Ways to Subsidize Stay in Brazil

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SoSexy

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Hi guys,

I've recently been playing with the idea of a short term stay at another country mainly for the sheer adventure of it. I thought it would best be done while I'm young (23 now) and before I'm weighed down with responsibilities like raising a family and a mid-level corporate job.

I thought what better country to do it in than Brazil. Training bjj at its birthplace needless to sayWith this I'm asking help from you guys on ways to subsidize a trip like that. I think I can pool money for the flight with a bit extra but not really much else.

I have a marketing background am currently working as an account manager for a big advertising firm. I can also teach English and am willing to learn Portuguese.

I've heard of organizations like AIESEC which offer global internships. A friend of mine also has also been offered a job in the hostel he stayed at as apparently hostels are big on fluent English speakers. Basically I'm looking for a part time job that will either pay for my there, or help me out with food, accommodation and the like.

I'm exploring all those options and Id like to know if you guys have other ideas to make this adventure less painful on the wallet. Id really appreciate any feedback I can get on this :)

Thanks guys!
 
well, if you wanna teach english, you should speak portugues also....

I dont think you can teach english without a state license or something like that, connection rio was basically in your same position, you could PM him, or check out gerbils thread, its a sticky on the top of the main page of f12, you can gather lots of info from that thread... If you dont care about your current job, go for it, I wish I was I your position.... best of lucks!
 
BJJ_Rage said:
well, if you wanna teach english, you should speak portugues also....

I dont think you can teach english without a state license or something like that, connection rio was basically in your same position, you could PM him, or check out gerbils thread, its a sticky on the top of the main page of f12, you can gather lots of info from that thread... If you dont care about your current job, go for it, I wish I was I your position.... best of lucks!
Click to expand...

Hey man, thanks a lot for the feedback. Lot of useful info.

About Connection Rio, I did try to apply for their promo a while back. Didn't win unfortunately. I doubt I'll get help if I ask them essentially how else I can get the Brazil experience without paying for their services :)

About my job, well yeah, if I do have to come back, I at least won't start from scratch as I'd have year and half's worth of experience in the industry on my resume already. I just think I'm too young to settle in the corporate world already without doing shit like this first!
 
I also have simialr plans although only medium term - ideally 3 months but worst case scenario I'll do a 3 week holiday first and make some connections.

I will probably have to do this "between jobs" so to speak after saving some cash up to pay my bills at home while I'm away. The holiday I can probably do in January 2014. 3 weeks of 2-a-days rolling with blackbelts will probably have a good training effect!

Gerbil just worked and saved his ass off, sold his car and moved out of his house. He also had income from the US Forces coming in monthly from when he served with them which eases the pressure.

I'm 28 btw, age doesn't matter, just how tied down you are. Unless you've got kids and a mortgage you're probably not as tied down as you think.
 
Its hard to teach English. In my experience they didn't want licensed teachers because they get taxed too high on sponsored visas, but they pay really shitty for tourists. Renting your own place is super confusing too and a lot of places are by the week. Your best bet is to live super frugally in the US and go to Brazil on your savings unless you can swing something different. If the hostel put you up for free, that'd be a big break, but you'd probably have to be behind a desk all day and dealing with shitty dirt people instead of training. I don't know what your traveling experience is, but I've repeatedly dropped EVERYTHING and lived on the road, and I cannot stand hostels. I would sooner commit an egregious crime and be housed in a prison, and still be happier with the company. Call favors if you are friends with Brazilians and know what team you're going to be with. You can make a lot of money flipping American goods if you're smart about it.
 
Also, this doesn't pay very well but if you wanna fight MMA, it is pretty easy to get a fight.
 
I live in Brazil and i would reccomend you to save your money in the US and than come and spend your time here. I will give you two reasons why i say it : first is without a valid scholarship here it will be hard to find a decent job, you might find a few english teaching or whatever, but the money wont be good and you will find yourself in a struggle.. second is when you save dollars and trade them to reais you get 100%.. im pretty sure that with your job you can save more there than you can make here (considering the value in reais)..
If you do want to put on some extra money while youre here i would recomend you to bring clothes, sneakers, sunglasses, ipods or whatever you can... if you can find the right people to sell it you might double your investment...
Also i would imagine you want to go to Rio, but if youre stopping by in Sao Paulo and need references, help with gyms or any indications i will be happy to help ya!
 
I ended up spending around 6 grand for 4 months in Rio at ConnectionRio.. That included rent, training, food, and some partying. :)
 
depending on your confort level you can just sleep in a gym outside of main towns or so. making money in brazil is hard, believe me
save up in USA if you want to live comfy

I don't mind sleeping in a cold gym with 20 blankets and some guy snoring at the other side of mat, but most people do
 
Yea I wouldn't wana work for free rent while essentially on vacation in Brazil. Or sleep on the floor somewhere for free/cheap rent. Especially if you're single, trust me. :)
 
So, uh, I'm assuming there's some nice uh females there?

I mean, uh BJJ gyms?
 
First of all, thanks for the advice everyone. Really getting some useful info here.

I really find it amusing that you all assumed I'm from the US. Plot twist: I'm from the Philippines, been living here all my life. I do make a decent living here but our money has more or less similar value than that of Brazil. This makes it harder to go the route of 'saving up here to afford going full vacation mode there' given my decent but entry level salary.

I'm extremely fortunate to have a relatively well-off mother who likes to bring me whenever she goes places (been around US, around Europe, places in Europe, Australia, around Asia etc.) but being out of college for about 1.5 years now, I'm really really uncomfortable asking money from my parents for stuff like this.

I did get accepted into AIESEC's Global Community Development program, which provides free food and accommodation to countries like Brazil for doing community development work so I'm looking into that. I'm also trying to get connected with random Brazilians through common friends if they can hook me up with anything.

Again, really helpful information guys, I'll be monitoring this thread every day and updating you guys when anything comes up :)
 
outonbail said:
depending on your confort level you can just sleep in a gym outside of main towns or so. making money in brazil is hard, believe me
save up in USA if you want to live comfy

I don't mind sleeping in a cold gym with 20 blankets and some guy snoring at the other side of mat, but most people do
Click to expand...

I always heard you where the guy snoring and keeping your room mate awake at CR! When are you coming back to Rio for some competitions in that new belt?
 
SoSexy said:
Hey man, thanks a lot for the feedback. Lot of useful info.

About Connection Rio, I did try to apply for their promo a while back. Didn't win unfortunately. I doubt I'll get help if I ask them essentially how else I can get the Brazil experience without paying for their services :)

About my job, well yeah, if I do have to come back, I at least won't start from scratch as I'd have year and half's worth of experience in the industry on my resume already. I just think I'm too young to settle in the corporate world already without doing shit like this first!
Click to expand...

Doesn't cost anything to ask the question. That is unfortunate you didn't the original competition for sponsorship, I take it you do not follow Connection Rio. The original contest was such a success that we decided to make it a multiple athlete, rolling program. Hopefully you don't give up as easy in Jiu-jitsu as you did on the contest, if you do we could help you with that here. This is a link to the original contest (the deadline listed is in 2012 but no longer valid) - READ HERE

I was once in a similar position both in Brazil and a number of situations on my path here. People helped me and now that it is possible I help others who are on their own path.
 
i give private BJJ lessons, teach english to brazilians and portuguese for beginners to foreigners :)
 
About giving english classes: your only option is to freelance. Due to our laws you won't get any work in places that teach english. Our laws basically do not allow part-time work and there are taxes while you work and taxes when you stop working plus a minimum wage. No one gonna hire you if they know you won't stay for a while. Freelance = putting a sign saying you give english classes and waiting for people to come. Lots of people in the market already, limited market as most of the population do not want to learn or need english, hard to get money unless you are willing to give lots of classes for cheap.

About sleeping: you won't just go and find a place that is willing to let you sleep on their floor. Your best option is to go to people are used to it, like Connection Rio, or to get contacts using the internet before you go. I do not live in Rio but I live in a town that isn't so much cheaper than it in terms of living costs (Belo Horizonte), and I live in a shared room paying around R$350 for expenses (rent, water, electricity, internet, gas) per month. This is $160 dollars/month. With food (I cook everything I eat at home) and gym plus BJJ I spend around $300 dollars/month. Someone making $8/hour would need to work less than 40 hours total per month to pay my fixed bills. 1 year = $3600 dollars of fixed bills. Money to travel, party, buy clothes etc is extra and in Rio all expenses will be a bit higher specially as you do not have enough time to search for the cheaper places to sleep in. If you plan into living here probably you are also spending more than it to experience more things. Plus, places with BJJ classes everyday (which I suppose you will want to train every day as you are here) are a bit more expensive.

I would recommend to you get enough dosh before coming. If you can get some money before you can come and be sure to live for a good while without worrying about shit. You will be learning portuguese (which is an useless language to learn) in the meanwhile and getting used to the place so you might find a way to make more money.
 
Connection Rio said:
Doesn't cost anything to ask the question. That is unfortunate you didn't the original competition for sponsorship, I take it you do not follow Connection Rio. The original contest was such a success that we decided to make it a multiple athlete, rolling program. Hopefully you don't give up as easy in Jiu-jitsu as you did on the contest, if you do we could help you with that here. This is a link to the original contest (the deadline listed is in 2012 but no longer valid) - READ HERE

I was once in a similar position both in Brazil and a number of situations on my path here. People helped me and now that it is possible I help others who are on their own path.
Click to expand...

Hi there! Fortunately, I've done the opposite of giving up. Since I joined your contest, I got promoted three stripes and have been training 5-a-weeks which is a lot for me given stuff I have to do for my job.

Anyway, I'd really be interested in joining again!
 
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