Trapped on a Bus in Brazil: How a 4-Hour Beach Trip Turned Into a 21-Hour Nightmare – Nomad Notes | EP 39

Are you really prepared for the unexpected while traveling?

Ryan, The Digital Nomad Coach, shares a true story from his travels through Brazil that started out as a relaxed beach trip and quickly spiraled into a survival situation.  

You’ll hear how a lack of preparation led to chaos, discomfort, and hard-earned lessons that apply to anyone living a remote lifestyle or simply traveling abroad. 

Ryan shares simple, practical strategies he now uses and teaches his clients to feel safe, stay healthy, and be ready for anything. 

You’ll come away with a checklist of items and steps that could make all the difference, whether you’re boarding a plane or a bus.

Listen now to learn what most people overlook until it’s too late and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.

Get Your Free Guide: 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad
https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

One-on-One 1 Hour Strategy Session with Ryan: Tap Here

MORE FROM RYAN MELLON

One-on-One 1 Hour Strategy Session with Ryan: Tap Here

Follow Ryan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalnomadcoach/

Learn how to be a Digital Nomad: https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

Please Support the Show

• Share this episode with a friend or family member
• Give a Review on Spotify
• Give a Review on Apple

DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Ryan Mellon: Welcome back to Digital Nomad Nation, nomad Notes edition, where we dive into bite size insights to help you build a life of freedom, purpose, and remote work from anywhere on earth. Today I wanted to share, something that, came up with a one-on-one client who is heading to South America solo soon, and asked me how do I stay safe while traveling.

[00:00:23] Ryan Mellon: And we were specifically talking about being prepared and what to look out for, specific to South America, and it just reminded me of one of the most scariest and unprepared moments of my travels on a simple bus ride in Brazil that turned into a 21 hour nightmare.

[00:00:41] Ryan Mellon: So this was a couple years ago and I was with my ex-partner, we were heading from Sao Paulo, to a beach town called Paraty. it was supposed to be only a four hour ride. we boarded the bus with all our bags. We had planned to be in the beach town, a Paraty for a couple weeks. and we had all our stuff with us.

[00:00:59] Ryan Mellon: [00:01:00] We had a couple beers, some water, and one can of Pringles because hey, it's. Just gonna be a four hour bus ride. Right. before, we boarded the bus, it had been raining all day. and, but it's nothing that I had thought of, about the weather or checking the weather or news before boarding the bus.

[00:01:19] Ryan Mellon: we got on the bus and about two hours through, we were on the, Coastline where on our right, the beach in the ocean is right on our right and on the left there's a very steep. Muddy, dirty, rocky cliff side. And so this road snaked along the beach to where we were heading for the last, hour or so of the trip.

[00:01:43] Ryan Mellon: And, the, the, the rain became torrential down, pours, and it just was. Getting crazy, you could not see anything outside. it's starting to get dark and then the bus just stops in the middle of the road and we're trying to figure it out. [00:02:00] Everyone on board speaks Portuguese except for me. my ex-partner spoke Portuguese, and English.

[00:02:06] Ryan Mellon: I was the only one that did not speak Portuguese, so it was a little challenging getting information. Plus the bus driver was not really even telling anybody what was going on. But after a while we figured out what had happened and, a landslide had took out the road ahead of us, like a giant boulder.

[00:02:26] Ryan Mellon: Took out a car that was on the road, put it in the ocean, and there's mud and dirt covering the road. We could not move forward at all. we are like a little bit, you know, panicked, but you know, we could just turn it around and head back. Right. Well, that was the plan and that's what I thought we would do.

[00:02:45] Ryan Mellon: There were a couple cars in front of us, a couple cars behind us, and as we started, as the bus drivers out there trying to. Figure out how to turn this giant bus around on this tiny road between the ocean and the cliff side. he [00:03:00] realized that another landslide had now happened behind us, so now we're literally trapped in torrential downpours in Brazil on the cliff side in between the ocean.

[00:03:12] Ryan Mellon: it was a little bit, Sketchy. I'm not gonna lie, we didn't have any food, no power, no communications. As our, phone started to die, it was nighttime. The bus started leaking terribly. Water's coming in from the top. Luckily, the bus wasn't full, so. We were able to move people away from the leak, uh, where it was coming in through the ceiling towards the back.

[00:03:35] Ryan Mellon: The toilet started to overflow. Um, so that was not even possible anymore. If you needed to use the toilet, you had to go outside in the torrential downpours, it was Terrible. he just shut down the bus and we all went to sleep. it was one of the more frightening times 

[00:03:53] Ryan Mellon: of my travels and uh,the next day the sun came up. It's still raining. It wasn't as [00:04:00] pouring down as badly as it did through the whole night. We made it through the night. luckily for us, we had some locals that were really nice. It came down with what was looked like, almost like a gas can, full of coffee and just a loaf of bread, and was handing out some coffee and bread for us.

[00:04:16] Ryan Mellon: I ended up having to use the toilet, out in the woods. Thank God I had some extra paper towels in my bag. And so with all that being said, eventually, there were some bulldozers that came and cleared the road just enough to let us through. We didn't even end up getting to our final destination.

[00:04:34] Ryan Mellon: they dropped us off completely in a different location a, beach town called Ubatuba and, uh, with no plan, no reservations, no dry socks. And so here's the, here's the takeaway of all of it. you know, we, we got outta that all one alive and everything was okay, but just being prepared.

[00:04:53] Ryan Mellon: if we would've checked the weather in local news before, we would've never got on that bus. having a small first aid kid [00:05:00] that I now, have emergency blankets in, they come, they're super small, they come in little Ziploc bags and, you can put two in a bag and not even know they're there.

[00:05:12] Ryan Mellon: They're for emergencies only. They're like the shiny, silver, type blankets that you would see. In emergency FEMA response or something like that. those are super great to have. Would've been great to have it. In this moment as well. Thank God it wasn't too cold that night. and a backup battery bank for phone and extra food and water.

[00:05:34] Ryan Mellon: now every trip that I take, even if it's a short one, I have a little extra. travel always teaches you something. Sometimes it's a hard way. I help every client build a personal safety and prep list, when they're going somewhere. if there's any way I can help you. prepare for a trip or prepare to be out there as a digital nomad, I'm always here to help you can, uh, get ahold of me at, uh, the digital nomad coach.com or [00:06:00] Ryan at the digital nomad coach.com.

[00:06:03] Ryan Mellon: I'd be happy to help you figure out and set something up for your next adventure. So be safe out there and we'll see you next time.

[00:06:10] Ryan Mellon: Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Nomad Nation. I hope today's stories have inspired you to take the next step towards location independence. If you've enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. Your support fuels our mission to inspire the digital nomad lifestyle.

[00:06:32] Ryan Mellon: Before you go, don't forget to grab your free copy of my guide, Seven Ways to Become a Digital Nomad. It's packed with practical tips to kickstart your nomadic journey. You can find the link in the episode description. And remember, the life you've always dreamed of is just one bold decision away. Until next time, this is the Digital Nomad Coach, Ryan Mellon, signing [00:07:00] off.