FUN FACTS

• In Maringá, trees are more than just part of the scenery — with one for every four residents, it’s no wonder the city was named a Tree City of the World by the UN in 2022
• The Nossa Senhora da Glória Cathedral, with 124 meters high, is the tallest cathedral in Latin America.
• Maringá has been named Brazil’s best city to live in four times, celebrated for its safety, green spaces, and quality of life.
• Since 1972, Maringá has maintained a sister-city relationship with Kakogawa, Japan.
• Maringá’s ipê trees are a seasonal attraction, blooming in vibrant hues from June to October.

Despite its exceptional quality of life and well-earned reputation as one of Brazil’s best cities to live, Maringá remains a hidden gem in the tourism narrative. This is a city where nature is not just part of the scenery — it is the city’s defining identity.

Where greenery is not just a landscape, it is an identity

Maringá is a city where nature and daily life blend seamlessly. At its heart is the iconic Parque do Ingá, a 47-hectare Atlantic forest reserve where the pace of life slows down and nature takes centre stage.

• Winding trails lead through dense Atlantic Forest, offering spots for quiet reflection.
• Paddle boats glide across the lake, inviting visitors to take in the city’s natural beauty from the water.
• Capybaras rest by the lake, while the sound of birdsong creates a natural soundtrack to city life.

A 15-minute drive away, the Japan Park offers a calming contrast. Inspired by Maringá’s sister-city bond with Kakogawa, Japan, the park features carp ponds, pavilions, and cherry blossoms that bloom every winter, painting the landscape in soft hues of pink and white.

In 2022, Maringá was recognised by the UN as a Tree City of the World, a recognition of its commitment to preserving green spaces in the heart of a thriving urban landscape. In Maringá, nature isn’t just part of the scenery — it’s a central character in the city’s story.

Maringá: Where Cultures Meet and Belong

Maringá’s story isn’t just told through its parks — it’s written in its streets, its markets, and its festivals. Since its foundation, Maringá has maintained a sister-city relationship with Kakogawa, Japan, a connection celebrated each year at the Japan Festival, a vibrant event filled with taiko drumming, tea ceremonies, and traditional Japanese cuisine.

Maringá’s cultural mosaic extends far beyond its Japanese heritage. Home to more than 30 nationalities, it’s a city where diverse cultures thrive while maintaining their unique identities, creating a community that is both multicultural and distinctly Maringaense.

Culture for everyone

In Maringá, art is a living, breathing presence woven into the city’s architecture and public spaces. The Nossa Senhora da Glória Cathedral, the tallest in Latin America, stands as a striking example of modernist architecture, its soaring spire reaching toward the sky.

Not so far, the Calil Haddad Theatre is a hub for theatre, dance, and live music, with a lineup of performances that celebrate both local and global artistry. It’s also the base for the Invitation to the Arts project, a city-wide initiative that transforms public parks and plazas into stages for free performances, making art a shared experience accessible to everyone.

Maringá is a city where art and culture aren’t confined to museums or theatres — they’re part of the everyday experience, creating a sense of vibrancy and connection that is felt in every corner.

A Culinary Journey Through Maringá

Maringá’s food scene is a reflection of its cultural diversity, where Japanese sushi, Italian cuisine, and Brazilian feijoada share space in the city’s Mercadão Municipal.

For a true taste of Maringá, try the ‘cachorrão prensado’ — a grilled hot dog topped with creamy green mayonnaise, a quirky, comforting creation that has become a local classic. On Sundays, the Feira do Produtor is a bustling scene where local farmers sell fresh produce and handmade food.

A City Designed for Living, Not Just Visiting

Maringá may not have Brazil’s famous beaches, but it offers something equally compelling — a sense of belonging.

Ranked as one of Brazil’s safest cities, Maringá is designed for walking, biking, and connecting.

• Wide sidewalks and bike lanes invite you to explore at your own pace
• Local cafés and coworking spaces for remote workers and digital nomads
• The city’s regional airport connects Maringá to São Paulo, Brasília and other big cities

Maringá’s charm lies not in the expected but in the overlooked — a city where nature, culture, and community converge to create a uniquely Brazilian experience. Beyond the beaches and big capitals, Maringá invites travellers to discover a different side of Brazil — one defined by tranquil parks, multicultural roots, and a rhythm of life that feels both welcoming and refreshing. 

It’s not just a destination; it’s an invitation to experience Brazil in a new way.

This text started as a Strategic Communication Masters assignment at the University of Liverpool but became something I genuinely wanted to share beyond the classroom. Writing about Maringá, my birth city, reminded me one of the things I love about strategic communication, giving deserving places and stories the visibility they’ve earned but haven’t always received.

Maringá doesn’t have the international online presence of Rio or São Paulo, but it has something equally valuable: authenticity, balance, and a quality of life that makes it one of Brazil’s best kept secrets. This city raised me, shaped me, and gave me a foundation of multicultural appreciation and respect for urban nature that I carry everywhere.

So here’s my academic project, yes, but more importantly, here’s my invitation. Come discover the Brazil that exists beyond the beaches, where tree lined streets tell stories of careful planning, where cultures blend without losing their identity, and where a simple pressed hot dog somehow becomes unforgettable.

Sometimes the best assignments are the ones that feel less like work and more like coming home.

With Love,

Amanda

Images References
Image 1: Embraed (n.d.). Conheça as 7 maravilhas de Maringá – a Cidade Verde.
Available at: https://www.embraed.com.br/pt-BR/blog/Conheça-as-7-maravilhas-de-
Maringá-a-Cidade-Verde [Accessed 28 April 2025].
Image 2: Maringá Com (2024). Instagram Post – May 30, 2024, 10:28 PM. Available
at: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7m5KH5vPCH/ [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Image 3: Riviera Santa Maria (2024). Parque do Ingá. Available at:
https://rivierasantamaria.com.br/2024/08/20/parque-do-inga/ [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Image 4: CBN Maringá (n.d.). Conheça a Amora – Mascote que Protege o Parque do
Japão do Ataque de Lontras Assassinas. Available at:
https://www.cbnmaringa.com.br/noticia/conheca-a-amora-mascote-que-protege-o-
parque-do-japao-do-ataque-de-lontras-assassinas [Accessed 3 May 2025].
Image 5: Festival Nipo Brasileiro (n.d.). Festival Nipo Brasileiro Website. Available at:
https://festivalnipobrasileiro.com.br/ [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Image 6: AZ Magazine (n.d.). Prefeitura Inscreve Maringá na Hora do Planeta: Luzes
da Catedral Serão Apagadas. Available at: https://azmagazine.com.br/prefeitura-
inscreve-maringa-na-hora-do-planeta-luzes-da-catedral-serao-apagadas/ [Accessed
2 May 2025].
Image 7: ICI Maringá (n.d.). Mostra de Cinema ao Ar Livre – Apintando Estrelas.
Available at: https://icimaringa.com.br/noticia/680/mostra-de-cinema-ao-ar-livre-
apintando-estrelasa-vai-a-cinco-cidades-da-regiao [Accessed 1 May 2025].

Text References
Britannica (n.d.). Maringá. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Maringa
[Accessed 2 May 2025].
Viaje Paraná (n.d.). Maringá – Turismo no Paraná. Available at:
https://www.viajeparana.com/Maringa [Accessed 21 April 2025].
Maringá.com (n.d.). Maringá – Guia da Cidade. Available at:
https://maringa.maringa.com [Accessed 21 April 2025].
O Maringá (2025). Agenda Semanal do Convite às Artes em Maringá. Available at:
https://omaringa.com.br/noticias/maringa/confira-a-agenda-semanal-do-convite-as-
artes-em-maringa-de-7-a-10-maio/ [Accessed 8 May 2025].
Festival Nipo Brasileiro (n.d.). Festival Nipo Brasileiro Website. Available at:
https://festivalnipobrasileiro.com.br [Accessed 8 May 2025].

I feel the ice on the tips of my fingers, but I can’t stop typing; I must be crazy. Tea with milk, breakfast that looks like lunch, and cars are backwards. I must be lost, am I really here?

Today I woke up with Penny Lane in my head and remembered that I’m just a few minutes away from there. Surreal.

Doctor Who on TV and someone asks if he accepts a cup of tea, but I think the voice comes from somewhere else. The place is here, next to me, a virtual love that became the most real thing in my life. And he is real, I am real, the dream is real.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m really here.

I’m here, Liverpool is now my home.

The story began when I decided to start travelling, and because I had no company, I went alone.

Travelling alone showed me that I could do anything. Anything at all, including hitchhiking on the side of the road.

And why hitchhike?

Since I learned to travel cheaply, this was one of the experiences I wanted to have. After all, while travelling we learn that there are more good people than bad in the world, and I was sure that hitchhiking would help me connect with different people and save money to travel more.

In my experience, I travelled by truck for 244 km, drank my mate and talked about life in Spanish with the kindest truck driver I had ever met. I followed all the tips in this text, and in my first attempt, I got a ride in five minutes and arrived safely at my destination.

Where to start?

And I never knew where to start; I couldn’t find the manual on hitchhike as a woman. My luck was meeting two wonderful women along the way who had already hitchhiked on the road and gave me valuable tips that made my first hitchhiking request a success. Today I come here as the crazy friend who has hitchhiked and wants to share all the tips with you.

• Be careful with your clothing – Being in a car with a stranger is a situation of extreme vulnerability. So, to avoid any misinterpretation or uncomfortable situations, it’s better to wear basic clothes, not too tight or showing too much skin, like pants and a blouse without a neckline;

• Ask for a ride near highway police stations: getting a ride involves risks for both the person asking and the person giving the ride. Positioning yourself near police stations conveys more security to the person giving the ride, since someone with bad intentions wouldn’t stay so close to the police. It has the effect of deterring those with bad intentions, because you were seen by the police, usually there are cameras nearby, and anything could be tracked;
• Gas stations are also good spots: talk to the attendants, they usually know the truck drivers and can indicate or help you get good rides;
• Don’t ask for rides at night: we need to trust, but the night makes everything more vulnerable. Can you imagine falling asleep in a stranger’s car? It’s really not recommended.
• Make short trips: don’t make very long trips, because if you’re uncomfortable, it will be more difficult to get out of the situation. Always ask for rides for shorter distances, up to 200 km at most.
• Make your sign: yes, it’s cliché, but making a sign with your destination makes it much easier for the person giving the ride. After all, imagine how annoying it would be to stop and ask where you’re going.

During the ride

• Listen to your intuition: our intuition is something we have to learn to understand and listen to. When asking for a ride, insecurity will always strike, after all, it’s a new and risky situation, but be alert for when you read things that may be real signs of danger. Listen to yourself.
• Write down and share the vehicle’s license plate with someone, it can also show that you’re doing it so the driver knows they can be tracked.
• Call or send an audio message, ask the driver’s name and talk to someone: dialogues like “hi mom, I’m sending this to you to put your mind at ease. I’m in such city, with such person heading to such place”. This shows that there are people aware of the situation and would notice if you went missing. Here it’s also worth sending photos and videos to someone or even to Instagram, show that you’re seen.
• Enjoy the ride, talk and make friends. This is a good opportunity to meet a new person and understand what led them to make this kind gesture for you.

(I even had some chimarrão with the truck driver who gave me the first ride)

But if you still feel insecure, no problem! There are other ways to hitchhike, such as looking for hitchhiking groups on Facebook or using apps like Blablacar. In these cases, the driver will probably ask to split the travel costs, but it still makes the trip cheaper and opens doors to meet many interesting people.

Traveling alone empowers us and shows that everything is possible. If you’re afraid, go anyway! If you follow your intuition and all the tips, everything can work out.

Last year I read Gaía Passarelli’s book “But are you going alone?” where she describes her travels, gives tips and everything about the experience of venturing alone through the world. There is no way not to be inspired by her stories of contact with nature, gastronomic experiences and adventures lived in various corners of the world.

“Mas você vai sozinha?” is physically beautiful, with unique illustrations and perfect layout. Gaía’s writing is inspiring and easy to digest, she is that woman that we look at and say “I want to be like her one day”.

The funny thing is that I was so inspired by this reading that my desire to travel the world was reborn and for the first time the fear of going alone did not intimidate me.

And now that I’ve decided to go, I made a video about traveling alone:

So, for all those who need to remember that we are independent and that freedom makes us live dreams, I recommend this reading. For all those who just want a light and inspiring reading, I recommend it too.

To buy, access this link, by which you help the blog continue to grow.

Kisses,