Every week the world seems to be getting a bit smaller, connecting people, places and ideas. A few months ago Tyler of Nomad Ink (on Boarding Pass here!) put me in touch with Romolo Eduardo. There must be something in the water in Brazil, because all of the features from there are full of amazing and beautiful travel journals. It was hard to pick my favorite pages to feature in today’s post, but make sure that you check out all of Romolo’s links at the bottom of the post. Thanks, Romolo!
home town:
Although I was born in Foz do Iguaçu, I don’t consider it as my hometown. When I was half month old, my parents moved to Brasilia. Perhaps, Brasilia is my “real” hometown and, certainly, my first destination.
{Journal pages from Northeast Brazil}

where you live now:
São Paulo, Brazil

{Northeast Brazil}

last trip taken:
My last memorable trip taken was to Northeast of Brazil.

{Bolivia}

next trip on deck:
East China and Southeast Asia with tickets in hands
one place you would go back to again and again:
I would go back to México: Friendly people, tropical hot weather all year long, good tasty food (not texmex), art and native culture blowing outside any museum or church and the words like chingón, cabrón, chingada, chido… Ok, México es padrísimo.

{Mexico}

place you’d most likely recommend a friend go visit:
I like to recommend countries that I traveled for more than 3 weeks. I guess this is good enough (for me) to feel a little bit more than only touristic clichés. So, certainly, I would recommend Mexico, Japan and Bolivia (specially the small cities).
preferred method of transportation:
Surely, trains with cabins (sometimes, with shared cabins, but it depends on the situation). Most of the time, it was a really good experience. It’s stable for sketching in my journal and cabins are a good situation to have a conversation with local people traveling. And if you too tired to have any “human contact,” you can look through the window and enjoy the slowly changing landscape.
{Hungary}

place you’ve never been but dying to go:
Cuba. Why? I don’t know for sure. Maybe, its all about that nostalgic and curious cliché of a country forgotten from the time with all that mixture of Latin and jazz music, those old classical cars, tropical weather, fruits, pristine beaches, poor and happy people, socialism… I know, it’s the hype of the Banana Republic. And it’s not different here in Brazil, or Mexico, or in any other Latin American country. But, what can I say? This “bullshit” invites me to drink a beer at beach while I’m drawing.
{from the Mexico journal}

place you’d never go back:
Bucharest, Romania. This is why.
most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
In mid 2003, I had my first experience abroad through an exchange conducted by the Okayama University of Science, in Japan. The first thing I realized when I landed was how fast you become illiterate in only 22 hours.
{from the Europe journal}

how do you prepare for a trip?
First of all, I get the tickets. For me, its the boundary between dream and objective. And then, I start to plan the trip based on a quick research about the place. I learn the essential information such as visa details, health, economy, geography and transportation. Basically, these topics will define my “backpack.” Close to the trip, I start getting in touch with local people by couchsurfing to get some information about hostel or guest house accommodation. And finally, with almost everything defined, I keep studying basic things about the place as culture, language, people, food, weather, until the day of departure. And its very joyful for me.

how do you record your travels when you’re traveling?
With a sketch journal and a camera.
what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
At this moment, I’m appreciating to register native fruits and vernacular typography.
on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Actually, I don’t know. At the beginning, I’m always excited to take as many pics as I can. I don’t wanna loose any moments, like a Japanese tourist, you know? But, during the trip, I start slowing down until I get my own rhythm. And at the end, I fell my useless camera as a little stone in my pocket.
{from the Eastern Europe journal}

what’s in your “designer travel kit” ?
I like to develop a sketchbook for every single trip. A good friend of mine, and also a great artist, develops handmade books in partnership with other graphics artists. Every year, I call him to design a personal sketchbook. While we drink some beer, we talk about the materials I will use for paper, cover, size, number of pages, everything. And then, we go to his workshop to design it. It’s a good time to spend together on this and, for me, also a important part of the process. Camera? Yes, I have one.
{Slovakia}

what do you do after a trip?
I usually post the journal and some pics on my site. For this next trip, I’m thinking about use all the graphic material as research to develop canvas and prints for a possible exhibition.

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
Useful things as t-shirts, underwear, clothes in general which I can use during the trip.
{Mexico}

a memorable citation?
I read this citation in a cafe in San Cristobal de las Casas, in the last days of my trip through Mexico: ¿No es increíble todo lo que puede tener adentro un lápiz? /It’s incredible all the things a pencil can have inside, isn’t it? – Guile, Mafalda’s little Brother (character of Quino, an Argentinian comic creator).
Inside Romolo’s journals:

• East Europe
• Mexico
• Brazil’s Northeast
• Europe

links:

• website: romolo.com.br
• facebook
• flickr
• twitter: @_romolo

Click HERE for all past Boarding Pass participants!