language barrier was my problem to solve alone. three people, one phone translator, and i left with the best blow-dry i've had in over a year.

if you're an american living abroad and you're still nervous about trusting someone with your hair --- this one's for you.

follow them: https://www.instagram.com/cresposecachosoficial

IMPORTANT: if you go to get your nails done ask for Brenda. she is the only one that I can recommend.

to learn more: faafo.app

on may 8, 2026 the u.s. state department started revoking active passports from americans who owe back child support. they began with people owing $100,000 or more --- about 2,700 americans --- but the program is set to expand to anyone owing more than $2,500, the threshold from a 1996 law that has barely been enforced. no expansion date has been announced. in this episode, sisi breaks down what actually changed, what happens if you're abroad when your passport is revoked, what to do if you owe back support, and where you can still travel without a u.s. passport. she also names a pattern she has been watching in the relocation and wellness space: people who position themselves as guides while curating their stories, then rewrite the ending when they need community sympathy. straight talk, real resources, and the part nobody else is saying out loud.

-- blog posts: https://foolaroundandfindout.com/quiet-debts-revoked-passports-and-the-lies-in-between/

-- all podcasts: https://faafo.app/radio

audio from a 2 hour youtube live i did on april 20, 2026. i woke up annoyed and didn't know why, shuffled some playing cards, pulled the one that said transparency, and went live. this is what came out.

what i actually get into:

• - the people i come from. my grandmother who kept a pistol and a vibrator in her nightstand and would throw a knife if you came at her sideways. my great-grandmother who was a businesswoman and a madame. why nobody who knows my lineage is surprised i moved to bahia alone with no support system
• - the lie about how digital nomads actually make money. who has a side job they don't tell you about. who lives off social security, child support, a spouse, military benefits. who's trying to sell you a course on something they had handed to them. and who's actually doing the work
• - retainers. why one-off contracts almost broke me. why retainers are the only model that ever gave me consistent income. why people stay scared of the word because they think only attorneys use them
• - the real cost of being a true digital nomad. domain names, hosting, software subscriptions, the things that quietly add up to a car payment every month. why i didn't get a manicure for seven years. why i'm explaining all this instead of selling you a course
• - the gap between how people fashion brazil online vs. how it actually is when you live here. the 2 hour bus commutes service workers do every day. catcalling in nyc vs. walking around safely here. dating as a gringa and the propane-tank-money game
• - what master craftsmanship looks like in the interior of bahia. men who can mix gravel into a fence and climb a tree to bring you fruit. ingenuity that you can't fake. why these are my people and why my mom said "i always knew you'd find your tribe one day"
• - visa types nobody explains properly. digital nomad vs. work vs. student vs. residency vs. citizenship. what it actually costs to do this without getting hustled
• - aging at 52 as a black woman in tech. why i'm not 100% confident about my looks or my work and i still show up. why insurance vs. assurance is a real conversation. why i think people stay stuck in jobs that stress them out specifically because they can't imagine not having medical insurance

a heads up: i forgot i was live for a minute and a few words slipped through. consider this a flag for sensitive ears or kids in the car.

if anything in here lands visit faafo.app. and if you want the rest of what i make: i host other podcasts on the faafo network --- you can find all of them on your favorite podcast app.

doing the dishes in brazil ---there's no hot water at the sink. no garbage disposal. no dishwasher (unless you're wealthy or american). just one basin, cold water, and a squeegee you didn't know you needed.

in this episode: why i boil water every morning and keep it in a thermos. why brazilians clean constantly (it's not what you think). why there are no screens on the windows. the dish-washing method i saw on a telenovela and then watched my brazilian 'friend' do in real life. and why you're never going to find the dishwashing liquid you're used to unless you know where to look.

also: a fork, a spoon, and a knife walk into a pile. pick one. <<<--- but more on this later. kkkkk!

welcome to brazil behind closed doors. this is the stuff no one talks about when they're posting beach photos and sunset

MOVE TO BRAZIL PODCAST - https://rss.com/podcasts/move-to-brazil

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