Anyone move solo to Florianópolis from the US?

02/05/26 Welcome, @EvJDot.  Your plan sounds reasonable, especially if you follow through on your plans for learning some Portuguese before you come, and intensify that on arrival.  The Federal University of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis has a Portuguese for Foreigners course that would probably speed both your learning and your ability to make connections more quickly:

https://lle.ufsc.br/cursosextra/cursos/portugues/

Your best bet would be to come on a Digital Nomad visa because it's renewable; your only other viable option based on the information you provided would be a Tourist Visa, and that has a hard departure date after 180 days.  Once you're in Floripa and decide to stay, obtaining an Authorization for Residency from the Federal Police based on purchase of residential real estate would probably be your easiest path to living here indefinitely.  Regular site contributor @Peter Itamaraca is an expert on this.

Transporting a dog to Brazil (and back to the United States, for that matter) has become increasingly difficult since COVID.  Your best source for information on this -- and the place where you'll need to process all your visa paperwork anyway -- is the Brazilian Consulate General in Houston, Texas, which is responsible for Colorado, and is unfortunately a trek for you.  It can't hurt to contact them.  There is (or was) an Honorary Brazilian Consulate in Denver that may be able to provide you with some initial information.  Honorary Consulates normally are staffed by volunteers, not Foreign Service Officers, and tend to have limited hours; chances are that your questions will be referred to Houston anyway, but maybe not.

Best of luck to you in your planning. 

@abthree

I really appreciate all that info, thank you so much! I’m 14 months out from the potential move. It’s not 100% yet, but I did just sign up for a tutor.  Figure it can’t hurt to start early.

02/06/26 @EvjDot.  Best of luck to you.  As you run into additional questions, we're here to help.

You are correct in observing that most people whose experiences you read about here seem to be spouses of Brazilians.  That's because being the spouse, parent, grandparent, child, or grandchild of a Brazilian is one of the few easy ways that a foreigner can come to Brazil as a legal immigrant. 

The  other ways are to be a Portuguese citizen, to be a citizen of a country signatory of the Mercosul Residency Accord -- Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, or to be sponsored by a Brazilian employer, which has become increasingly rare.

A Retirement Visa and a Refugee Visa confer temporary legal status that becomes permanent with the passage of time.  A Digital Nomad visa does not, but the holder may be able to change his/her status under certain circumstances.  It's close to impossible to bootstrap a Tourist Visa into anything permanent.

We live part-time south of Florianopolis in Buzios Beach south of Natal.  We also have 2 dogs which I board when I go to Brazil.  I have resisted taking the dogs with us because of the travel on the airplane and because wildlife and dogs are less restricted in Brazil-so your pets will encounter many new things.  Also, near us we have dogs that are let run lose, as well as horses and cows that sometimes wander through the streets. 

My dogs are large (shepard, lab) and I don't think they would travel well.  If your dog is small, it might work better. We are married and our experience is obviously different than yours will be.  Sometimes I do feel isolated in Buzios because of the language barrier.  Sounds like you have a solid plan.  I can't tell from your post if you have already visted in the area.  We fly through Florianopolis to get to Natal and find it a vibrant and fun city.

Denver to the tropics is a big change.  Be prepared for flying ants, tarantulas, and humidity. Also, take the water warnings seriously.  We got a little lax and I ended up with a parasite and lost a lot of weight.  We installed a chlorine dispenser in our tank and bought a Class 1 water filter from the local big box store.  Sam's Club is in Natal, so we are able to find things like maple syrup and electronics. Best of luck, Brazil is beautiful and so are the people.

@EvJDot

Single retired American male. I moved alone from the US to Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP, without speaking Portuguese. I had a tiny apt in downtown SP first, right off ave Paulista at MASP that I vacationed to. So, my eyes were quite open, in advance. I've had bank accounts with two banks, starting in downtown SP, owned two apartments, done remodels, bought two cars, insurance, all of it

It's often, challenging, lolololololol.  However, I love it here, no regrets.

Yes, I miss things:

#1, Canned black olives

Potatoes that actually brown and get crispy

Cheese that has any flavor at all

Dawn dish soap

Soft Scrub and 409

bleach that's not 99% water

quality tools, of any kind

Brasil has a very limited vegetable variety, shockingly

cottage cheese and sour cream

I'm 6'3, 220 and cannot buy pants, anywhere, in Brasil

Shirts that are actually long enough

Feel free to write

@Bree4691

Thank you for your response. I’m struggling with the idea of putting my dog in the cabin. She’s a lab mix and wouldn’t be able to ride up top. I’d make sure to travel the right airline and during the right part of the year. I know it would be an extremely stressful day for her, but I feel like her life would be enhanced as a result. We get out to the parks and we do stuff all the time, but I do live in an apartment if I did end up moving to Brazil, I would rent a house with a yard so she would have a yard to play in it would get even more exercise than we’re getting here I imagine. Definitely would purchase a water dispenser for the house and Thanks for the Sam’s Club tip too!

@rraypo

I’ve heard all kinds of things, but flavorless cheese might be the straw that broke the camels back for me here lol. You know what that should be my next post because it’s really interesting to see what people miss the most about the states. Appreciate your responding if I do make it out there maybe I’ll shoot you a message cause eventually I’ll probably want a car as well. Maybe he got the scoop for me. I know they’re expense out there.

@rraypo

Re: Cottage Cheese. I think it has become more widely available in recent years (at least in São Paulo). I am a fan of Verde Campo "Queijo Cottage Tradicional". In case you want to give it a try!