It’s been a while since I last blogged and I’m totally behind hence this overdue catch-up. To be honest, I think I needed a little break to recharge. Don’t worry, I’m not going to complain about my tough life right now because nothing about it is a hardship, but I will say that constant travel can be exhausting! And (again NOT looking for sympathy) I’ve found that it’s a bit difficult to go back to “reality” after my travel adventures… reality being my one bedroom apartment in DC (the epicenter of Trump nation). It is always a little odd to be alone after having a multitude of fabulous people around me all the time and I find myself getting lonely at times (If only people didn’t have pesky jobs to attend to!) Don’t get me wrong, I love love love seeing my friends and family who I have missed dearly and I try to jam-pack my time with as many catch-up sessions as possible. This time though, I was stateside for the longest stretch in quite a while and did my best to stay as busy as possible. I spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas in New Hampshire and had a blast (a very busy blast!) with my zany northeast family and friends.
After spending the holidays in New England, I headed back to DC for New Year’s and a visit from Steve Thailand (he is neither Thai, nor is his last name a country but I met him on my Thailand/Laos trip so he is subject to the naming convention I use to differentiate my friends from various trips). Steve came to visit all the way from England and dove right into my DC-life, complete with attending his first “ice hockey” game (I’m guessing to differentiate from the field varietal that is more of a thing in his country), playing tourist, and a plethora of social gatherings (I may have overdone it a bit with the gatherings, but I wanted him to have the full experience of my life).
We concluded his visit with a fantastic New Year’s Eve celebration that included a houseboat party and trombone concert. I’m pretty sure Steve now has some specific ideas about how Americans celebrate the holiday and I may or may not have played it up that trombones and houseboats are traditional components of any good Yankee NYE.
After a great visit with Steve, I had a few weeks of days filled with normal life administrivia, volunteering (Martha’s Table, a wonderful organization- please check it out!), some travel planning, and hanging with my local nieces and nephew… it’s amazing how the days fly by, even when you don’t have much to do. I will say that perhaps the one benefit of the ridiculous U.S. government shutdown was that I had more friends around to hang out with! 
And then… I was off again! I won’t bore you with the details of how exactly my flights came to be arranged the way they were, but it basically resulted in FOUR days of travel to get to my INTERIM destination… Bali! And, after finally arriving and spending one night in chaotic Kuta (avoid it if you can) I was on a speed boat for a 30 minute ride to my ACTUAL final destination, Lembongan island. [So, really it was FIVE days of travel if you count the night in cray-cray Kuta.] As I stumbled off the speed boat, I was unsure of where I was and how I got there. Alas, I looked around, smiled, and released a huuuuge exhale. It felt like that one had been building up for a long time.
How did I select this destination, you may be wondering? Excellent question. Well, I was going to Borneo for another Flash Pack Insider trip (!!) and figured for the week prior to the trip I might as well hang out on the beach as opposed to snowy, grumpy, Trumpy DC. If you haven’t been to Bali it is super cheap (even cheaper then Thailand!) and I kind of wanted to chill in advance of what looked to be an action-packed Borneo adventure. That’s where my friend Google came into the picture, and assisted me in finding a little spot called Rama Garden that seemed popular for solo travelers interested in yoga, surfing, and beach time. It’s located on Lembongan island, which is described as the complete opposite of busy, touristy Kuta. Ding, ding, ding! Sign me up. Although you could do a package that included a certain number of yoga sessions, surfing lessons and snorkeling, I just booked the lodging accommodation and opted to figure it out as I went along. You know I love winging it a little! This worked out well for me, although I met several people who did the package and they seemed to enjoy it and got a nifty complimentary water bottle and tote! Either way works (and is very cost effective to boot).
Rama Garden is a small spot with 8 bungalows, each complete with an open air shower that I especially loved. There’s a little restaurant/hang-out area where you are extremely well taken care of by the staff, in particular the manager who is a friendly local named Lis. The reviews all mentioned the delicious and healthy food as well as the fresh juices and these reviews did not exaggerate. I’m not typically a big juice person but I think it’s just because I haven’t had juice as fresh as this before. It was sooo delicious! My favorite was the turmeric delight.
Rama is just a quick two minute walk from a gorgeous beach with the bluest water. This is where I spent a lot of time plowing through a few selections from the Rama book exchange and enjoying picturesque sunsets.
My five days really flew by thanks to a mix of yoga, surfing, and a snorkeling trip (all arranged by the amazing Lis).
I have to admit that I ended up being kind of glad I hadn’t signed up for the package as I was able to limit my activity to one thing per day… yoga AND surfing in one day seemed like a lot. I also realized I was using my extra energy to focus internally for once!
Thanks to my new friend from Rama, Katie, for the snorkeling pics! One of the best things about Rama was meeting other solo travelers, like Katie from England, who I keep in-touch with. Overall, I didn’t stray too far from Rama Garden but on my last night Lis arranged for one of the staff members to take me on a tour of the island. She actually first suggested I rent a scooter and drive around myself, and while I loved the Vespa tour I did in Spain, there was NO way I was going to maneuver a scooter around those roads (we’re talking serious off-roading!). Needless to say, I was grateful for my impromptu guide for a wonderful tour of the picturesque rocky coastline and beautiful beaches the island offers.
In hindsight, I think my tour guide may have thought we were on a date and he didn’t seem happy when I declined his request for a kiss… but he was a good sport about it. He also didn’t seem thrilled when I said I had to pack for my departure the next morning and couldn’t hang out with him after the tour. I realized that I was busted in this lie when he saw me heading down to the beach a little while later (and clearly not packing)… ohhhh well!
That night I enjoyed a final delicious meal at a local beach side restaurant, ironically cherishing the same solitude I had dreaded in my DC apartment. I was sad to leave the next day but felt thoroughly rejuvenated from my five days on Lembongan Island. I’m not sure what I need to rejuvenate from exactly but sometimes I guess you don’t need to know. What I do know is that Bali gave me back something that my soul needed and for that I am extremely grateful.
Apparently I’m not the only one who can feel cosmic magic in the air in Lembongan. On the speed boat ride back to mainland, I met three different Western folks who had gone to the island and never left, staying to work there in various capacities. I can definitely see the appeal!
My bittersweet goodbye to Bali was soon forgotten in my excitement to meet up with Keith Nepal (one guess which trip I met him on) who would be joining me on my Borneo adventure! Keef (as he was known to the Nepalese) is just the best and I couldn’t wait to see him again! We connected at the Bali airport as Keef was coming from a tour of some of the more remote areas (which sounded amazing, albeit less relaxing than my Rama Garden experience). Here’s the selfie from the airport lounge we sent to the rest of our Nepal trip group (and it evoked the exact envious responses we were aiming for.) In all honesty, we both wished the whole Nepal tour group was joining us, as it was an epic crew!
Together, Keef and I flew to Kuching, Malaysia and prepared for our tour to commence. So… where is Borneo you may be wondering? Funny, as it turns out that neither Keef nor I had any idea where it was when we signed up for the trip! I actually thought it was a country at the time (it’s not, as it turns out… it’s an island, and the 3rd largest island in the WORLD to boot). Stay tuned for more on this amazing spot…