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Travel is a Lifestyle
I know what you are thinking right now: “as you are always traveling don’t you work?” Or “were you born rich?”. The direct answers are YES to the first question and NO to the second.
The career in journalism has always taken me to amazing locations around the world, and I’ll forever be grateful for everything I learned and the amazing opportunities life brought me thanks to traditional jobs with network TV’s and sports organizations.
As an example, I was fortunate enough to meet some of the biggest stars of our time, as you can see below in this 2010 interview.
Also, I worked as a spokesperson and moderated dozens of events, sometimes on live TV, broadcast to millions of people.
To give you an idea, in 2011 I was live for 15 minutes on Globo TV (the 4th largest TV Network in the world, based in Brazil) directly from FIFA headquarters in Zurich in a broadcast that revealed the 2014 World Cup match schedule.
But in 2014 I made a decision to change my lifestyle. No, I was not tired of the 9-5 job, as that’s something that doesn’t exist in the communications world. You work full-time all the time. And I was happy with that. Deep inside though I felt that my knowledge and expertise could be used in a whole new level, in ways that most traditional corporations are hesitant to experiment.
I was seeing the world change in front of my eyes, and I definitely wanted to be part of that.
Social media was no longer a pass time, but a business. Vlogging was no longer a teenage diary, but a revolutionary way to express opinions, in a mix of reality show and journalism.
As least that’s what I believed I could make of it… And still do!
If I was seeing this opportunity sparkling right on my face, I was certain other people would soon realize the same.
Following a Dream
I was born is a small town in Brazil called Três Rios, 3 hours inland driving from Rio de Janeiro. At the time, there was not even a movie theater there! But there was my family and a lot of passionate people who taught me I could dream big.
I started learning English since a very young age thanks to my mom for believing that I could have a good future if I studied hard. When I was a teenager, a Spanish course opened in town and I signed up for the first class.
Actually, I’ve always studied very hard, all subjects. When I was 17 I was already fluent in 3 languages and after moving to Rio I joined Italian, German and French courses.
Moving to Rio was my first dream coming true. I was approved in a hard exam equivalent to the SAT in the USA where 50 candidates competed for each seat in the Journalism school in one of the toughest and best universities in Brazil, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Actually, I was approved in 6 universities (3 of them being in first place), and had the privilege to choose.
At UFRJ I started working in the 2 areas that would define me as a journalist: TV and sports.
I worked in various TV networks until I had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles for extension courses at UCLA. In California was also my future husband, and we’ve been together ever since. And at this point, I was approached by FIFA, the International Soccer Federation, as they were interested in having more women working with women’s soccer.
Wow, I couldn’t believe it! Thanks to FIFA I traveled the world working with media operations first on women’s competitions, than on men’s until I reached the select group of communications professionals working on the top single sporting event on the planet: the World Cup. And I’ve done the last 4: Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, and Russia 2018.
I couldn’t be more thankful.
Leaving my Own Mark
After working for 10 years as a TV Correspondent nationally and internationally, and 4 years as a Media Relations Manager for the most demanding and rewarding event of my life (the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil), my husband and I decided following another dream.
We wanted to create our own path, make a difference. We moved to Austin, Texas, laid out a plan for the next 5-10 years, and have since been transforming our vision into reality.
So going back to the initial points…
Traveling is now my work. I switched a life of “travel as part of my job” to “travel IS my job”. I became a content producer specialized in travel.
But don’t assume that all I do is have fun the whole day. I work really hard taking the best pictures I can, shooting and editing the best videos I can, and writing the best articles I can. Sometimes for 20 straight hours… way more than I ever worked in a regular job.
That also means I’m now a mobile professional in the sense that I can work from anywhere in the world. All I need is the internet, a camera, and my computer. I am my own boss, my work is my life, and I am open for business. 🙂 Come learn how we can work together.
This new approach has already taken me to 17 U.S. states and 15 countries in the past 5 years (in addition to the dozens of other states and countries I had already been to in the past 2 decades), and allowed me to work on amazing events like the Copa America Centenario across the USA, the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and France.
I’m so grateful for the wonderful opportunities and for the various people who everyday believe in my view.
RenataPereira.tv
RenataPereira.tv is more than a travel blog and my own TV. This is my way to tell unique and uncensored stories (meaning, with no time, size or format constraints – there’s no editor telling me to cut 30 seconds or it won’t fit in the program! hahaha).
This is my way to focus on the good things life brings us, the joy, the fun, the surprises… And produce the same professional quality content like I used to do before.
English today is my first language also thanks to my husband who since 2002 still did not learn Portuguese! 😉 And I love the opportunity to reach a worldwide audience.
At the same time, I don’t want to forget where I came from.
But I don’t simply translate all my content into Portuguese. There are several cultural differences and references that have to be taken into consideration when talking to Brazilians. So I adapt the stories, making them more tangible.
Nothing makes me happier than when I receive comments from people I’ve never met saying how much my advice and experiences have helped their planning. That’s also why I’m so careful with recommendations and ideas. I know the impact anything can have, and here I only share what I really believe.
Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Certainly yes.
We only live once, so I chose to make the most out of it. My own way. And I hope you join me in this adventure!
Thank you for letting me be part of your world too.
With love,
Renata, you are an inspiration to the millennials who will follow your footsteps like I follow Hemingway’s.
I initially thought you were from Goa, because your last name reminded me of a college mate in London, UK during the seventies.
Initially from Malaysia I now live in Canada. I have to almost all the capital cities of the world.
My wife and I will be in Moscow and Leningrad coming July.
We booked at the Astoria but will switch to the Grand Belmond hotel.
Enjoyed your blogs and tips.
Hello Renata and thank you so much for your info and guidance which has made my holiday planning much easier. I particularly liked your Niagara Falls video. I love your friendly and professional approach. God bless you and thanks again!
Hanif.
Very cool! Great work! Keep up!
Thank you so much, Danilo! All the best!
Hello Renata, I just discover your VLog when I was looking for some video of Kazan, Russia. I really love the videos you took and some info about the city. I am currently watching your Moscow Videos. From now on I will be following you in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I will also subscribe to your youtube channel.
Wow Dameozel! I really appreciate it! Thank you so much! All the best to you!
Hi Renata! I have to say that my Husband and I love your Russian travel vlogs! You have such a bubbly personality and your curiosity and love for adventures shines through!
We have a question for you. My Husband and I, along with our two young children (4 and 1 years old), are planning our first trip to St. Petersburg in July 2019.
As you can understand and appreciate, finding an affordable plane ticket can be mind-boggling, tedious, and complicated. We happen to live in San Antonio, not too far from you! 🙂
Can you give us some advice on how we can best find affordable round trip plane tickets from San Antonio/Dallas to St. Petersburg? Without spending HOURS scouring websites that may or may not be trustworthy? Do you know any special hacks, tips, or tricks?
I also understand that you have to register yourself as soon as your arrive in Russia. Do you know if you have to register in every city you visit, or just one, also where do we need to register ourselves (the hotel)?
We would greatly appreciate any help from a pro like yourself!
Again, thank you for all the wonderful, hard work you put into your YT channel,
Hello Connie! Thanks for watching my channel and thank you for your compliments. It’s always good to hear compliments as it acknowledges that my work is actually reaching people. Secondly, I apologize for the late response. I started to respond but got tied up in business and shoot schedules for 2019. Sincere apologies.
I’m happy you’re inspired to visit Russia. It was a special surprise, our first visit as we enjoyed the.great people, beautiful city and lots of attractions.
Now regarding flights, that is the most expensive part of overseas travel, and it’s difficult to nail down so I will give it a shot.
1. Google Flight is one of the best flight search sites. They bought out ITA which I believe all flight search websites/operators base their search off. Google flights is just a different front end to ITA data.
https://flights.google.com
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
2. I also use the following sites to monitor for flight pricing errors, deals, and promotions. Please note that some of these sites advertise promotions based on hub cities like New York/Boston/Miami where it costs far more for interior cities like Houston/Dallas…almost like click-bait. I rarely see great deals for Texas 🙁 and worse yet, Austin and San Antonio are non-existent. We have some of the most expensive air travel. The deals advertised on these sites I have found to be real with the caveat that they may have specific dates and or sell out quickly.
https://escapeatx.com/ – This is the only one continually showing the best deals for Austin and San Antonio
https://cheapdfw.com/
https://escapehouston.com/
https://thepointsguy.com/deals/
https://www.secretflying.com/
3. My husband found Finnair (Finland/Helsinki) Airline to be the cheapest to Russia when he bought his tickets. They operate a hub in Helsinki with the objective of flying/transiting people between Asia/Europe and North America. Per my husband, they have modern aircraft though as European airlines go, everything is a chargeable upgrade, and they are strict on carry-on size/weight. When my husband booked his flight, they were consistently the cheapest.
https://www.finnair.com/
Regarding registering yourself in Russia, I guess you mean at the hotel? Americans do need a visa, which we applied for at the consulate in Houston. And to get the visa you also need an “invite” from the hotel you’re staying (and it must have the full names of everyone who’s traveling). All hotels are aware of this, and there’s generally a link to request it directly on their websites. Some hotels do it for free, others don’t, and the price varies between $10-20. Also, there is some sort of accommodation card you need to get when you’re changing hotels. This one is free, and you need to present it in the next hotel you’re staying, even if it’s in the same city. You have to ask at check-out. Now I can’t remember if immigration upon exit requested it…I don’t think they did.
If you have any other questions about StPete/Moscow please do send and I will help any way I can….and I will be prompt this time….my schedule is under control…whoppeee! 🙂 Happy travels!
Hi Renata your Russian travel video is an amazing one and looking for more videos!!!
Respect to you for your good performance. Take care .
PLEASE go to Andalucia soon and tell us about it. In the meanwhile I will enjoy your reports wherever you go. Cheers and all the best.
Really like your videos of Russia on Youtube. Your are the best. Thanks
You’re work is really inspiring! I can tell that I’ve become a fan of yours! I would like to meet you in person. Lots of love and blessings to you from Pakistan!
Hi Renata,
I love your travel videos. They are all very informative and helpful. I found you while I was looking at Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur videos as we are going there in October. Do you mind if a ask what camera setup you use for your videos. I’m wanting to start documenting my travels better to show to my family.
Thank you so much
Frank
Hey, randomly come across your profile and saw you on YouTube. u seems doing great. Very impressive sthat you veryfollowed and living your dreams, very impressive. Good luck
Hy Renata,
thank you for fine videos. The Quality is really professional! So much difference to what you normally get on You Tube!! p.s. in my freetime as a pensioneer I am working for a local TV station. We all work on a voluntary basis.
I came to your videos, when I researched for informations about Hongkong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. A good friend who will travel with us in march has given me the tip with the bustravel from Singapore to KL. Great tip.
Thank you very much for your informative videos.
Good luck for you and your husband
Hi Guenter! That’s so kind of you! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Hope you have a fantastic trip. All the best! 🙂
Hi Renata
I have traveled to many Asian countries from Mongolia to Tasmania. I did video for many years. To be a good at making videos you need a good camera. At a cost of less than 5,000.00. Being experienced at it you will learn what to do to keep the attention of your audience. i watched your Bali excursion and it is a very interesting place but a continuance of the same things wherever you went. Mostly landscape, multitudes of people, food, and primarily guess who? YOU. You have to do things differently such as filming opening the car door and showing where the floor and the seat is, filming your partner doing different facial expressions. learning how to fade in and out. You did good by not continually moving the camera so much that would make people dizzy looking at it. Well I could go on but I think by now you know exactly what I’m telling you. Thanks
My husband and I love your videos. Perfect combination of history, sites, and food plus tech and money-saving tips!
We are planning a trip to Japan next year. Thanks to your videos, we are adding Yokohama to our itinerary.
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to more trips, but stay safe in the meantime.
Best to you and Gordon.
Hi Charles and Jeff! So great to hear that! Thank you, I really appreciate it. Hope you have a wonderful time in Japan ❤️
Hola Renata ,
He visto tu video de barranco, Lima , Peru que te motivo viajar hasta esa ciudad yo naci en barranco y me dio mucha alegria lo bien que se ve hace buen tiempo que no estoy en barranco espero tu respuesta.
Saludos desde sydney
Australia
Daniel H.
Hola Daniel! Yo soy de Brasil, e he visitado Peru varias veces, es un país que me encanta, con la gente muy amable. En 2005 trabajé en Peru por un més en un evento (Mundial Sub-17 de la FIFA), y desde esa ocasión regreso siempre que posible 🙂
Renata, you truly are amazing and living proof that anyone can reach an ideal standard of living with just a little imagination. You have totally inspired me x
Hello Renata, your travelling video series about Indonesia are really impressed me. My wife and even my 11-year old son also love it. We are Indonesian; we visited Bali, Surabaya, and Yogyakarta for several times; but when we watched your video, we felt like watching the story of travel to the new places. Your scenes are interesting and you tell your stories in the very amazing ways.
Now, we also open your travel series to US, Japan, Malaysia, and Rusia. All are great and interesting. In the middle of pandemic situation, watching your travel stories helps us a lot to see the world without feeling worries about the infection. Thanks a lot Renata and Gordon!
Hi Yani! We feel very honored, thank you so much. Really appreciate your message and we’re really glad you and your family enjoy the videos. All the best and stay safe
Hi Renata, (&Gordon… 🙂 )
You’re one of a little Traveler Vlogger that I really love to see. You are so honest and helping wherever place that you visited. You never say a bad thing about them. Although I am sure sometimes you experience things that are a little bit unpleasant. You always convey it very politely. For me this is very good. It doesn’t give the impression that the place you are going to is bad.
I love getting to know you and of course …. Gordon … !! 🙂
And keep happy and safe…..:)
ps: thank for visiting my country, Indonesia….. 🙂
Hi Anto! Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
We really appreciate it! Gordon is here saying hello. All the best to you
HI Gordon,
Eu realmente amo vocês dois.
Você fez um vlog de viagem que deixa as pessoas que assistem ao seu vídeo felizes e com vontade de ir ao lugar que você visitou.
a propósito, estamos usando o mesmo equipamento de câmera 🙂
Renata,
Please translate it to Gordon. I knew that since 2002 he still don’t want to learn Portuguese….. 🙂
but the fact is, even though I’ve been here in Maputo, Mozambique since last year, I also still can not speak Portuguese. The above message for Gordon was help by my uncle. Uncle GOOGLE…. LOL.
ok then. I’ve subscribed your YouTube channel, and it’s mean that I will watch all your updated video.
Cheers.
Thank you so much, Anto! Yes, I translated it to Gordon, and he got very happy 😀
You both have the same uncle when it comes to speaking Portuguese 😅😂
All the best!