After spending years traveling around the world while working in the United States Armed Forces, Christopher Boris dreamed someday moving abroad permanently.
But the retired veteran, who grew up in New Jersey, but who was living in Maryland at the time, eventually moved on earlier than he intended, after struggling with the increase in cost of living.
“I could no longer pay my mortgage and my public services,” Boris tells CNN Travel.
“I was fighting. I was living with the disability subsidy,” says Boris, referring to a monetary allowance-free taxes paid to veterans with disabilities. “And I said, ‘I think my money gave much more time to live abroad.”
Quality of life
The couple, married for 28 years, are now fortunately installed in Brazil and has no plans to return. (Christopher Boris)
In the summer of 2024, Boris and his wife Maria Jesus, originating from Bolivia, left the US to start a new life in Brazil.
“I couldn’t afford the American dream,” he says.
According to Boris, they had been facing financial difficulties for at least five years, but things reached a critical point when he left his government employment in 2022.
“It was a decision that lasted a year,” he adds. “My wife and I were always talking about going abroad.
Although they considered the possibility of moving to Bolivia, the couple eventually chose to settle in the neighboring country, Brazil, a destination where they had already lived between 2007 and 2008, when Boris was highlighted in the country.
“We chose Brazil, and specifically Rio, because of the best quality of life,” explains Boris, adding that his experiences with the country’s health system were positive and that they knew they could live comfortably there.
“We had first quality doctors. All the first one … We have access to many good quality services. This was one of the advantages we had.”
After making the difficult decision to leave Maryland, the couple began to put their affairs in order and tried to sell their three -bedroom home.
“We decided we were going to sell the house as it was, because I didn’t have enough money to notice it,” says Boris.
The couple, who have three children, arrived in Rio de Janeiro in July 2024, along with the youngest son, Andrew, 24, who works at a distance.
They moved to a one -room apartment in Leblon, a rich Rio de Janeiro neighborhood near Ipanema, and focused on integrating with the local community.
Community sense
“People are a little more relaxed and not as stressful as in the United States,” says Boris about life in Brazil. (Christopher Boris)
Boris says they immediately felt home in the area and loved the ease with which everything seemed to be traveled on foot.
“We didn’t need a car because we could go anywhere in the taxi,” he says. “Things like going to the grocery store, buy bread, go to a restaurant, cut your hair …
“Everything was at my disposal. All in a block or two, or three blocks (at most). So that’s what we liked.”
Although Boris speaks Spanish and learned a little Portuguese from Brazil during his first stay in the country, he was far from fluent.
However, he stresses that this was not a great barrier to him and that he was able to make friends with relative ease.
“It looks like there is more community,” says Boris. “Despite not having relatives here … people are more friendly with me.”
Boris continues to explain that they find Brazilians more relaxed and less focused on money.
“People are a little more relaxed,” he says. “And it’s not as stressful as in the United States, or as people see us. Because everything revolves around making money all the time”
“But here, it is not about making money. It is about establishing other factors, such as friendships.”
Boris points out that although his understanding of language has improved over time, he still has difficulties.
“It’s more colloquial …” he explains. “I mean, I can be there and someone having a conversation and can’t realize what they are saying.
“But if you’re talking to me, I realize. That’s why it’s a little funny.”
Relaxed lifestyle
“Now I live with a limited budget,” says Boris, in the photo drinking a beer in Rio. “So I don’t go crazy like a tourist.” (Christopher Boris)
Boris entered Brazil with a tourist visa, before requesting a renovation visa, which is available to people over 60 who receive a pension of at least $ $ a month, and allows holders to stay in the country for a year.
“The biggest obstacle was FBI’s fingerprints,” he says, explaining that he was required to control the FBI history as part of the visa application process, which can be renewed for another year.
“How do I get FBI’s fingerprints here in Brazil, if not in the United States and you have nowhere to take the fingerprints? I still have to go beyond this issue for my next round.”
He says he plans to ask for residence in Brazil next year or so.
Like Boris and his wife, who now live in Ipanema, had already lived in the country for a short time, they had a good knowledge of Brazilian culture and did not have much difficulty adapting to life in the country.
However, Boris admits that there is one aspect of life in Brazil with which he had difficulty getting used to – the code of clothing.
“They show the body a little more,” says Boris. “This goes with the personality, but it also goes hand in hand with its appearance.”
Although Boris’s style of dressing has not changed much, he has changed his shoes and rarely goes somewhere without his faithful flip -in Brazilian Hawaiian brand.
“I use them constantly,” says Boris. “Basically, it’s my base shoes.”
With regard to accessibility, Boris says that he and his wife can have a much better life in the country and don’t care so much about money as they did in the US.
“The dollar is worth a lot here,” he says, recognizing that the country is more accessible to them than to Brazilians. “I live very well. I just have to live with a budget … I have to be careful.”
Since moved to Rio de Janeiro, Boris says he saves “about $ 1,000” on income payment and spends very little on food.
“Food is generally much cheaper,” he says, noting that he can buy a large and healthy snack and a drink for about $ 2.
“Here, let’s go shopping probably two or three times a month. But I went almost every day in the United States, because my wife doesn’t like to freeze meat. She likes fresh things.”
But although they are under less financial pressure, Boris stresses that they continue to be careful with money and have no money to live a luxurious lifestyle.
“Now I live with a budget,” he says. “So I don’t go crazy like a tourist.”
Safety factor
Boris does not regret leaving the US, stressing that he could not “live the level of life.” (Christopher Boris)
Brazil is recognized as having one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, and Boris says he is well aware of the country’s problems. A travel warning from the United States State Department evaluates Brazil as “Level 2: Be more careful”.
“The unfortunate part of the city is that there is poverty,” he recalls, noting that she is often linked to crime.
The US State Department advises against “traveling to certain areas, particularly along international borders” and urges US visitors to “being aware of crime potential”.
“Care must be taken,” says Boris. “There are certain neighborhoods that must be avoided.”
And he adds that “the irony of the situation” is that many of his new friends live in these zones.
“Most of the good people I have met live in slums,” he insists, using the word to designate the poor neighborhoods of Brazil. “They are very friendly people …”.
“But the problem is that the place where they live is not necessarily the safest, because there are drug traffickers to control the areas.”
Although Boris says he never felt insecure in the country, he recognizes that “anything can happen at any moment.”
“I don’t want to seem too confident,” he says. “And I’m not saying it doesn’t exist … but we prefer to stay in places that are safe.”
Reflecting on her life in the US, Boris now realizes that she was losing social interaction.
“In my last 10 years in the United States, I went to work, worked, returning home and everyone was focused on itself,” he says.
“I mean, there were neighborhood parties in my community in Maryland, but I still think it’s not so friendly. I didn’t have that sense of friendship.”
“People were rigid …. I feel that I have more social interaction here than in the United States.”
As reformed, Boris, who describes himself as a “night owl”, has a lot of free time and tends to spend the nights with friends, including his barber, as well as the inhabitants who work near his building in Ipanema.
“We had a lot of fun listening to music and talking about normal things,” he says, adding that the new friends gave him the nickname ‘chimney’.
“I smoke a little,” he admits.
Boris developed a appreciation for Brazilian football during his stay in the country and loves to see his favorite team, Flamengo.
“I have only been to a Flamengo game so far and I loved watching them play at (stadium) Maracanã,” he says. “But I intend to go more in the near future.”
After less than a year in Rio de Janeiro, Boris cannot imagine herself to live elsewhere.
“I like architecture,” reveals Boris. “I like the beach. I like the way the city is organized, and the natural beauty of everything
“There is the statue of Christ. There is the great lake, and then there is the ocean. And the samba clubs. So I like it.”
Despite living a short distance from at least two world beaches, Ipanema and Copacabana, Boris says it has become less new over time, and he no longer feels the need to go every day.
“There are days when I won’t,” he explains. “There may be three or four days when I don’t go to the beach, despite being two blocks away.”
Although Boris returned to the US once a year to visit family and friends, he is not permanently returning and feels he would not be able to “live the level of life.”
“I feel comfortable not to feel and deal with the financial charges I had in the US,” he argues.
