For some Brazilian adventurers, sports became much more than competition. From mountain biking in California and climbing in the Himalayas to snowboarding and endurance racing in New Zealand, their journeys show how adventure can become a way to explore the world, cross cultural boundaries, and discover what really matters in life.
By Jorge “Peregrino” Elade Filho | Translation: Angela Hasan
Every trail became an opportunity to understand a place differently.
There is something deeply human about wanting to see what lies beyond the horizon. For some people, that curiosity means visiting another city or taking a long-awaited vacation. For others, it becomes something more powerful: a need to explore the planet with their own bodies, testing themselves against mountains, oceans, trails, snow, distance, and uncertainty.
For Brazilian athlete and adventure reporter Jorge “Peregrino” Elade Filho, that instinct eventually became a way of life
After spending time abroad in New Zealand and becoming increasingly immersed in what he called “Sportology” — the exploration and study of sports — Peregrino embarked on an ambitious journey in 2005. His idea, known as Projeto Peregrino, was simple in concept but enormous in scale: travel across continents while experiencing some of the world’s most exciting destinations for adventure sports.
What followed was not merely a trip around the world. It became an education in movement, culture, resilience and life.
California: Learning Through the Trail
One chapter of the journey brought Peregrino to the western United States, where he spent several months in Big Bear, California. Surrounded by Southern California’s mountains, he worked, trained, improved his mountain biking skills and participated in demanding outdoor competitions and expeditions, including Ecomotion Pro and Baja Travesia in Baja California. But adventure sports offered more than physical challenges.
Every trail became an opportunity to understand a place differently
A traveler looking through a car window sees one version of a landscape. A cyclist climbing a mountain experiences another. There is the altitude, the cold air, the exhaustion, the changing terrain and the small decisions that determine whether you continue or turn back. That kind of travel changes your relationship with a destination. You are no longer simply visiting it. You are participating in it.
New Zealand: When the World Becomes a Playground
The journey later returned Peregrino to New Zealand and, more specifically, Queenstown — a destination internationally associated with outdoor adventure. Surrounded by dramatic mountains and lakes, the area offered paragliding, rafting, bungee jumping, rock climbing, snowboarding, mountain biking and running.
Peregrino supported himself through everyday jobs while continuing to train, compete and explore. That contrast became part of the adventure itself: working one day and heading into the mountains the next. It is a reality familiar to many long-term travelers.
Great adventures are not always funded by sponsorships or large bank accounts. Sometimes they are built one paycheck, one temporary job and one courageous decision at a time.
And Peregrino was far from the only Brazilian following that path.
Guilherme “Toto” Setani: Looking Up
Great adventures are not always funded by sponsorships or large bank accounts; sometimes they are built one paycheck and one courageous decision at a time.
Guilherme “Toto” Setani, a mathematician, physicist, photographer and mountaineer from São Paulo state, found his own version of exploration at high altitude. By the period documented in the original Projeto Peregrino journey, he had already accumulated years of climbing experience and joined fellow Brazilian climbers Victor Negrete and Rodrigo Raineri in an attempt to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Whether a climber reaches the summit or not, mountains have their own way of redefining success. Preparation matters. Judgment matters. Knowing when to continue matters — and knowing when not to can matter even more. Perhaps that is one reason mountaineering provides such a powerful metaphor for life: the summit may be the objective, but everything that happens on the way up becomes the real story.
Amauri Canina: Following the Next Adventure
For Amauri Canina, who grew up in the coastal environment of Ubatuba, São Paulo, surfing and skateboarding were natural parts of an adventurous lifestyle. But instead of allowing geography to define which sports he could pursue, he traveled.
New Zealand opened the door to snowboarding and mountain sports. Australia, Indonesia and Thailand became other stops along a much larger journey. Like Peregrino, Amauri used temporary jobs to help finance his travels. It was not a conventional career plan.
It was something closer to designing a life around experience. And that idea may resonate even more strongly today, when many people are reconsidering traditional definitions of success. What if success is not only about what you accumulate, but also about what you experience?
Fernanda Maciel: Running Toward the Unknown
The internal journey is about who we become while getting there.
Fernanda Maciel brought another perspective to this group of Brazilian adventurers. Originally trained as a lawyer in Belo Horizonte, she was already competing in triathlons and endurance events when her path took her to New Zealand.
During the period described in the original story, she combined competition and training with work in Queenstown — another example of an athlete constructing an international adventure through both determination and practical necessity. Running has an unusual relationship with travel.
A city feels different when you run through it. So does a mountain, a coastline or a forest. Distances that appear abstract on a map become real through your legs, lungs and heartbeat. The athlete doesn’t simply observe the landscape. The athlete becomes part of it.
Sports Without Borders
Brazil is internationally associated with sports, particularly soccer, surfing, volleyball and martial arts. But the experiences of these travelers reveal another side of Brazil’s sporting culture: Brazilians willing to leave familiar landscapes behind and discover new disciplines, climates and cultures.
From California’s mountains to New Zealand’s trails and from Southeast Asian destinations to the Himalayas, the geography changes constantly. The motivation is surprisingly similar.
Curiosity. Challenge. Freedom. Discovery.
And perhaps most importantly, presence.
Because adventure sports have a way of forcing us into the present moment. When you are descending a mountain trail, paddling through rapids, climbing a wall or running for hours through unfamiliar terrain, tomorrow’s problems temporarily disappear.
There is only the next movement. The next breath.The next kilometer.
The Destination Is Only Part of the Story
The original Projeto Peregrino reflected on an idea associated with spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle: human journeys can have both an external and an internal purpose. The external journey has destinations, objectives and achievements.
Reach the mountain. Finish the race. Visit another continent. Catch the wave. Cross the finish line.
The internal journey is harder to measure. It is about who we become while getting there.
That may ultimately be the lasting lesson behind these Brazilian adventurers and their journeys around the world. Years change. Athletes grow older. Competitions end. Travel plans evolve. Records are eventually broken. But the experience of confronting the unknown remains.
Sports can provide medals, trophies and personal records. They can also give us something far more enduring: stories, friendships, perspective and a different understanding of our own limits.
Maybe that is why, generations after humans first began traveling beyond familiar territory, we continue looking toward the next mountain, road, ocean or trail. Sometimes we think we are searching for a destination. And somewhere along the way, we discover that the journey was the destination all along.
FAQ: Brazilians, Adventure Sports and Travel
Why do adventure sports and travel work so well together?
Sometimes we think we are searching for a destination, and somewhere along the way, we discover that the journey was the destination all along.
Adventure sports allow travelers to experience landscapes physically rather than simply observe them. Activities such as mountain biking, climbing, surfing, running and snowboarding create a deeper connection with the geography, people and culture of a destination.
What was Projeto Peregrino?
Projeto Peregrino was an adventure-travel project created by Brazilian athlete and reporter Jorge “Peregrino” Elade Filho. Beginning in 2005, the project combined international travel with experiences involving adventure sports across different continents.
Which countries were part of these Brazilian athletes’ journeys?
Their experiences included destinations such as the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as climbing experiences connected to the Himalayas.
Why is New Zealand important for adventure sports?
New Zealand, particularly Queenstown, has become internationally associated with outdoor recreation and adventure activities including bungee jumping, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, rafting, climbing and trail running.
Can someone travel internationally for adventure sports without being a professional athlete?
Absolutely. Many adventure travelers support themselves through temporary or seasonal jobs while exploring different destinations. The stories in this article show that international adventure can be built around curiosity and determination rather than professional sponsorship alone.
What can sports teach us beyond competition?
Sports can develop discipline, resilience and physical ability, but they can also create cultural connections and powerful life experiences. Adventure sports in particular can teach adaptability, respect for nature and the importance of being present.
What is the main lesson behind these Brazilian adventure stories?
Their experiences suggest that achievement is only one part of adventure. The people we meet, places we experience and personal discoveries made along the way can ultimately become more meaningful than reaching a particular destination.
