I first visited Brazil in 2012 on my first ever solo journey. I remember enjoying it at the time, but I didn't think I'd be back again for a while.

For whatever the reasons (there are many) I've returned twice since that trip. And whilst I barely have a grasp on the language, it's probably now the country I feel most comfortable in outside Australia.

The first two visits were more of touristic style - in 2012 for Carnaval and in 2014 for the FIFA World Cup. But by that point I was so fascinated by the country, I wanted to come back and see the rest of it. I wanted to experience its rich, diverse culture and as I've found - each city has this in bucket loads.

If someone asked me to describe Brazil in one word I’d probably say “Who are you?” and “Why are you asking me questions with silly conditions attached to them?”. Brazil is an enormously diverse country in every sense of the word. From the north to the south, you could almost accept that it's an entirely different country. The food, language, accent, attitude and appearance are vastly different and the changes in each of these are evident from city to city.

In all of my time in Brazil I’ve had some of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've been on tour groups, been alone for days, made friends from all over the world, met up with friends from Australia, been accepted into the homes of locals and treated like a son, stayed at 5 star hotels, stayed at hostels that smelled of poo, fallen in love, said goodbye too many times to many friends I may never see again in my life (I hope not) and even helped some friends move to Australia.

Today marks 4 months since I left Australia for my year long journey. One thing I had planned from the beginning was to travel a "circle" around Brazil for 3 months before going on to explore the rest of South and Central America. Well, I loved this place so much that I extended my tourist visa so I could stay for another month. And it has been more than worth it.

So now as I begin to plan my way into Bolivia, I've had a bit of time to reflect on my time in Brazil. All of it wouldn't have been possible without the people I've met in this fascinating country. Travelling alone can be difficult at times, but I owe it to the people I've met here for making my experience of this country something truly special that I'll never forget. Without them, it would just be a lot of good food and misunderstandings.